Cincinnati Red

Gregory Scott Daves (October 17, 1974 – March 20, 2015) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known by his ring name Cincinnati Red.

Professional wrestling career

National Wrestling Conference (1995, 1997) After training with Bill Anderson and Jesse Hernandez, Daves debuted under the ring name Blackjack Daniels, based on The Blackjacks (Blackjack Mulligan and Blackjack Lanza) tag team. He soon renamed himself to Cincinnati Red and joined the National Wrestling Conference, where he debuted on March 17, 1995, in a three-on-one handicap match, which he, RJ Rodriguez and The Wild Renegade lost to SWAT. Later that night, Red lost to The Thug. Red would continue to be used as an enhancement talent in the NWC, losing to the likes of Jim Neidhart, Don Juan and Larry Power. On August 25, Red teamed with Billy Anderson to form The Mercenaries, but they lost to Aerial Assault (Bobby Bradley and Rob Van Dam) in the first round of a tournament for the Tag Team Championship.

While on hiatus from in-ring competition, Daves and fellow wrestler Gary Key opened up The Grappler's Den, a wrestling school based in Oxnard, California. The Grappler's Den soon expanded into a promotion and was subsequently named the Impact Wrestling Federation. The IWF would go on to run shows within and throughout Ventura County, including Simi Valley, Oxnard, and Port Hueneme. In late 1999, Red and Key sold the IWF to fellow wrestler Steve "Navajo Warrior" Islas, who subsequently renamed the promotion to Impact Zone Wrestling. After the sale of the IWF, Daves continued to teach in wrestling schools, with one of his most notable students being future world champion Samoa Joe. He held the title for 168 days.

On June 1, 2001, Daves and The Dog defeated Big Red Machine and Fake Scotty 2 Hotty by disqualification in a match for All Star Wrestling. On May 14, 2006, Red won the first Great Goliath Battle Royal, an annual battle royal held in honor of Pablo Crispin, who competed as The Great Goliath and trained Jesse Hernandez. As a result of winning the match, he was awarded both a trophy and also a match for the Heavyweight Championship. Instead, he forfeited his title match and gave his trophy to Paloma Crispin, Goliath's daughter.

Millennium Pro Wrestling (2010) After leaving the EWF, Daves returned to Millennium Pro Wrestling on May 29, 2010, for their Not Another Pointless Reboot event. He faced his former protégé "Lethal" Logan X in a "Hair vs. Badge" match. He was managed by Tex Tunney. Logan proved victorious and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper was given the distinction of cutting Red's trademark hair.

Death On March 20, 2015, Jesse Hernandez, who promotes the Empire Wrestling Federation and trained Daves, announced that Daves had died from a heart attack. Impact Wrestling Federation IWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time) IWF Western States Championship (1 time) Millennium Pro Wrestling MPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) SoCal Uncensored Awards Wrestler of the Year (1999) United Independent Wrestling Alliance UIWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) UIWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Johnny Hemp