Dan Lopez
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| Dan Lopez | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Dan Maff Danny Maff Mafia Mafia Mack |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
| Billed weight | 250 lb (113 kg) |
| Born | Newark, New Jersey |
| Billed from | Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York |
| Trained by | Homicide Magic |
| Debut | 1999 |
Dan Lopez (b. October 28, 19??) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Dan (Danny) Maff. He retired in March 2005 following an as of yet undisclosed incident involving his trainer, Homicide, and remained inactive until returning in October 2005.
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[edit] Career
Lopez attended Jersey All Pro Wrestling shows as a fan, and enrolled in the JAPW training school when it opened in the late 1990s. After training for several months in the JAPW school, Lopez began attending Homicide's training school, The Doghouse, in New York City after impressing Homicide with his work ethic. When his training was completed in 1999, Lopez adopted the name Mafia and formed a tag team with another Doghouse graduate who he resembled, Monsta Mack.
[edit] Da Hit Squad
Mafia and Mack, collectively known as Da Hit Squad, began wrestling on the northeastern independent circuit. They won tag team titles in JAPW in 1999 and in Jersey Championship Wrestling in 2000. In 2001, Da Hit Squad won titles in World Xtreme Wrestling and USA Pro Wrestling. At one stage they held a total of six titles between them. By 2002, they were one of the most dominant tag teams in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
After Mack injured his leg, he was unable to defend his half of the JAPW Tag Team Championships in a scheduled match on January 25, 2003 against the Dirty Rotten Scoundrelz. Lopez defended the titles single handedly in a de facto handicap match, and, though he was defeated, his tenacity impressed the JAPW officials.
[edit] Jersey All Pro Wrestling
Lopez won his first singles Heavyweight Championship on February 22, 2003 in Woodbridge, New Jersey, defeating his trainer, Homicide. Inspired by his victory, Lopez turned face by leaving Mack, who he defeated in a match for USA Pro Wrestling on March 8.
Following a successful title defence against Slyk Wagner Brown, Lopez announced his retirement from professional wrestling, much to the dismay of the JAPW fans. That same evening, Lopez reverted to being a heel by renaming himself Dan Maff and forming a stable with the Dirty Rotten Scoundrelz known as La Familia.
Lopez's title reign came to an end on August 1, 2003, when he was defeated by Al Snow, a WWE employee brought into JAPW as an outside challenger. He won the title for a second time on December 13, 2003, defeating Jerry Lawler in Secaucus, New Jersey.
On February 28, 2004, Lopez defended the JAPW Heavyweight Championship against his former partner, Monsta Mack. Lopez retained the title, and embraced Mack after the match in a show of respect and camaraderie. The Dirty Rotten Scoundrelz were disgusted by the show of sportsmanship, and attacked Lopez as he tried to leave the ring. Mack returned to the ring, but, instead of helping his former partner, assisted the Soundrelz with their assault on Lopez. Mack then formed a new version of La Familia with the Soundrelz, and enlisted a number of heels to try and take the title away from Lopez.
Lopez fought off a number of challengers, including ECW alumnus Mike Awesome. He eventually turned heel once again, and engaged in a lengthy feud for the JAPW Heavyweight Championship with the number one contender, Jay Lethal.
[edit] Ring of Honor
Lopez (as Mafia) and Mack appeared on The Era of Honor Begins, the inaugural Ring of Honor event, on February 23, 2002, attacking the Christopher Street Connection. They feuded with the CSC for several weeks before beginning a series of hardcore matches with The Carnage Crew, H.C. Loc and DeVito. In 2003, Da Hit Squad formed a loose alliance with Homicide.
Lopez turned heel by betraying Mack on April 12, 2003, at Epic Encounter. Later that evening, Lopez went to the ring immediately after a match between Homicide and Christopher Daniels and indicated that he had joined forces with Daniels and his stable, The Prophecy. Lopez was renamed Dan Maff and designated "the assassin of The Prophecy".
Lopez's singles career in ROH began on May 31 at Do Or Die, where he defeated B.J. Whitmer with the assistance of Allison Danger, the valet of The Prophecy. Following his victory, Lopez was confronted by two of Homicide's former students, Julius Smokes and Low-Ki, who accused him of "forgetting his roots".
