Tony Anthony

{{Infobox professional wrestler

|name = Tony Anthony

|image =

|caption = Dirty White Boy and his valet Mystic, 1988

|spouse = Bernice Anthony

|birth_name = Darrell W. Anthony

|names = American Eagle II
Dirty White Boy
Grappler #2
The Invader
Mighty Yankee
T. L. Hopper
Tony Anthony
Uncle Cletus

|height = 5 ft 10 in{{cite book|title=WWE Encyclopedia|last1=Shields|first1=Brian|last2=Sullivan|first2=Kevin|page=[https://archive.org/details/wweencyclopediad0000shie/page/307 307]|publisher=DK|year=2009|isbn=978-0-7566-4190-0|url=https://archive.org/details/wweencyclopediad0000shie/page/307}}

|weight = 235 lb

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1960|4|12}}

|birth_place = Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.

|billed = Bucksnort, Tennessee{{cite web|title=Wrestlers' Stats - Part #1|work=Wrestling Information Archive|url=http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/other/stats1.htm|access-date=2007-09-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826160837/http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/other/stats1.htm|archive-date=2007-08-26|url-status=dead}}

|trainer = Steve Keirn
Ron Wright

|debut = October 1980{{cite web|title=Dirty White Boy|work=Genickbruch: Die Wrestlingseite des alten Europa|url=http://www.genickbruch.com/index.php?befehl=bios&wrestler=636|access-date=2008-01-25|language=de}}

|retired = 2006

}}

Darrell W. Anthony (born April 12, 1960{{cite web|last=Dawson|first=Eric|title=Hardcore, Old-Time Wrestling|work=Knoxville Voice|url=http://www.knoxvoice.com/arts-amp-entertainment/profiles/hardcore-old-time-wrestling-31_2.html|access-date=2007-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002340/http://www.knoxvoice.com/arts-amp-entertainment/profiles/hardcore-old-time-wrestling-31_2.html|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status=dead}}) is a retired American professional wrestler, also known by his ring name Dirty White Boy. He wrestled in NWA territories in the Southeastern United States.{{cite web|title=Online World of Wrestling Profiles: Tony Anthony|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/t/tony-anthony.html|access-date = 2007-09-18}}{{cite web|title=Personality Profiles|access-date=2007-09-19|work=Tennessee Mountain Wrestling|url=http://www.garvinstmwrestling.com/wrestler_roster.htm}}{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He was most active throughout the 1980s and 1990s in the Tennessee-based United States Wrestling Association (USWA) and Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW), and had two short stints with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring names of T. L. Hopper and Uncle Cletus.

Professional wrestling career

=Early career (1980–1988)=

Trained by Steve Keirn and Ron Wright, Anthony worked as a jobber in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in 1981 and 1982. He won his first major title teaming with Len Denton as "The Grapplers" in the AWA. They defeated The Fabulous Ones (Keirn and Stan Lane) to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship on August 8, 1983. After losing the title, The Grapplers continued to team elsewhere, winning the NWA Central States Tag Team Championship twice in 1984.

After The Grapplers disbanded, Anthony continued to wrestle on the independent circuit, splitting his time between singles competition and tag team action. He teamed with Jerry Stubbs in Continental Championship Wrestling to win the NWA Continental Tag Team Championship four times before the promotion closed. After it became the Continental Wrestling Federation, Anthony and Stubbs won the tag team title twice more. As a singles wrestler, Anthony won the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship on four occasions. He beat Wendell Cooley to begin both of his first two reigns, Bob Armstrong to begin his third and Tom Prichard for his fourth. His last reign ended when the title was retired in 1988.{{cite web|title=NWA Alabama Heavyweight Title History|work=Wrestling Information Archive|url=http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/nwa/nwaalah.htm|access-date=2007-09-18|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022061329/http://100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/nwa/nwaalah.htm|archive-date=2007-10-22}}

