"The Boogeyman", Martin (Marty) Wright[1] (born October 31, 1964)[1] is an American professional wrestler and actor best known by his ring name The Boogeyman. He is signed to World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling on its ECW brand.
Tough Enough
Wright first entered the world of professional wrestling by applying to take part in the fourth season of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) produced reality television competition Tough Enough. On October 15, 2004, he attended a fifty man, two day event in Venice Beach, California, where he was among eight finalists chosen. After surviving the first day of eliminations, however, he admitted that he was actually 40 years old ? five years over the competition's cut off point ? and not 30 as he'd claimed.[1] As a result he was cut from the competition.[1]
Ohio Valley Wrestling
Though he'd been cut from Tough Enough, WWE officials invited him to come to their developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) for possible training. He trained between January and June 2005, making his OVW debut on June 25, 2005.
During a dark match pitting the team of Seth Skyfire and Robert Fury against Robbie Dawber and his partner, Wright entered the ring and squashed all three men, no-selling the offense of Skyfire in the process. He then announced that he was "The Boogeyman" before leaving the building. The Boogeyman gimmick further evolved into a "monster" face who would appear when another wrestler said his name and attack him, while not selling any offense he received.
SmackDown
On the July 11, 2005 episode of WWE Raw, horror movie style vignettes began airing to promote the debut of Wright in his "Boogeyman" persona. After a few weeks the vignettes were moved from Raw to SmackDown!, but his planned debut was delayed when he hyperextended both knees and needed time to recover.
The Boogeyman made his first appearance on the October 13, 2005 SmackDown!. He was brought in by UPN Network Executive Palmer Cannon, who claimed he was going to be a part of another (unspecified) UPN show that never came to be due to an on-set "accident" involving The Boogeyman; it was implied he'd "done something" to another member of the cast, but never elaborated on. Cannon said he brought him to the SmackDown! brand as part of a "new talent initiative". The Boogeyman then proceeded to recite a version of the nursery rhyme Buckle My Shoe before smashing an oversized alarm clock on his own head. The Boogeyman continued to "terrorize" other Superstars for the next couple of months. For the next few weeks The Boogeyman (who was then a tweener) appeared in unexpected places backstage (closets, vans, et cetera), reciting different nursery rhymes and holding up clocks before screaming his catch phrase "I'm The Boogeyman and I'm comin' to get'cha!" and laughing maniacally. This would leave the performer(s) that had discovered him both confused and creeped out, usually ending with them backing out of the room slowly while the commentators remarked on how strange the whole situation was.
At the 2005 Survivor Series, The Boogeyman turned out to be a face as he helped SmackDown! General Manager Theodore Long defeat his Raw counterpart, Eric Bischoff, with a Pumphandle slam. He made his official in-ring SmackDown! debut on the December 2, defeating Simon Dean in a squash that saw him repeatedly scream, "I'm the Boogeyman!" at a confused and terrified Dean. It was during this match that another regular part of his persona came to light when he took a handful of live worms from his pocket and stuffed them into his mouth as commentators Michael Cole and Tazz screamed in disgust. For the next few weeks, The Boogeyman won numerous squash matches. Invariably these matches were short on actual wrestling content, instead focusing on the antics of The Boogeyman. Opponents were generally "flattened" in the ring, left with worms in their mouths and/or spit on their faces. His official pay-per-view debut was at December's Armageddon when he came to the ring to confront Vito and Nunzio who were dressed as Santa Claus and an elf. Though Nunzio was able to escape, Vito ended up with worms shoved into his mouth. SmackDown! announcer Michael Cole claimed in an interview that Wright eats worms backstage as well.[3]
Boogeyman's first major feud occurred with JBL and his "fixer" Jillian Hall, began when he stalked the duo throughout a number of shows. During an episode of SmackDown! he caught a fleeing Hall and shoved worms down the back of her skirt. In another, during a Piper's Pit segment, he not only sniffed the "growth" on Jillian's face, but licked it and bit it off. Layfield and The Boogeyman eventually met in a one on one contest at the 2006 Royal Rumble, with Boogeyman picking up the win in under two minutes.
A subsequent feud with Booker T, which saw him again stalking a wrestler and his female companion (this time Booker's wife Sharmell) culminated at WrestleMania 22, when Boogeyman pinned Booker T after kissing Sharmell while holding a mouthful of worms. The match was exceptionally short because shortly before WrestleMania Boogeyman tore his left biceps at a house show. To explain his absence to rehab his injury, Booker T and Sharmell obtained a restraining order against the Boogeyman, who actually had surgery on April 4, to repair his biceps tear.
