Robert Howard
Robert William Howard is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his 15-year stint with the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring names Thurman "Sparky" Plugg, Bob Holly, Bombastic Bob and Hardcore Holly. After debuting in 1990, Holly worked for Smoky Mountain Wrestling and other independent promotions, before joining WWE full-time in 1994. Initially portraying the character of a NASCAR driver, Thurman "Sparky" Plugg, his name was soon changed to Bob "Spark Plug" Holly, before forming a team with Bodacious Bart, known as The New Midnight Express in 1998. After becoming known simply as "Hardcore Holly" in 1999, he was joined by on-screen cousins, Crash and Molly. In 2002, he suffered a broken neck, which sidelined him for over a year. Upon his return, he engaged in minor feuds with wrestlers such as Mr. Kennedy and Rob Van Dam, before forming a tag team with Cody Rhodes in 2007. Holly was released from WWE in 2009. During his career, Holly has held the WWF/E Hardcore Championship six times, the WWF/E Tag Team Championship three times (with 1–2–3 Kid, Crash Holly and Cody Rhodes), and the NWA World Tag Team Championship once with Bart Gunn. Howard's autobiography, titled The Hardcore Truth: The Bob Holly Story was released in the United States on April 1, 2013. Co-authored by former British wrestler Ross Owen Williams, an actor and writer[63] who wrestled Holly in June 2010, it was published by ECW Press. Reviews of the book were positive, with Nolan Howell of Canoe.com describing it as a "straightforward look into the life of a man that has dedicated himself to the sport of professional wrestling" and has "an endearing, personal style that gives an apt representation of the author...For fans such as myself who appreciated the blunt style of the man known as Hardcore Holly, this ECW Press product will be an entertaining, worthwhile look into one of the unique personalities of professional wrestling." Joe Babinsack, writing for the Wrestling Observer, described the book as "brutal, boisterous and definitely worth reading". Bruce Mitchell, writing for the Pro Wrestling Torch, described the book as "hard-hitting, straightforward, and not very fancy", rating it "one of the strongest professional wrestling books in a long while". Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer wrote, "in a lot of books, you think you're reading what the person writing feels is the right thing to say for their career... With Holly, whether you agree or not (and I agreed with some of his stuff, not others), I had no doubt he was giving his true opinions on things. In that sense, it was a very honest look at a period of WWF history from a guy who had ups and downs... but survived a long time."
Known For
Credits
- 2017 · WWE: WrestleMania Monday as Bob Holly
- 2016 · The History of The WWE Hardcore Championship as
- 2014 · WWE: Attitude Era: Vol. 2 as Hardcore Holly
- 2013 · TNA One Night Only Hardcore Justice 2 as Bob Holly
- 2012 · WWE: Falls Count Anywhere: The Greatest Street Fights and Other Out of Control Matches as
- 2012 · WWE: The Best of SmackDown - 10th Anniversary, 1999-2009 as Hardcore Holly (archive footage)
- 2011 · WWE: OMG! The Top 50 Incidents in WWE History as Himself
- 2010 · Ring Roasts III: The Roast of Jim Cornette as Self
- 2010 · WWE: Satan's Prison - The Anthology of the Elimination Chamber as Hardcore Holly
- 2010 · YouShoot: Bob Holly as Himself
