Jonathan Medina

Jonathan Medina

Jonathan Medina was born in Los Angeles, California on October 23, 1975. He is of Irish, Italian, Native American and Mexican heritage. His mother died from complications due to his birth, so he was raised by his father. However, his grief-stricken father placed the blame on Johnny for the death of his wife. Shortly after the death of Johnny's mother, his father became addicted to heroin. Because of this, Johnny and his father were eventually removed from their home. Johnny's uncle, a professional wrestler known as BoneCrusher, put a down payment on a house for Johnny and his father using the cash winnings from a World Championship match in which BoneCrusher was successful. However, because of his drug addiction, Johnny's father did not make any payments and allowed for the bank to foreclose on the house, and eventually evict Johnny and his father out of the house. BoneCrusher, who was in the prime of his professional wrestling career, was unaware of just how bad the situation was. For the next several years, Johnny grew up on the streets of Los Angeles, dealing with other homeless people and gangs, and having very little to do with his father, who's grief and drug addiction eventually overcame him. At the age of 17, Johnny found his father lying in the gutter dead, with a heroin needle still stuck in his arm and a trail of blood running down from the puncture. Johnny swore not to end up like this, and attempted to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. However, the USMC required him to have either a high school diploma or a General Equivalence Degree (GED). They allowed Johnny to take his GED test, in which he successfully completed, and was allowed to attend basic training.

United States Marine Corps

The U.S. Marine Corps has a reputation for having the toughest basic training of all of the U.S. Armed Forces. However, for Johnny Medina, the training seemed extremely easy. So easy, in fact, that because the Marines fall under the U.S. Department of the Navy, they had inquired about him attempting the SEALs training. Johnny, being new, declined as he didn't want to take on too much, too soon. However, after completing the Marine Corps basic training and Crucible, he did continue into advanced warfare and special operations training, including advanced training in weapons, SERE (Survive, Evade, Resist & Escape), and hand-to-hand CQC (Close Quarters Combat). Johnny excelled in these areas. From there, it is believed that Jonathan Medina went into 'Black Ops', although nothing can be confirmed, as obviously, information about these operations is scarce at best. It is known that he was involved in some "Peacekeeping" operations gone bad in Somalia in 1995 while working with the United Nations.

After the Marines

Corporal Jonathan Medina left the United States Marine Corps in September 1999 and returned home to Los Angeles, California after six years. He probably should have been ranked higher, but because most of the duties he performed were of the 'unofficial' sort, his official qualifications led him only to the paygrade of E-4 (although it is believed his actual wages reflected a significant increase). Once home, Medina began training to become a professional wrestler under his uncle, BoneCrusher.

Professional Wrestling

Johnny "Blaze" Medina made his professional wrestling debut in 2000 in the newly re-opened All-Star Wrestling Alliance, the same promotion in which his uncle had competed in many years before. Teaming with his uncle's other student, Nick McGrath, they were known as the Terror Squad. Although they did not achieve much success as a team, they did gain valuable experience inside the ring.
After the ASWA closed in 2001, Johnny returned to train with his uncle. In 2002, the Internet Wrestling Zone opened in Corvallis, Oregon. Johnny attempted to sign there, but there were some conflicts with his contract that did not allow him to join right away. Still, he did become a member of the IWZ in 2003 under the name "Beret". Johnny portrayed a character based off of his real-life experiences, in which the character had become a psychotic killing and torture machine due to his post-traumatic stress disorder. He attained the IWZ InterContinental Heavyweight Championship, and was involved in some pretty gruesome matches, including the 'Sharp Metallic Objects' match with Xander Kane, and the 60-minute 'Hellbound' Hell-in-a-Cell Ironman Inferno match with Chushy. He also helf victories over Gator, former IWZ Internet Champion "The Main Event" David Strajk, and former five-time IWZ World Heavyweight Champion Ryutaro Omori. He was involved in the final IWZ match in 2003, along with five others including Chushy, Vinnie Vice, and Ryutaro Omori for the right to be known as the final IWZ World Heavyweight Champion. Although he was unsuccessful in this match, his performance in the ring was definitely one to remember. Shortly after the closing of the IWZ, Johnny moved on to XUW's Developmental Federation. He was called up to XUW's main roster in record time, and went on to hold the XUW Submission Championship. He also had short runs in the XWF, teaming with fellow Military and IWZ veteran, Lieutenant Ronin BlackKnight, and in the Web Wrestling Federation as Corporal Punishment, a rename of his IWZ gimmick, in which he quickly won the WebWF National Championship before the promotion closed.

Jonathan Medina is currently on hiatus from the business. He is married to former IWZ and current NWF ring announcer Dacia Talamandez-Medina, and they have one son.

Birthdate: October 23, 1975
Location of Birth: Los Angeles, California - South Central Section
Current Residence: Los Angeles, California - Downtown
Height: 6' 4"
Current Weight: 220 Lbs.
Current Alignment: None
Usual Alignment: Heel
Usual Wrestling Style: Technical/Super Junior/Hand-to-Hand Close Quarters Combat
Previous Themes:

• "Make the Crowd Roar" by The Terror Squad (ASWA, IWZ, XUW)
  
• "Enemy" by Sevendust (IWZ, XWF, WebWF)
  

Trademark Moves

• Funky Cold Medina (also known as the Direct Assault): Jumping Emerald Fusion 2; a Michinoku Driver like move done over the back and to the side. Often done through tables, onto chairs, off of ladders, or onto the steel steps.

• Silent Assault Submission: Spinning Headscissor Takedown into a Figure-Four Chokeout. The first move is turned into the second move without releasing the opponent.

• Full Metal Jacket: Running Awesome Bomb.

• Trail Blazer (also known as the RPG): Missile Dropkick off the top turnbuckle.

Promotions Competed In

• All-Star Wrestling Alliance (ASWA) : 2000-2001
• Internet Wrestling Zone (IWZ): 2002-2003
• X-Treme Wrestling Federation (XWF): 2003
• Xtreme ULTIMO Wrestling (XUW): 2003-2004
• Web Wrestling Federation (WebWF): 2005

Championships and Accomplishments

• IWZ
  • InterContinental Heavyweight Champion (x1)
  • Number 1 World Contender
• XUW
  • Submission Champion (x1)
• WebWF
  • National Champion (x1)

Tag-Teams & Stables

• Tag-Teams
  • The Terror Squad (w/Nick McGrath) in the ASWA
  • Joint Task Force (w/Lieutenant Ronin BlackKnight) in the XWF
  • Johnny Blaze & Pimp D in XUW
• Stables
  • Not F.E.A.R. (w/NFM & Dev) in XUW

Names Used

• Johnny "Blaze" Medina (ASWA, IWZ, XUW)
• Beret (IWZ)
• Corporal Punishment (WebWF)