=United States Wrestling Association (1989–1992)=

In 1989, Anthony defeated Dustin Rhodes in a United States Wrestling Association (USWA) tournament final to become the first USWA Southern Heavyweight champion.{{cite web|title=USWA Heavyweight Title History|work=Wrestling Information Archive|url=http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/old/uswasou.htm|access-date=2007-09-18|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012150609/http://100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/old/uswasou.htm|archive-date=2007-10-12}} The following year, he won the USWA Tag Team Championship on three occasions, once with Tom Burton and twice with Doug Gilbert.{{cite web|title=USWA World Tag Team Title History|work=Wrestling Information Archive|url=http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/old/uswatag.htm|access-date=2007-09-18|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012013656/http://100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/old/uswatag.htm|archive-date=2007-10-12}}

=Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1992–1995)=

Anthony competed primarily as a singles wrestler in Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW). He was quickly pushed as a main event wrestler, and won the SMW Heavyweight Championship from Brian Lee on August 8, 1992.{{cite web|title=Smoky Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Title History|url=http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/old/smwtit.htm|access-date=2007-09-18|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012150604/http://100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/old/smwtit.htm|archive-date=2007-10-12}} After dropping the title to Tracy Smothers the following April, Anthony (under his masked Mighty Yankee gimmick) won the SMW Beat the Champ Television Championship in June 1993. While holding this title, he defeated Brian Lee to regain the Heavyweight Championship. He was involved in an angle in which he was kayfabe forced to vacate the Television Championship on August 16, after a series of defenses. The rules stipulated that any wrestler who successfully defended the title five times would be awarded $5000, but be forced to vacate it. Anthony regained the title by beating Robert Gibson on September 13. He won his final SMW Heavyweight Championship on July 5, 1994, by defeating Jake Roberts. He held the title for over six months before losing it to Jerry Lawler on January 28, 1995. Anthony's performance in 1994 earned him his highest ever ranking (No. 25) in the annual PWI 500.{{cite web|title=Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 - 1994|work=Wrestling Information Archive|url=http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi50094.htm|access-date=2007-09-19|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522005445/http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi50094.htm|archive-date=2011-05-22}} Anthony won his final title in SMW on July 6, 1995, teaming with Tracy Smothers (as The Thugs) to defeat The Dynamic Duo (Al Snow and Unabom) for the SMW Tag Team Championship.

=World Wrestling Federation (1996–1997)=

In 1996, Anthony joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He was one of a series of "jobbers with gimmicks" brought into the WWF in 1996 to help elevate the company's stars, alongside Alex "The Pug" Pourteau, Freddie Joe Floyd, the Goon, and Salvatore Sincere. He was given the gimmick of "T. L. Hopper", a wrestling plumber. After a series of vignettes showing Hopper at work, he debuted wearing low hanging jeans and a stained undershirt. He would carry his plunger (named "Betsy") to the ring with him, and celebrate his victories by sticking it in his opponent's face. His biggest win was a "home improvement" match, where he defeated Duke "The Dumpster" Droese.{{cite web|last=Bernardo|first=Mark|title=Rope Dopes: WWE's Lamest Bad Guys|access-date=2007-09-18|url=http://www.stuffmagazine.com/articles/index.aspx?id=1333 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071014055638/http://stuffmagazine.com/articles/index.aspx?id=1333 |archive-date = 2007-10-14}}

Although he did not wrestle on any WWF pay-per-views, he made an appearance during the "Bikini Beach Blast-Off" segment, on the Free For All show immediately preceding SummerSlam 1996. Based on his experience as a plumber, Hopper was chosen to investigate a brown object resembling feces on the bottom of the swimming pool which turned out to be a sausage.{{cite web|last=Reynolds|first=R.D.|work=Wrestlecrap|title=Previous Inductions|url=http://www.wrestlecrap.com/oldinductions.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630045644/http://www.wrestlecrap.com/oldinductions.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 30, 2012|access-date=2007-09-18}} The segment parodied a scene in the movie Caddyshack. He continued wrestling in lower cards matches mainly in house shows until June 1997.