On June 14 at Night of the Grudges, The Prophecy (Lopez, Daniels and Donovan Morgan) defeated rival faction The Group, with Lopez pinning ROH World Champion Samoa Joe. This led to a title match at WrestleRave '03 on June 28, where Joe defeated Lopez to retain. It was announced before the match that Lopez's father had died the previous night, which meant that Lopez, nominally a heel, enjoyed the support of the audience for the duration of the match.
Lopez and the rest of The Prophecy continued to feud with Homicide and his supporters, leading to a match between Lopez and Low-Ki at Bitter Friends, Stiffer Enemies on August 16. The match was halted when Lopez was legitimately knocked unconscious following a poorly timed kick by the notoriously stiff Low-Ki.
In late-2003, Lopez competed in the annual Field Of Honor event, but was eliminated by B.J. Whitmer. Whitmer joined The Prophecy on December 22 at Final Battle 2003, and confessed that he had been behind a career-ending attack on Lucy, the valet of CM Punk, earlier that year. This infuriated Lopez, who had been disgusted by the brutal attack, and had sworn on his father's grave to Punk that The Prophecy had nothing to do with the attack. Lopez called Whitmer a "scumbag" but was admonished by Daniels, who claimed that the attack was part of his plan to destroy ROH.
Lopez and Whitmer began teaming together in 2004 after Daniels left ROH, and, along with Allison Danger, continued their feud with CM Punk and the Second City Saints. They defeated the Saints in a match for the ROH Tag Team Championships on May 15, 2004 in Lexington, but lost the titles to Mark and Jay Briscoe that same evening.
On June 12, 2004, at World Title Classic, Lopez and Whitmer defeated three other teams in a thirty five minute long Ultimate Endurance Match in which they earned the respect of the ROH fans. After the match, Lopez convinced Whitmer to discard both the Prophecy name and the managerial services of Allison Danger, claiming that they no longer needed a leader or a manager and could now win matches on their own merits. Danger was furious, and placed a bounty on the heads of Lopez and Whitmer. They spent several months feuding with teams sent after them by Danger, including Slash Venom and Chicano and The Carnage Crew. On December 26 at Final Battle 2004 they defeated the Carnage Crew in a "fight without honor" and shook hands with their opponents after the match.
Whitmer and Lopez captured the ROH Tag Team Championships for a second time at the third ROH anniversary show on February 19, 2005 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, defeating the Havana Pitbulls.
[edit] Retirement
In March 2005 Homicide issued a number of statements, accusing Lopez of "betraying" him, calling Lopez a "pedophile" and announcing that he would not work for any company which hired Lopez in the future.[citation needed] As a result, Lopez was essentially blackballed from dozens of promotions, and thus retired from professional wrestling. The titles which he held at the time were vacated. While JAPW openly acknowledged the situation between Lopez and Homicide, ROH kayfabed Lopez's depature by announcing that he had been forced into retirement following a car accident.
[edit] Return to the ring
Lopez broke his retirement on October 8, unsuccessfully challenging El Chicano for the IWA Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship in Levittown.
[edit] Finishing and signature moves
- Burning Hammer (Inverted Death Valley driver)
- Diving headbutt
- Half nelson suplex
- Elbow smash
- Cannonball
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
- Impact Championship Wrestling
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- 1-time ICW Tag Team Champion (with Monsta Mack)
- Jersey All Pro Wrestling
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- 2-time JAPW Heavyweight Champion
- 5-time JAPW Tag Team Champion (with Monsta Mack)
- Jersey Championship Wrestling
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- 2-time JCW Tag Team Champion (1-time with Low Ki, 1-time with Monsta Mack)
- NAWA
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- 1-time NAWA Tag Team Champion (with Monsta Mack)
- 1-time NAWA United States Tag Team Champion (with Monsta Mack)
-
- 2-time ROH Tag Team Champion (with B.J. Whitmer)
- UCW
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- 1-time UCW Tag Team Champion (with Monsta Mack)
- USA Pro Wrestling
-
- 2-time USA Pro Tag Team Champion (with Monsta Mack)
- World Xtreme Wrestling
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- 2-time WXW Tag Team Champion (with Monsta Mack)
