The One Man Gang - TV Tropes

George Gray (born February 12, 1960) is a semi-retired American Professional Wrestler from Spartanburg, SC best known for his work in the 1980s as The One Man Gang and as Akeem the African Dream. He started at the age of 17 in the independent scene and worked in a variety of territories primarily around the South under such names as Crusher Grey, Crusher Broomfield and Panama Gang. He started using the name the One Man Gang in the early 1980s in Mid-South, and also worked for World Class Championship Wrestling and various National Wrestling Alliance territories. He arrived in WWE in 1987 as a member of Slick's stable and made his PPV debut in the Team Andre vs. Team Hulk match at Survivor Series. In late 1988, he was reintroduced as "Akeem the African Dream," having supposedly rediscovered his "African" roots. This lasted until he left the company in 1990. He also had a couple of runs with WCW and also competed briefly for ECW as well as for many independents, including teaming with Demolition as Team WWF in CHIKARA's 2008 King of Trios Tournament in a losing effort against the Fabulous Three ("Sweet N Sour" Larry Sweeney, Buck Hawke and Mitch Ryder). Among his in-ring achievements, he is a former 1x WCW United States Heavyweight Champion.

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"One Trope Gang":

• Arch-Enemy: Randy Savage, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Hulk Hogan, El Gigante, Little Spike Dudley.
• Bash Brothers: The Big Bossman, Kevin Sullivan, Butch Reed.
• Beard of Evil: At times during his career.
• Catch Phrase: "MOOOOON!", which originated in World Class with manager "Playboy" Gary Hart, who would call Gang "Moon" and Gang would call him "Slick," since the idea was to make it seem like they ran with the same gang in Chicago.
• Chain Pain: His preferred weapon is a chain.
• Chicago: Billed from there as the Gang.
• Cool Shades: At times as the Gang.
• Dem Bones: Skulls and crossbones on his shirts as the Gang, as seen above.
• '80s Hair: His Mohawk as the One Man Gang
• Fat Bastard: As a heel.
  • He suffered a heart attack in 2000 and lost a lot of weight as a result. In fact, he lost so much that he couldn't fit into the Akeem costume for the Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-7 in 2001 and had to compete as the Gang instead.
• Finishing Move: 747/Air Africa (Splash), Face-first suplex.
• Fun with Acronyms: One Man Gang has OMG, albeit completely by coincidence given the time period.
• The Giant: There are not many who can lift a 450 pound man
• Gimmick Matches: While working in Mid-Atlantic as part of the House of Humperdink, he had a $5000 body slam challenge. The first guy to answer was Dizzy Hogan (Brutus Beefcake), who was unsuccessful. Then Jimmy Valiant tried, and failed. Valiant demanded to have his music, The Manhattan Transfer's "Boy From New York City," played so he could try again. The music started and Valiant got the Gang off of his feet...only for Humperdink to push the Gang, causing Valiant to fall back with the Gang landing on top of him. The Gang then splashed Valiant and he and Humperdink left.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: At times in the territories. He worked both heel and face in Florida.
  • Monster Heel: One of the top ones of his era.
• Hired Guns: One of the many gringos Ray González brought into WWC to take out Carly. One man gang managed to draw the wrath of padre Carlos for it.
• I Have Many Names: Crusher Grey, Crusher Broomfield, Panama Gang, the One Man Gang, Akeem.
• Just a Stupid Accent: As Akeem
• Kick Them While They Are Down: Literally, on the December 2, 1995 WCW Saturday Night. He had squashed Scott Turner and continued stomping him while his DOD managers "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan and Jimmy Hart distracted the referee.
• Monster Heel: To help get his gimmick over as a brutal mauler, Gang once, during a televised match, repeatedly delivered his front suplex to his jobber opponent, David Stoudemeier. The referee tried to intervene and he got a front suplex as well. Two other wrestlers — both jobbers, of course — came out and then they got beaten down before they collected their front suplexes. Another week, during a non-televised house show, Gang brutally squashed former WWF champion and Triple Crown winner Pedro Morales, functioning as a Stone Wall while totally dismantling Morales (who at the time was functioning as essentially a jobber-to-the-stars).
• Parts Unknown (as Akeem): "Deepest Darkest Africa"
• Power Stable
  • (in Memphis): Cornette's Dynasty
  • (in Florida): The Royal Family (led by James J Dillon), the House of Humperdink, the Army of Darkness (led by Kevin Sullivan) and Dusty Rhodes' Family.
  • (in Texas): Gary Hart's Army
  • (in Mid-South/UWF and Texas indies): Devastation Inc.
  • (in WCW): The Dungeon of Doom
  • (in ECW): The FBI.
• Pretty Fly for a White Guy: Became Akeem to re-embrace his "African" roots.
• Produce Pelting: Actually, the WWC crowds were nicer, throwing plastic garbage at him, but the same message.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: Walked away from WCW after dropping the WCW United States Heavyweight Title to Konnan at WCW SuperBrawl VI in February 1996.
• Tag Team: The Twin Towers, with the Big Bossman.
• Take That!: The Akeem gimmick was a shot at "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, namely regarding the accusations that Rhodes's "working/common man" gimmick consisted mostly of him just using a lot of Jive Turkey. Akeem's Red Baron being "The African Dream" was a dead giveaway.
• Tuckerization: "The One Man Gang" was originally a Red Baron for Ron Garvin, and they had been opponents in Randy Savage's family's International Championship Wrestling promotion in Kentucky in the 1970s.
• Wrench Whack: To El Gigante, during their match at WCW The Great American Bash '91.