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Giant Bernard
Height: 6'6" (198cm)
Weight: 331lbs (150kg)
Date of Birth: 11/14/74
Place of Birth: Boston, Massachusetts
Debut: 1999 (vs. Big Bossman)
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Title History:
IWGP Tag Team Title (1):
- (w/ Travis Tomko) Manabu Nakanishi & Takao Omori (3/11/07) /
IZW Heavyweight Title (1):
- Peter Goodman (2/1/05) / Vacated (7/15/05)
WWF Intercontinental Title (1):
- Kane (6/28/01) / Lance Storm (7/23/01)
Tournament History:
- New Japan Cup 2006: Giant Bernard beat Yuji Nagata (19:40) with the Bernard Driver.
- G1 Tag League 2007: Giant Bernard & Travis Tomko beat Hiroshi Tanahashi & Koji Kanemoto (18:02) when Bernard used the Bernard bomb on Kanemoto.
Signature Moves:
- Bernard bomb
- Bernard Driver
- Corner press
- Mt. Fuji drop
Profile:
An American Football star at the University of Pittsburgh, Matt Bloom briefly played in the NFL for the San Diego Chargers. After that, he became a schoolteacher, working with special needs children, before becoming a professional wrestler. After several years of independent work, he made his formal WWF debut in 1999 against the late Big Bossman as Prince Albert (later renamed Albert, then A-Train). He enjoyed a long stay with the WWF, the highlights including a reign as WWF Intercontinental Champion, which he won from Kane, and a feuds with the likes of Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker. Late in 2004, he left the WWF and in 2005, he advanced on the Japanese pro wrestling scene as Giant Bernard, named loosely after former gaijin star, Brute Bernard. He enjoyed a successful stint in All Japan throughout 2005 as a member of the Voodoo Murders villain army, defeating the likes of Keiji Muto, Kensuke Sasaki, and Satoshi Kojima. Seeking a new challenge, he joined New Japan and started up at the Tokyo Dome in January, 2006, making an instant impact by defeating Manabu Nakanishi. He immediately became a key player, and in April of 2006 won the second New Japan Cup, defeating Yuji Nagata in a memorable final and becoming one of the few foreigners to win a New Japan tournament in the modern era. Since then, Bernard as established himself as one of New Japan's most lethal wrestlers and is considered one of the top foreign wrestlers in Japan.
