William M. Kucmierowski (August 22, 1974) is an American professional wrestler under the ring name Brimstone.
Career[]
Early career[]
As a kid growing up in Uniondale, New York Brimstone was never into sports. He attended Smith Street Elementary School, American Jewish Academy for middle school, and returned to Uniondale for High School. He went to school with rappers Busta Rhymes and Charlie Brown, both formally of the hip-hop group, "Leaders of the New School", and Brown's sisters who were a popular pair of the Doublemint Twins. Brimstone graduated from Uniondale High School in 1992 and attended Nassau Community College as a music major. Prior to beginning his career in professional wrestling, Brimstone had a career in music performing as the drummer in bands such as Image, Who's Laughing Now, and Bugsy. Bugsy received a nomination for Best Ska-Punk Act at the Long Island Music Awards in 1998, where Will was also a presenter.
Brimstone had been a fan of wrestling at a very young age and decided that he wanted to become a wrestler at twenty-one. Brimstone's wrestling career began in 1996 when he, and long time friend Chris Hostile decided to follow a lifelong dream. While looking through a professional wrestling publication, he came across an ad about a new wrestling school out of Queens, New York called “The Doghouse.” They had just freshly come off of a benefit show dedicated to ring veteran Junkyard Dog, and decided to go beyond their federation (Long Island Wrestling Federation - LIWF) and create a pro-wrestling facility. Former wrestler Bobby Lombardi owned the company, and the trainers were some of the best guys on the independent circuit at the time and are currently working for major companies in the business. They consisted of Homicide (a member of LAX in TNA), Low Ki, Monsta Mack, Low Life Louie, Magic, and Laithon (The Tower of Torture).
The roster of students consisted of wrestlers such as Lord Clarence MacDougal, Grim Reefer, Maniac Mike Mayhem, Justin Cage, Papadon, Havok (fresh from the Wild Samoans), El Diabolico, G.I.Joe, Mike Kruel, Fat Boy Rob, One Man Riot Squad, Psycho Tony, Major Intensity, and others.
The Doghouse grew rapidly and moved from its original quarters into a large warehouse. It was there that Brimstone met his current trainer ‘The Original’ Gino Carusso of Unified Wrestling Federation. Gino was a pro who had worked in WCW and many other federations across the country. Brimstone also learned from guests who came down to the school on a regular basis taking the training reigns such as Crazy Clown, Sir Christopher Michaels, and Dances With Dudley.
As Brimstone, his wrestling style and gimmick has led to frequent comparisons to The Undertaker.
Wrestling World Wide[]
Brimstone joined Wrestling World Wide in 1997 and quickly became a mainstay of the federation. Although he wrestled many tag matches for the company, Brimstone remained a singles competitor for the larger part of his tenure there. He was brought into the company by Rocky Shore and T.N.T., known as “The Bad Boys.”
Brimstone became the Wrestling World Wide "Heavyweight Champion" in Manhattan, New York on August 5, 2000 after defeating One Man Riot Squad.
Critical Mass[]
Brimstone and Hostile became fast friends with Mayhem, and the three thought it would be interesting to become a “clique” considering the success of then-cliques such as WWE’s DX, and WCW’s nWo. At the time of formation, they were still students. Soon after, Brimstone brought another close friend into the business, Chavez Raoul, who became the manager/wrestler for the tight knit group. They came up with a thousand names, until Hostile and Brimstone came up with the name “Critical Mass.” Bobby Lombardi liked the idea, so Critical Mass was born.
Critical Mass was a collection of some of the darker characters, which made them different in a federation of gangsta and thug gimmicks. As with many cliques of then and now, Critical Mass could break up into any version of a tag team utilizing any of its members to face their opponents. Normally, Brimstone tagged with Hostile or with Mayhem. Most of Brimstone’s career as a tag team competitor has been with Mayhem.
At a few points in Critical Mass history, the members were forced to work against each other. The most notorious of these times was an angle used by Bobby Lombardi to turn Hostile and Mayhem against Brimstone, noting two of Brimstone’s most memorable feuds. George Espada of Wrestling World Wide loved the idea and ran with it, pitting Brimstone against Mayhem in one on one matches. This was known as the “Dysfunctional Family” era of Critical Mass. Chavez was eventually able to reunite the full team. As time went by, there were also a few additions to the Critical Mass clique. For example, Brimstone and Hostile recruited Rexx Rockwell for a brief stint with Critical Mass. Later, in the absence of Hostile and Chavez, Brimstone and Mayhem recruited temporary members Storm Sasake (Larry McKenny) and John Curse. Closer to the end of Brimstone's days with the NYWC, the last official member initiated into the group was Tyler Payne.
