Ken Shamrock
From OTMWiki
| Ken Shamrock | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Nickname | Ken Shamrock |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
| Weight | 235 lb (107 kg) |
| Born | February 11,1964 |
| Fighting out of | Susanville, Ca (Dallas, Tx) |
| Town of birth | Macon, Georgia |
| Fighting style | Shootfighting/Submission fighting |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Wins | 26 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| By submission | 22 |
| Losses | 10 |
| Draws | 2 |
| No contests | |
Ken Shamrock (born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick on February 11, 1964 in Macon, Georgia) is an American mixed martial arts fighter. He is best known for his participation in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and for his professional wrestling career with the World Wrestling Federation and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Ken has written two books, Beyond the Lion's Den[1], and Inside the Lion's Den[2] Tuttle Publishing.
Contents |
MMA Career
Shamrock competed in the first Ultimate Fighting Championship show in November of 1993 where he progressed to the semi-finals, losing to eventual tournament winner Royce Gracie. Afterwards, Shamrock vowed to avenge his loss to Gracie. However, it would be nearly a year and a half later before he would get his chance. At UFC 5 in May of 1995, Shamrock and Gracie squared off in the UFC's first ever "Superfight." Unfortunately, the match did not live up to expectations. At UFC 5 the UFC had instituted time limits and Shamrock and Gracie fought for the entire allotted time of 30 minutes along with 5 minutes of overtime before the match was declared a draw. Shamrock would go on to fight in further UFC Superfights against Dan Severn, Oleg Taktarov and Kimo Leopoldo. As of 2006, Ken is still making occasional appearances in the UFC.
Shamrock also founded the Lion's Den, a group dedicated to the training of mixed martial arts fighters. Many Lion's Den fighters such as Pete Williams, Jerry Bolander, and Tra Telligman have achieved a modicum of success in mixed martial arts.
Shamrock's Lion's Den has engaged in a feud with former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz. Ortiz defeated Lion's Den fighters Jerry Bolander and Guy Mezger, eventually facing Shamrock in one of the highest selling mixed martial arts Pay Per View events of all time in the United States. At UFC 40, Ortiz defeated Shamrock when Shamrock's corner threw in the towel.
April 9, 2005, proved to be a turning point in Shamrock's career and future in mixed martial arts. In the main event, the first ever UFC appearance on basic cable TV, on the popular reality series The Ultimate Fighter finale, Shamrock faced rising star Rich Franklin in a light heavyweight bout. Although Shamrock had more experience and even managed to get Franklin in a painful submission he was defeated by a TKO in the first round when slipping while executing a kick which Franklin took advantage of, thus instantly establishing Franklin as a legitimate threat to other UFC competitors.
On October 24, 2005 Shamrock lost to fellow mixed martial arts legend Kazushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba in PRIDE: Fully Loaded, by TKO. The decision to stop the fight was considered controversial by some parties, including Shamrock himself, since he was able to bounce up off the canvas right after being knocked down. However, Ken had turned his back to Sakuraba and because he wasn't intelligently defending himself, the referee stopped the fight. His own brother Frank Shamrock commented on the stoppage in an interview with the site Sherdog.com: "…if you’re sleeping with your head through the second rope, you’re in a bad way. He got clocked. He went down. According to the rules he was no longer defending himself and that’s the end of the fight. Was it early? Sure it was early. But was he getting his ass kicked? Yeah. It just depends on how you want to look at it. I tried to look at it abstractly and I saw a guy sleeping with his head through the second rope. That’s not good, because if I’m there, please somebody stop this."[3]
On November 19, 2005 at UFC 56, Dana White, the UFC president, announced that Shamrock would be one of the coaches (along with Tito Ortiz) for the upcoming third season of The Ultimate Fighter. At UFC 61 Shamrock and Ortiz will have a rematch of their UFC 40 fight.
Pro Wrestling Career
Shamrock started as a professional wrestler in small promotions in the Carolinas, being managed by Paul Jones, and from there he went to Japan, namely the Japanese UWF and its successor promotions, Fujiwara Gumi and Pancrase.
After gaining national attention in the UFC Ken Shamrock entered the WWE, where he was billed as "The World's Most Dangerous Man," in 1997 as a special referee in the submission match between Bret Hart and Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13. He began wrestling for the company, and earned a WWE Championship match against Shawn Michaels at the D-Generation X Pay-Per-View. He won the match via disqualification, thus not winning the title, but shortly after he began a feud with The Rock over the Intercontinental Championship.
