Bob Holly

Early life Robert William Howard was born on January 29, 1962 in Glendale, California, where he and his older brother were raised by his mother. After his mother remarried, the family relocated to Ventura, California and then to Grants Pass, Oregon, where Howard attended Grants Pass High School. After graduating, Howard worked in a beer warehouse before moving to Mobile, Alabama with the mother of his daughter, Stephanie. Howard spent several years working as a mechanic for Meineke (supplementing his income by boxing in bars) before joining Taylor Wharton as a pipe cutter, where he trained as a welder. Howard later moved to Cowin Equipment, where he worked as a mechanic and welder. After an absence of several months, he made a final appearance at a World Championship Wrestling taping on January 21 teaming with Dave Johnson in an unsuccessful effort against The Freebirds in a match that aired February 9, 1991.

Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1991–1992) Holly joined Jim Cornette's new Smoky Mountain Wrestling promotion and made his debut at the company's very first television taping on October 30 in Greenville, South Carolina, defeating Tim Frye. Billed as "Hollywood" Bob Holly, he received a televised push and portrayed a snobbish-street thug, West Coast character. Afterward, he worked for Buck Robley and The NWF out of Louisiana. He teamed with Robert Gibson there as the Rock N Roll Express. In 1993, Holly did not wrestle at all that year and took a hiatus.

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (1994–2009)

Spark Plug (1994–1997)

In 1991, Holly made his initial appearance in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Again, he was portrayed as a jobber using the name "Bob Holly". His sole match was teaming with Mike Sample in a loss to The Bushwhackers on the March 30 edition of WWF Superstars (match was taped on March 11 in Pensacola, Florida).

Holly returned to the WWF on January 11, 1994. By late summer 1994, Holly changed his name to Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly. According to Holly, he went to Vince McMahon and asked him to change his name because he didn't like the name Thurman and his friends and family were teasing him over it, but wanted to keep the NASCAR gimmick, and McMahon agreed.

Holly alongside 1-2-3 Kid took part at WWF World Tag Team Championship Tournament (1995). After defeating Well Dunn and Heavenly Bodies, they reached the finals, which was held at the Royal Rumble in January 1995. There, Holly and the 1–2–3 Kid defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka to crown new WWF Tag Team Champions. Holly, renamed "Bombastic Bob", and Gunn, renamed "Bodacious Bart", were known collectively as The Midnight Express.

In mid-1998, Holly competed in the WWF Brawl for All, a 16-man shootfighting tournament. He was eliminated in the first round by the eventual winner, Bart Gunn, who defeated him on points; Holly has the distinction of being the only one of Gunn's opponents he was unable to knock out. On the August 16, 1999 edition of Raw, Holly introduced his on-screen "cousin" Crash Holly, where both ended up taunting and fighting each other, projecting a rather strained cousins relationship.

They unsuccessfully challenged for the WWF Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam. Although simultaneously arguing over who was the better Holly, they won the WWF Tag Team Championship on the October 18, 1999 edition of Raw, by defeating the Rock 'n' Sock Connection, after Triple H interfered. They lost the titles two weeks later to Mankind and Al Snow on the November 4 edition of SmackDown! The Holly Cousins and Too Cool defeated Edge, Christian and The Hardy Boyz in a traditional four-on-four elimination match at Survivor Series, where Holly was the lone survivor.

On the November 18, 1999 edition of SmackDown!, Holly challenged The Big Show for the WWF Championship, but was defeated. In early 2000, Hardcore Holly pursued the Intercontinental Championship, losing a match against Chyna due to interference from Chris Jericho. He then lost a Triple Threat Match against Chyna and Jericho for the championship at the Royal Rumble, which was won by Jericho. He lost two more subsequent matches to Jericho for the title, ending their feud.

After Crash Holly won the Hardcore Championship on the February 24, 2000 episode of SmackDown!, the cousins began feuding over the title. Holly won the Hardcore Championship in a "hardcore" 13-man battle royal at WrestleMania 2000. He lost the title back to Crash the following night on Raw. He then sporadically challenged for both the Intercontinental and Hardcore championships the following months. Holly then missed several months of ring time due to a legitimately broken arm, suffered in a match with Kurt Angle on the June 29, 2000 edition of SmackDown!. Holly returned on the November 13, 2000 edition of Raw, where Holly, Crash Holly and The Undertaker defeated Edge, Christian, and Kurt Angle in a six-man tag match. At Survivor Series, Holly faced William Regal for the WWF European Championship but lost by disqualification. Holly got a rematch at the title at Armageddon but was defeated by Regal. At the Royal Rumble, Holly competed in the 30-man Royal Rumble match but was eliminated by The Undertaker. In February, Holly won the Hardcore title three more times, but each time re-lost the title moments later under the "24/7 Hardcore rule". Holly competed in the King of the Ring tournament but lost to Kurt Angle in the first round. Then Holly continued teaming with Crash until December 2001.

Various storylines (2002–2006)

In early 2002, Howard worked as one of a collection of trainer/hosts for Tough Enough II, a reality competition television series produced by WWE and MTV where participants underwent professional wrestling training and competed for a contract with WWE. In 2002, Holly turned heel on SmackDown! and began a short feud with Randy Orton. He challenged Lesnar to a match for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble on January 25, 2004, but lost.

During 2004 and early 2005, he formed short-lived tag teams with Billy Gunn, and later Charlie Haas in the hunt for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but was unsuccessful with both partners. He also failed to claim the WWE Championship from John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) in a hardcore match on the October 14 episode of SmackDown!.

