{"id":73196,"date":"2020-07-24T11:14:26","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T15:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprowrestling.com\/?p=73196"},"modified":"2020-07-24T11:53:57","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T15:53:57","slug":"alpha-male-the-legend-of-monty-brown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2020\/07\/24\/alpha-male-the-legend-of-monty-brown\/","title":{"rendered":"Alpha Male: The Legend of Monty Brown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Professional wrestling has a long history of employing professional athletes. And while countless amateur mat wrestlers have successfully transitioned to the world of pro wrestling, it’s arguably been the sport of football that has produced some of the world’s greatest stars. From high school to college football, many of the world’s greatest pro wrestlers got their sports pedigree from the gridiron – names like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Roman Reigns, The Rock, Big E, Paul “Mr. Wonderful” Orndorff, Ron Simmons<\/strong>, and many more, all turned to professional wrestling when their dreams of pro football came to an end. Even rarer that college football stars are those who actually made the jump to the NFL and due to either injury or continuous cuts, decided to turn to professional wrestling as another avenue. One of the first pro wrestling World Champions, Bronko Nagurski<\/strong>, was a 3x NFL Champion with the Chicago Bears (1932, 1933, 1943) as well as World Heavyweight Champion in 1937, wrestling into the 1960s. Since then, all kinds of former NFL players have made it to the world of wrestling and succeeded, such as Bruiser Brody<\/strong> (Washington), Vader<\/strong> (LA Rams), Wahoo McDaniel<\/strong> (who won the AFL Championship with Houston), Goldberg<\/strong> (Atlanta Falcons), and Moose<\/strong> (New England Patriots) are but a handful of examples of pro ballers who found success in the squared circle. But there is one name who seemed destined to become one of the 2000s greatest stars, but after an explosive debut and eventual landing in the WWE Universe, he walked away from the sport into almost self-imposed exile. This is the story of “The Alpha Male” Monty Brown<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Photo: NFL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From Saginaw, Michigan, Montaque “Monty” Brown played high school football with Bridgeport High School, then attended Ferris State University<\/strong> in his home state, where he became an All-American linebacker as a Ferris State Bulldog. Following his college days, he signed as a free agent with the Buffalo Bills<\/strong>, where he played from 1993 through 1995, playing in Super Bowl XXVIII<\/strong><\/em> in 1994. But despite playing in the NFL at the highest level, football wasn’t his first choice for a sport. “You know, when I was a kid growing up I didn\u2019t have posters of football players on my wall,” Brown said in an interview with TNA<\/a> back in 2004. “I had posters of wrestlers on my wall…I had Nikita Koloff<\/strong> on my wall. I had Dusty Rhodes<\/strong>. I had a bunch of guys on my walls. But there was one wall that was dedicated to Ric Flair<\/strong>. Nothing but Ric Flair posters on that wall.”<\/p>\n

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Photo: Andy Lyons \/ Allsport<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But circumstances made it tough for him to do what he truly loved, becoming a professional wrestler. “I played sports because there wasn\u2019t any wrestling in junior high or high school for me,” he told TNA in 2004. “I excelled in your traditional sports back then, but I knew that it would one day lead me into wrestling one way or another. Like I said, as I grew up it stuck with me. I can remember the first Super Bowl we went to with Buffalo, all of the guys went out and did their own thing when it came to training, so I went to Main Event Fitness, a gym owned by Sting<\/strong> and Lex Luger<\/strong> at the time. I wanted to go there to see if I could meet any of the wrestlers. So it\u2019s always been in me.” When his contract ran out with Buffalo after the 1995 season, he signed as a free agent with the New England Patriots<\/strong>, in part to be closer to the WWF’s headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. No matter where his football career took him, his mind was always thinking about the next stage of his career, that of becoming a pro wrestler like his childhood heroes. Following an ankle injury during his first year with the Patriots, Brown realized it was time to step away from the gridiron and begin his journey into the world of pro wrestling.<\/p>\n