- 2010 · Chris Benoit: The Aftermath as Himself
- 2009 · The Marine 2 as Linwood's Left
- 2008 · WWE Night of Champions 2008 as Hardcore Holly
- 2008 · WWE WrestleMania XXIV as Hardcore Holly
- 2008 · WWE Royal Rumble 2008 as Hardcore Holly
- 2007 · WWE Survivor Series 2007 as Hardcore Holly
- 2007 · WWE Royal Rumble 2007 as Hardcore Holly
- 2006 · ECW December to Dismember as Hardcore Holly
- 2006 · WWE ECW as Hardcore Holly
- 2006 · WWE WrestleMania 22 as Hardcore Holly
- 2005 · WWE No Mercy 2005 as Hardcore Holly
- 2005 · WWE Judgment Day 2005 as Hardcore Holly
- 2005 · WWE WrestleMania 21 as Hardcore Holly
- 2005 · WWE Royal Rumble 2005 as Hardcore Holly
- 2004 · WWE Armageddon 2004 as Hardcore Holly
- 2004 · WWE The Great American Bash 2004 as Hardcore Holly
- 2004 · WWE Judgment Day 2004 as Hardcore Holly
- 2004 · WWE No Way Out 2004 as Hardcore Holly
- 2004 · WWE Royal Rumble 2004 as Hardcore Holly
- 2003 · WWE Survivor Series 2003 as Hardcore Holly
- 2002 · WWE Global Warning as Hardcore Holly
- 2002 · WWE Velocity as Hardcore Holly
- 2002 · WWE Wrestlemania X8 as Hardcore Holly
- 2001 · WWF Action! as Hardcore Holly
- 2001 · WWF: Hardcore as Hardcore Holly
- 2001 · WWE Tough Enough as Hardcore Holly
- 2001 · WWE Insurrextion 2001 as Hardcore Holly
- 2001 · WWE No Way Out 2001 as Hardcore Holly
- 2001 · WWE Royal Rumble 2001 as Hardcore Holly
- 2000 · WWE Armageddon 2000 as Hardcore Holly
- 2000 · WWE Survivor Series 2000 as Hardcore Holly
- 2000 · WWE Backlash 2000 as Hardcore Holly
- 2000 · WWE WrestleMania 2000 as Hardcore Holly
- 2000 · Operation Sandman as Sturner
- 2000 · WWE Royal Rumble 2000 as Hardcore Holly
- 1999 · WWE Armageddon 1999 as Hardcore Holly
- 1999 · WWE Survivor Series 1999 as Hardcore Holly
- 1999 · WWE No Mercy 1999 as Hardcore Holly
- 1999 · WWE Rebellion 1999 as Hardcore Holly
- 1999 · ECW on TNN as Hardcore Holly
- 1999 · WWE SummerSlam 1999 as Hardcore Holly
- 1999 · WWE King of the Ring 1999 as Hardcore Holly
- 1999 · WWE Over the Edge as Hardcore Holly
- 1999 · WWE SmackDown as Hardcore Holly
- 1999 · WWE Backlash: In Your House as Hardcore Holly
- 1999 · WWE WrestleMania XV as Hardcore Holly
- 1999 · WWE St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House as Hardcore Holly
- 1998 · Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows as Bob 'Spark Plugg' Holly (archive footage)
- 1998 · WWE Rock Bottom: In Your House as Bob Holly
- 1998 · WWE King of the Ring 1998 as "Bombastic" Bob Holly
- 1998 · WWE Unforgiven: In Your House as "Bombastic" Bob
- 1998 · WWE WrestleMania XIV as "Bombastic" Bob Holly
- 1996 · WWE Survivor Series 1996 as Bob Holly (Free-for-All)
- 1996 · WWE Royal Rumble 1996 as Bob Holly
- 1995 · WWE Survivor Series 1995 as Bob Holly
- 1995 · WWE SummerSlam 1995 as Bob "Spark Plug" Holly
- 1995 · WWE King of the Ring 1995 as Bob "Spark Plug" Holly
- 1995 · WWE Royal Rumble 1995 as Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly
- 1995 · WWE WrestleFest '95 as Bob Holly
- 1994 · WWF SummerSlam Spectacular 1994: Sunday Night Slam as Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly
- 1994 · WWE Royal Rumble 1994 as Thurman "Sparky " Plugg
- 1993 · ECW Hardcore TV as Hardcore Holly
- 1993 · WWE Raw as Thurman "Sparky " Plugg
- 1993 · WWE Raw as Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly
- 1993 · WWE Raw as Hardcore Holly
- 1993 · WWE Raw as Bob Holly
- 1993 · WWE Raw as Bombastic Bob
- 1986 · WWF Wrestling Challenge as Bob Holly