After taking a brief hiatus, he returned to the WWF in September 1997 as Uncle Cletus, coming from the audience to help the heel tag team of The Godwinns (Henry and Phineas Godwinn) in a match against The Headbangers. He hit Mosh in the head with a horseshoe, allowing Phineas to make the pin.{{cite web|last=Meltzer|first=Dave|title=Wrestling Observer: September 3 – 9th, 1997|url=http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/headlines/default.asp?aID=20662|access-date=2007-09-18}} He was then billed as the uncle of the Godwinns, and became the team's manager. At Badd Blood 1997, The Godwinns won the WWF Tag Team Championship, with Cletus in their corner.{{cite web|title=Uncle Cletus Godwinn|url=http://www.wwearchive.com/Uncle%20Cletus%20Godwinn.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327090043/http://www.wwearchive.com/Uncle%20Cletus%20Godwinn.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-03-27|access-date=2007-09-18}} On October 13, Cletus interfered in another match, but his interference backfired and allowed the Legion of Doom to win the title. Following this, the Godwinns attacked Cletus, who was never seen in the WWF again.{{cite web|title=Mark Canterbury|url=http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/bleachers/8813/sojustmac.html|access-date=2007-09-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213205323/http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/bleachers/8813/sojustmac.html|archive-date=2008-02-13}}

=Later career (1997–2006)=

After leaving the WWF, Anthony returned to his home state of Tennessee (where he had maintained considerable fame and popularity) and wrestled for various independents around East Tennessee until retiring from active competition in 2006. In recent years, he played a prominent role in Knoxville's Tennessee Xtreme Wrestling, as its face commissioner.

Championships and accomplishments

American Wrestling Federation
AWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time){{cite book | author=Royal Duncan & Gary Will | title=Wrestling Title Histories | publisher=Archeus Communications | year=2000|edition=4th | isbn=0-9698161-5-4 }}

Continental Wrestling Association
AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Len Denton{{cite book | first1=Royal |last1=Duncan |first2=Gary |last2=Will | title=Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present |location=Waterloo, Ontario |orig-year=2000.|chapter= (Memphis, Nashville) Tennessee: Southern Tag Team Title [Roy Welsch & Nick Gulas, Jerry Jarrett from 1977] | pages= 185–189| publisher=Archeus Communications |year=2006 | isbn=0-9698161-5-4}}{{cite web | url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/cwa/awa-s-t.html | title=Southern Tag Team Title | work=Wrestling-Titles | access-date=January 19, 2020}}
CWA Southwestern Heavyweight Championship (1 time){{cite book| last1=Will | first1=Gary | first2=Royal | last2= Duncan | title=Wrestling Title Histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present | publisher=Archeus Communications | year=2000 | location=Pennsylvania | chapter=Texas: CWA Southwestern Heavyweight title [Jarrett] | page=272 | isbn=0-9698161-5-4}}{{cite web | url=http://www.prowrestlinghistory.com/memphis/titles/cwa.html#southwestern | publisher=ProWrestlingHistory.com | title=CWA Southwestern Title | access-date=November 19, 2016}}

Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame
Class of 2024

New Dimension Wrestling
NDW Hardcore Championship (1 time)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI ranked him #25 of the top 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1994{{cite web|url=http://www.profightdb.com/pwi-500/1994.html |access-date=April 15, 2020 |title=PWI 500 1994 |publisher=The Internet Wrestling Database}}
PWI ranked him #299 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003{{cite web|title=Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers of the PWI Years|work=Wrestling Information Archive|access-date=2007-09-18|url=http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi500yr.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515112842/http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi500yr.htm|archive-date=2011-05-15}}

Smoky Mountain Wrestling
SMW Beat the Champ Television Championship (2 times)
SMW Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
SMW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tracy Smothers
:*SMW Carolina Cup Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Tracy Smothers

Southeastern Championship Wrestling / Continental Championship Wrestling / Continental Wrestling Federation
CWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Jerry Stubbs
NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
NWA Continental Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Jerry Stubbs

Southwest Championship Wrestling
SCW Southwest Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Len Denton{{cite web | url=https://www.f4wonline.com/other-wrestling/daily-pro-wrestling-history-0116-arn-anderson-bobby-eaton-win-wcw-tag-team-titles | title=Pro wrestling history (01/16): Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton win WCW Tag Team Titles | date=January 16, 2019 | access-date=January 18, 2019 | work=Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online | first=Brian | last=Hoops}}