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He trained for the ring under two legends of the Michigan wrestling scene, one being then ECW star Sabu<\/strong> and the other being UFC legend Dan “The Beast” Severn<\/strong>. By 2001, he was ready for the ring, making his debut in the Michigan indies with Great Lakes Wrestling<\/strong>. It didn’t take long for him to make an impression. In less than a year, he was signed by Total Nonstop Action (TNA)<\/strong>, an upstart promotion from Jerry & Jeff Jarrett<\/strong> that arose from the ashes of both WCW and ECW. TNA brought in several former WCW and ECW stars, but also brought in some of the top indie stars in the United States, while finding diamonds in the rough like “The Alpha Male” Monty Brown. He made his TNA debut on the third weekly pay-per-view episode, in an impressive win over Anthony Ingram<\/strong>, on July 3, 2002.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8IRq8ugmZXM<\/p>\n

But despite a strong start, including a shot at Ron “The Truth” Killing<\/strong><\/a>‘s NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship that August, Monty Brown departed TNA shortly after, following a loss to Sonny Siaki<\/strong>. “The reason was just that, basically, I think it was no one knew what to do with ‘The Alpha Male’,” he told Wrestling Epicenter<\/a> in 2005. “No one knew what my character was about, who I was about, and at the time it was just a new thing for myself and the company, I had different things going on, they had different things going on…I didn’t get the opportunity to let the character flourish.” He returned to the independents, heading across the border to Windsor, Ontario, Canada where he would work for future TNA Executive Scott D’Amore<\/strong> at Border City Wrestling (BCW)<\/strong>, as well as Lansing, Michigan’s All World Wrestling League (AWWL)<\/strong>, and Detroit’s Insane Wrestling Federation (IWF)<\/strong> and Xtreme Intense Championship Wrestling (XICW)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=InxwCW8v9Oo<\/p>\n

In March of 2004, he made his return to TNA with a new focus, determined to make sure the real Monty Brown would be seen this time. He returned to TNA in mid-March 2004, defeating Chris Vaughn in his re-debut, before battling one of his mentors, Sabu, to a no-contest two weeks later. After a brief feud with Sabu, he moved on to big victories over BG James<\/strong> (WWE’s Road Dogg), Sonny Siaki, Pat Kenney<\/strong> (Simon Diamond), and Ron Killings<\/strong>. By October, he had moved into the main event picture with TNA, competing in a #1 Contenders tournament where he lost in the final to Jeff Hardy<\/strong>. But he remained a top star with TNA and by the end of November, he challenged Jeff Jarrett (unsuccessfully) for the NWA World title.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=80vIiI07Ktc<\/p>\n

In January of 2005, he regained his #1 Contendership again and once again faced Jeff Jarrett for the NWA World title at TNA Final Resolution 2005<\/strong><\/em> (again in defeat), and then challenged once again at the inaugural Slammiversary<\/strong><\/em> in the King of the Mountain match for the NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship (won that night by Raven<\/strong>). The charismatic big man had lightning athleticism and had become a huge fan favorite in TNA and at both The Asylum and IMPACT Zone, with his “Pounce” that left many a TNA star bruised and battered<\/a>.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cid6UVsGmi0<\/p>\n

In March of 2006, he had his final shot for the NWA World title, facing Christian Cage<\/strong> at TNA Final Resolution 2006<\/strong><\/em>, once again falling short. By May he failed to qualify for that year’s King of the Mountain Match, and by September, he had departed the company following the expiration of his contract. All through his TNA career, however, he continued to compete in the indies, appearing for the likes of Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW), Maryland Championship Wrestling<\/strong> (now MCW Pro), and Michigan’s Prime Time Wrestling (PTW)<\/strong>. It was with PTW that he would win the only championship title of his wrestling career, capturing the PTW Heavyweight Championship in October of 2005.<\/p>\n