In mid-2005, Holly went into singles competition trying to acquire the United States Championship from Orlando Jordan. After being defeated twice by Jordan, Holly finally managed to pick up a non-title win over Jordan via disqualification on WWE Velocity, which aired on August 6, 2005.

Holly then underwent several surgeries to repair nagging injuries. He was hospitalized after a staph infection developed in a right arm wound. The subsequent treatments were a success, however. Holly made his ECW television debut the next night, August 22, appearing in a promo with Paul Heyman, and later attacking Rob Van Dam and Danny Doring during a match. Holly, now as a heel, soon joined with Heyman and his other associates to feud with Van Dam and others.

On September 26, 2006, Holly received 24 stitches from WWE Doctor Ferdinand Rios in his back after suffering a severe laceration during an Extreme Rules match against Rob Van Dam when he landed on the metal railing of a table he was suplexing Van Dam out of the ring and through during an ECW show in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Holly obtained the injury early in the match but continued to wrestle until the match's conclusion when he was pinned. After the match, as he was being helped out of the ring, he received a standing ovation from fans. The legitimate incident caused fans to cheer Holly in the following weeks, leading him to become a face character and a feud with Paul Heyman's other enforcer Test. His second to latest run as a face was short lived as he eventually turned on Rob Van Dam when they were partners in a tag match.

When Sabu was found kayfabe unconscious in the locker room area before the Extreme Elimination Chamber at December to Dismember on December 3, Holly was chosen as his replacement. Holly entered with Rob Van Dam as the first of two combatants. He was the second to be eliminated; he was eliminated by Test by a running big boot. Holly then gave Punk his first loss in ECW; Punk had been undefeated for half a year. After Test replaced Holly in a match against ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley, Holly vowed he would become champion whether he faced Test or Lashley. Holly then was one of the ECW superstars entered in the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2007, but was eliminated by The Great Khali. Holly soon became the number one contender for Lashley's ECW World Championship and faced off against Lashley, albeit unsuccessfully.

On the April 3 episode of ECW, Holly lost to Snitsky. After the match, Snitsky wedged Holly's arm between the steel steps and repeatedly hit the steps with a steel chair, resulting in a broken arm in the storyline. Holly had surgery on April 16 because of a staph infection and missed around five months.

Teaming with Cody Rhodes and departure (2007–2009) Holly's final feud was against rookie Cody Rhodes, who became his protégé. The two won the World Tag Team Championship together. Holly was drafted back to SmackDown! from ECW on June 17, 2007, as part of the Supplemental Draft. Despite his draft, Holly would return to in-ring action on the Raw brand by September 24, 2007, defeating the rookie Cody Rhodes. This match initiated a brief "respect" feud between the two, with Holly defeating Rhodes on the next two episodes of Raw. On the October 22 episode of Raw, Holly turned face when he saved Rhodes from a post-match assault by Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. Holly and Rhodes subsequently teamed up and emerged victorious in a tag team match against Benjamin and Haas the following week. Their teamwork led to a title opportunity when they defeated Paul London and Brian Kendrick and The Highlanders in a WWE.com exclusive match, courtesy of Holly's Alabama Slam. Holly and Rhodes, however, were unsuccessful in their challenge for the World Tag Team Championship at Survivor Series on November 18 against the reigning champions Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch.

Despite this setback, on the December 10, 2007, episode of Raw during the brand’s 15th Anniversary show, Holly and Rhodes captured the World Tag Team Championship from Cade and Murdoch. The pair successfully defended their titles on multiple occasions, including matches against teams like Carlito and Santino Marella, and Paul London and Brian Kendrick.

At the Night of Champions event on June 29, 2008, Rhodes turned on Holly, teaming with Ted DiBiase to defeat Holly and claim the World Tag Team Championship. This marked Holly’s final WWE pay-per-view appearance. Following this, Holly took an extended hiatus from WWE television for seven months. He was released from his contract on January 16, 2009, after 15 years with the company, ending his lengthy tenure with WWE.

In the months preceding his release, Holly faced personal struggles, including a suspension due to a pain pill addiction. The incident that led to this suspension involved Holly being caught stealing painkillers from another wrestler’s bag, which resulted in his immediate placement in rehab.

Later career (2009–2019) In May 2009, Holly traveled to England and wrestled for Varsity Pro Wrestling. On May 26, Holly defeated The UK Kid in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match during which he sustained a rib injury.

On March 19, 2013, Holly, now bald and sporting a new tattoo, made a one night appearance for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as he took part in a six-man tag team match and teamed with James Storm and Magnus to defeat Aces & Eights (D.O.C., Wes Brisco, and Knux) at the TNA One Night Only event Hardcore Justice 2, which was aired on July 5, this was Holly's only match for TNA. Later that year he would wrestle for Southside Wrestling Entertainment and Preston City Wrestling in the U.K. and for Melbourne City Wrestling in Australia.

Auto racing career In 1992, Howard began auto racing in Mobile, Alabama at the Mobile International Speedway. Driving a 1974 Chevrolet Malibu, Howard placed fifth in the 1992 season and won the 1993 season. Howard has been married to Kievet since 2010. who wrestled Holly in June 2010, it was published by ECW Press.

Championships and accomplishments Kamikaze Pro Kamikaze Pro Championship (1 time) Pro Wrestling Illustrated PWI ranked him #41 of the top 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2000 PWI ranked him #391 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003 Under the Lights UTL Lights Out Championship (1 time) World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bodacious Bart WWF Hardcore Championship (6 times) WWF/E World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with The 1–2–3 Kid (1), Crash Holly (1), and Cody Rhodes (1) WWF World Tag Team Championship Tournament (1995) – with The 1-2-3 Kid World Wrestling Organization WWO United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) WWO Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ron Starr