Balls Mahoney

Bio

Jonathan Rechner is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Balls Mahoney.

Mahoney is perhaps best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

He is currently wrestling on the Extreme Championship Wrestling brand of World Wrestling Entertainment.

Career

Smoky Mountain Wrestling

Jon Rechner started wrestling in 1987 by training at the Monster Factory and wrestling in the independents under the name Abbudah Singh.

He made a small name for himself as the heel Boo Bradley (at take off of the character Boo Radley from "To Kill A Mockingbird") in 1994 in Smoky Mountain Wrestling where he had a long feud with his 'childhood friend', Chris Candido.

He was originally allied with Candido and managed by Tammy Sytch, who abused him for months, but they eventually turned on him, killing his pet cat, and turning him face in the process.

Bradley briefly formed a team with Cactus Jack who convinced him to be his own person.

World Wrestling Federation

During 1995 he was briefly in the World Wrestling Federation appearing as Xanta Klaus.

During a December "In Your House" Pay Per View, while Savio Vega and "Santa Claus" were at ringside handing out presents and playing to the fans, heel manager The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase appeared. DiBiase proclaimed, as was his way, that he could "buy off" Savio Vega.

As Vega argued with DiBiase, "Santa" jumped him from behind and attacked him. DiBiase laughed his trademark laugh and introduced this warped Santa as Xanta Klaus, Santa's evil brother from the South Pole who steals presents.

As Xanta, Rechner would go on to have only one more appearance (on the following night's Monday Night Raw) before never being mentioned again.

Extreme Championship Wrestling

In 1997 Rechner signed with Extreme Championship Wrestling and finally became a star as Balls Mahoney. Capitalizing on the ECW crowd's lust for violence and the hardcore attitude Rechner was never seen without his signature steel chair, usually with some kind of writing or sign placed on it, which he would use to bash any opponent at any time.

He would come to the ring to the AC/DC song Big Balls and lead the crowd in singing the chorus before or after his matches.

While in ECW he teamed with Axl Rotten, a similarly hardcore and violent wrestler, and the duo became informally known as the "Hardcore Chair Swinging Freaks".

Later he would tag with Spike Dudley and win the Tag Team Titles twice. He would also join forces with Masato Tanaka and hold the gold one more time before the demise of ECW in 2001.

According to Mahoney himself (from a question he answered at the ECW Cyberslam convention's Q&A session in 2000), his trademark in-ring T-shirt in ECW, a shirt from the death metal group Immolation, was worn not because he was a fan of the band, but because the slogan on the back of the shirt, "First in Hell", reflects his religious beliefs (Rechner is a member of the Church Of Satan).

Independent Circuit

After ECW folded Rechner spent time in a number of independent federations across America, most notably USA Pro Wrestling (UXW).

World Wrestling Entertainment

In 2006, World Wrestling Entertainment relaunched ECW as their own brand, one of their first announcements was the signing of Balls Mahoney.

He was originally signed along with Axl Rotten with the intention of reforming The Chair Swingin' Freaks, but Axl was missing dates for shows and thus Axl was released, leaving Balls to start a singles career.

During the "cross promotion" hype before the official launch Balls appeared on the June 5, episode of WWE RAW with other ECW wrestlers who proceeded to attack Champion John Cena.

He appeared again as a part of the ECW team in the WWE vs. ECW Battle Royal at the WWE vs. ECW Head to Head event on June 7. The next night a match between Balls Mahoney and Masato Tanaka was officially added to One Night Stand pay-per-view, which Balls won following a chair shot (denting the chair) to Tanaka's head.

When ECW on Sci Fi debuted Balls started off with a very small role in the company, having sporadic matches and little else. However, once the show got going he started to appear in vignettes talking about how tough he is, elevating his role on the show.

On the September 12 episode of ECW on Sci Fi Mahoney entered a feud with Kevin Thorn after Thorn and his valet Ariel cost him a match against René Duprée.

The following week, he brought Francine to ringside with him, marking her first televised appearance at the revived ECW ring, where she proceeded to get into a catfight with Ariel.

Wrestling Facts

Finishing and Signature Moves

- Nutcracker Suite (Michinoku driver II)
- Balls to the Wall (Chair shot)
- New Jersey Jam (Diving leg drop)
- Ballbreaker (Rolling sitout spinebuster)
- Balls Combo (Punching combination) (Three lefts and a "big" right with fans yelling "Balls" after each punch, ending with a loud "Goooo Balls" on the wind up punch)
- Superkick
- Frog splash

Television Roles