Release and Return
As SummerSlam approached, The Boogeyman began appearing in TV spots to promote the event. Vignettes also began airing advertising his return to SmackDown!, however, on September 20 WWE.com reported that Wright had been released from the company.[4] It was later reported that he had been doing "the bare minimum" in regards to getting back into shape and had missed several required doctor checkups. Although management warned him about this, he failed to change his behavior and they let him go. Less than a month later, on October 6, WWE.com announced that Wright had been re-hired and would be sent to be trained at Booker T and Stevie Ray's wrestling school in Houston, Texas. Booker T was reportedly very impressed with Marty's renewed dedication and enthusiasm at his Wrestling Academy, and according to the Wrestling Observer, Wright was rehired mainly due to Booker's insistence[citation needed]. Wright returned on the October 27, 2006 SmackDown!, while teaming with Layla he starting a feud with Mike "The Miz" Mizanin and Kristal Marshall. During the feud he again terrorized and stalked his opponents, spitting worms at them and scaring them at every opportunity, and eventually ended The Miz's undefeated streak at the Armageddon pay-per-view.
Wright then feuded with Finlay, who ended The Boogeyman's undefeated streak when Hornswoggle interfered. On the February 2 edition of SmackDown! during a title match against Chris Benoit for the U.S. Title, Boogeyman abducted Hornswoggle, distracting Finlay and giving Benoit a chance to win the match with a roll-up. On the February 16 edition of SmackDown! the Boogeyman appeared with a little person of his own, Little Boogeyman. His purpose was to counteract Hornswoggle, who was proving a problem in one-on-one matches with Finlay. The Boogeyman and the Little Boogeyman lost to Finlay and Hornswoggle in a mixed tag team match at No Way Out 2007. The team lost a rematch the following week on SmackDown!; Little Boogeyman was pinned by Finlay, after Wright had chased away Hornswoggle. The Boogeyman appeared in a promo backstage at WrestleMania 23. He was in a room with Donald Trump and tried to scare him but failed, getting commanded by Trump to get him a sandwich. He did, however, terrify former Miss USA, Tara Conner who, upon seeing the Boogeyman, ran off looking terrified and disgusted.
On OVW's 400th anniversary show, the Boogeyman made an appearance, losing to Ryan Wilson in a table match. The Boogeyman returned to in ring action when he joined a feud between Kane and William Regal and Dave Taylor, teaming up with Kane. This also marked the return of Little Boogeyman. The feud would be short lived as Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman would then start another feud with Finlay and Hornswoggle. Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman were defeated in a mixed tag match by Finlay and Hornswoggle at Saturday Night's Main Event.
ECW
On the June 11 edition of Raw, Boogeyman was moved from the SmackDown! brand to ECW in the annual WWE draft. The next day he debuted for the brand and defeated Matt Striker, beginning a feud with him.[5] On July 10 in New Orleans, the Boogeyman was a guest during a Striker's Classroom segment, ostensibly to be educated on worms, only to be attacked by Stiker's debuting enforcer, Big Daddy V.[6] The Boogeyman was not seen for the next three weeks, finally re-emerging on the July 31 episode ? with a new face paint design and black contact lenses ? to scare Big Daddy V off after he finished a match.[7] Boogeyman was taken out by Big Daddy V from behind after a distraction from Matt Striker a week later.[8] The Boogeyman also appeared on the August 13 edition of Raw, backstage singing several verses from the song, Cat's in the Cradle, that referred to Dad, whilst being observed and considered by Jonathan Coachman and Vince McMahon as Vince's (kayfabe) illegitimate son.[9]
On the August 14 episode of ECW, Boogeyman scored a disqualification victory over ECW Champion John Morrison after Morrison shoved the referee. Boogeyman then hit the champ with the chokebomb, but Morrison managed to escape before being wormed.[10] Boogeyman would go on to successfully team with CM Punk at Saturday Night's Main Event against Morrison and Big Daddy V.[11] On the August 28 episode of ECW, Boogeyman was one of the participants in the Fatal Four Way match for a shot at Morrison's title; however, CM Punk was the victor.[12] On September 4, on ECW, Boogeyman beat Matt Striker by disqualification when Big Daddy V interfered, and went on to hit Boogeyman with a Samoan Drop on the outside of the ring.[13] On the September 18 episode of ECW, Boogeyman and Big Daddy V finally faced off in their first one-on-one match, which Boogeyman lost.[14]
The Boogeyman would then return on the Halloween edition of ECW, backstage cutting a trick or treat promo and handing out worms.[15] On the November 5 episode of Monday Night Raw, Boogeyman was inducted by Triple H and Shawn Michaels as an honorary member of D-Generation X, after coming out from under the ring, interrupting their promo.[16]
Boogeyman's return to wrestling action was initially delayed due to a torn calf muscle, but it had also been reported that he is having dental surgery done to replace his missing teeth.[17] On the October 7 episode of ECW a vignette was aired that promotes The Boogeyman's return. Additional vignettes aired for a few weeks after that.
Linear Mode
