Tony Stetson

Early life Matteo grew up on the corner of at South 11th Street and West Ritner Street in South Philadelphia. He attended Saint John Neumann High School.

Professional wrestling career

Early career Matteo trained as a professional wrestler at Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory in Burlington County. Stetson would eventually debut in 1985 facing fellow Monster Factory alumni Bam Bam Bigelow at a World Wrestling Federation television taping at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York, on December 9, 1985. Matteo originally wrestled as "Tony Matteo", adopting the ring name "Tony Stetson" after overhearing color commentator Bruno Sammartino mispronounce his name. Several months later, Stetson defeated Hotbody in a Hair vs Hair match. The following month, in March, he lost to Koloff in a Russian deathmatch. He was involved in many high-profile rivalries with the company's top stars throughout the year, making a name for himself during the initial days of ECW. His first success came when he began teaming with Larry Winters on December 19, where the duo lost their match due to interference by the Tag Team Champions The Super Destroyers. As a result, Stetson and Winters began feuding with Super Destroyers for the Tag Team Championship, with the former defeating the Super Destroyers to win the tag titles on the May 11, 1993, episode of NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling. Stetson and Winters lost the titles to The Suicide Blondes (Chris Candido and Johnny Hotbody) on the May 25 episode of Eastern Championship Wrestling. Stetson defeated Winters in a first blood match at Super Summer Sizzler Spectacular on June 19.

Stetson moved on to singles competition, during which he defeated Tommy Cairo to win the Pennsylvania Heavyweight Championship on the September 14 episode of Eastern Championship Wrestling. The title was neither defended nor mentioned on television again, thus being retired with Stetson as the final champion. The following month, Stetson began teaming with Johnny Hotbody when duo were awarded the Tag Team Championship at NWA Bloodfest: Part 1 on October 1, after the title was vacated due to Eddie Gilbert and The Dark Patriot (Eddie's brother Doug Gilbert) quitting the company. The Sandman and J.T. Smith and The Bad Breed before dropping them to the team of Tommy Dreamer and Johnny Gunn at November to Remember. He went on a hiatus and returned to the renamed Extreme Championship Wrestling at a live event on September 30, where he was pinned by Tommy Dreamer.

The Broad Street Bully (1995–1996)

In February 1995 at Return of the Funker, Stetson and his tag team partner Johnny Hotbody joined the Raven's Nest group after Raven made his ECW debut and their tag team was named "The Broad Street Bullies", a reference to the Philadelphia Flyers ice hockey team. At Three Way Dance on April 8, the Bullies were defeated by The Pitbulls in a match which stipulated that Bullies would be fired by Raven's Nest should they lose. As a result, Stetson reverted to being a fan favorite. He continued to develop his "Broad Street Bully" character as he began wearing a hockey jersey and gloves and carrying a hockey stick to the ring. Matteo reprised the Broad Street Bully character at Hardcore Heaven and November to Remember, both events took place in Philadelphia. Stetson competed as a mid-card wrestler for the remainder of the year, suffering losses to Hack Myers, Val Puccio, Bull Pain and JT Smith before departing the company in 1996, ending his four year-run with ECW. His last match took place at the House Party event, where he teamed with JT Smith against The Bad Crew in a tag team match, which ended in a no contest.

Later career Going into semi-retirement by the mid-1990s, Stetson worked coordinating supply distribution for Methodist Hospital. In 1999, he joined promoter Lisa Constantino's Central Wrestling Coalition based in South Philadelphia. Teaming up with his old Manager Gianni Corleone (also known as "The Godfather" and The Equalizer early in his career), he feuded with Breaker Morant over the CWC Heavyweight Championship during the next two years in the promotion. Pro Wrestling Illustrated PWI ranked him #433 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2010 Tri-State Wrestling Alliance TWA Bar Wars Championship (1 time)