The two feuded all through the first half of 1998 with Shamrock defeating the Rock at the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania XIV but having both decisions reveresed on account of disqualification.
Shamrock again defeated The Rock in the finals of the 1998 King of the Ring. The next night on Monday Night RAW Shamrock won a triple threat match against previous Kings of the Ring, Triple H and Owen Hart. The next week he fought Mabel after he attacked Shamrock during a match with Jeff Jarrett. Shamrock won the Intercontinental Championship in a tournament in October, 1998, and joined Vince McMahon's Corporation faction as a heel. While the Intercontinental Champion, he also won the WWE World Tag Team Championship with the late Big Bossman. Leading up to WrestleMania XV Shamrock was involved in a four-way feud with Billy Gunn, Goldust, and Val Venis centered around his fictional "sister" Ryan Shamrock. He had started a minor feud with then-newcomer Chris Jericho until his sudden departure from the company.
After leaving WWE Shamrock joined the new Total Nonstop Action Wrestling company, and won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at their inaugural show. He left the company after a few months of service, however he later reappeared when the company debuted their iMPACT TV show. Once again this was short lived, as Shamrock became disenchanted with the staged aspects of pro wrestling. Shamrock left the company a month after re-joining.
Other Appearances
He appeared in the films Champions, Virtuosity, and Scarecrow Gone Wild and he appeared in an episode of That 70's Show.
MMA Record
26 wins (2 KO's, 22 submissions, 2 decisions), 10 losses (4 KO's, 4 submissions, 2 decisions), 2 draw.
Wrestling facts
Finishing and signature moves
- Ankle lock
- Belly To Belly Suplex
- Fisherman Suplex
- Vertical Suplex
- Abdominal Stretch
- Powerslam
- Powerbomb
- Kimura
- Heel Hook
- Rear Naked Choke
- Guillotine Choke
- Kneebar
- Back Body Drop
- Biel Throw
- Roundhouse Kick
- Hurricanrana
- Jumping Calf Kick
- Clothesline
- Headlock
- Snapmare
Quotes
- "I'm the World's Most Dangerous Man"
- "I'm in the zone!"
- "Get out of my way!"
- "I smell blood!"
- "It's time to knuckle up!"
- "Let's get it on!"
- "You used me... now I'm going to abuse you!"
- "I'm gonna beat you into the living death."
Championships and accomplishments
- Mixed Martial Arts
- Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling
- 1994 King of Pancrasist (first)
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- 2x UFC Superfight Champion
- UFC Hall of Fame Inductee
- Pancrase Hybrid Wrestling
- Professional wrestling
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him # 226 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.
- PWI Most Improved Wrestler Award (1997)
- South Atlantic Pro Wrestling
- 1-time SAPW Heavyweight Champion
- Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
- World Wrestling Federation
- 1-time WWF Intercontinental Champion
- 1-time WWF World Tag Team Champion with The Big Boss Man
- 1998 King of the Ring
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- 2002 Feud of the Year (versus Tito Ortiz)
Championship succession
| WWF Intercontinental Championship | ||
| Preceded by: Vacant | First | Followed by: Val Venis |
| WWF World Tag Team Championship | ||
| Preceded by: New Age Outlaws | First, with The Big Boss Man | Followed by: Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett |
| King of the Ring winner | ||
| Preceded by: Triple H | First (1998) | Followed by: Billy Gunn |
| NWA World Heavyweight Championship | ||
| Preceded by: Vacant | First | Followed by: Ron Killings |
Personal Life:
He legally changed his name to Ken Shamrock in tribute to Bob Shamrock, owner of the Shamrock Ranch, a facility for troubled boys in Susanville, California, who was instrumental in turning Shamrock's life around as a teenager. Along with his brother Frank Shamrock, he is adopted. According to Shamrock, he lived in cars and was abandoned as a child. This was also included in his character in the WWF. He is the head trainer of the Lion's Den, a school of shoot-fighting, or what is more commonly referred to as submission fighting.
Ken has 3 sons: Ryan, Connor, and Shawn and 1 daughter with his first wife. He has 3 step children with his second wife Tonya.
Ryan Shamrock, a character played on-screen in the WWF, is not really Shamrock's sister. In fact, they dated for a brief period before breaking up in 2003.