New York Wrestling Connection[]
Critical Mass began branching out and promoting themselves on the independent circuit in order to gain speed and a larger name in the industry. Brimstone wanted to open a school and federation within his own childhood stomping grounds, since it would be beneficial for many wrestlers on Long Island considering there was no such place at the time.
Money was tight, and, although Critical Mass wanted to open a training facility, the chances were slim to none. At that point, the school was still just a dream. In the meantime, Brimstone figured that they could start running some shows by booking their friends and trainers from The Doghouse. Brimstone scouted locations for events.
The first official event was to be held at the Hooters in East Meadow, New York. The show was put together and manned by Lord Clarence MacDougal, Hostile, Mayhem, and Brimstone. Hostile came up with the name New York Wrestling Connection, considering it was a way for all the New York workers to ‘connect’ on Long Island. The NYWC debuted on Sunday, August 15, 1999 in an event entitled “Hotter Than Hell”, that was sponsored by Coors/Labatt. Hooters paid for the advertising, ring rental, and fed all the wrestlers. They rented the ring from local wrestler Rocky Shore, who at the time was tagging up with another local wrestler T.N.T.
The second official event was held at an amusement park in Farmingdale, New York called, “Funzone.” This event was entitled, “Thanksgiving Wrestlefest ‘99” and ran on Sunday, November 28, 1999.
Critical Mass Pro Wrestling, Corp.[]
Thoughts about creating a fully functional pro-wrestling facility had still been running through Brimstone's mind. While looking through the Pennysaver, he noticed a classified ad for a newly sprouting Martial Arts School over in Hicksville, New York. They were looking for trainers for various forms of martial arts. Brimstone told him that yes; they would eventually need a ring, however, anyone who came through those doors would learn their level bumps like men on the hard mats. He stated that the students could perfect their chain wrestling, takedowns, monkey flips, and rolls prior to entering a professional ring. He convinced Sloan that he was determined to make a success out of the school, and they eventually grew large enough to leave the martial arts academy.
Brimstone enlisted his partners Hostile and Mayhem to help, as well, considering they would be co-owners in the school. Brimstone named the school, “Critical Mass Pro Wrestling” after the long time clique. Brimstone contacted Bobby Lombardi out of respect to let him know he wanted to be considered the Long Island extension of The Doghouse. Brimstone requested Gino's personal and professional advice and a break down of his normal training regimen.
Brimstone figured that they needed a fourth person to assist in the training process, and they were coming to a point where they needed to make decisions. Brimstone suggested another local wrestler John Curse who had been involved with ECW’s "House of Hardcore" and was also a member of Team Taz. Mayhem was adamantly against Curse coming in. Hostile was indifferent, but he was in the middle of making some life changing decisions himself. Mayhem thought that the three of them could handle it themselves, but then Hostile dropped the bad news that he was moving away to California with his then-wife. She was in the Navy and stationed there, and he needed to be with her. Needless to say, Brimstone and Mayhem were crushed. Seeing that their three was down to two, Mayhem agreed to bring John into CMPW.
While Critical Mass was still building, Brimstone came up with and printed out mini flyers in order to start gaining some interest in the school. He personally went to malls, WWF and WCW events at the Nassau Coliseum, Gyms, etc. to hand out these flyers and paper them on cars. Brimstone recruited his first two students at Broadway Mall in Hicksville, New York. They were two Roberts, one who later went by the name of “Tek” and the other who is now well known as “Dickie Rodz”. Not more than a few days went by and he had another two students join, “Tyler Payne” and “Brock Vendetta.” A few days more produced “Nuke” and “Black Dawg Mack”. A few more days went by, and in walked “Maxmilyin” and “Suicyco”. This was the first class of CMPW.
CMPW purchased an old 20 x 20 ring and Brimstone thought it would be great to hold a mini exhibition and have the students run a gambit of mini-matches in order to interest potential students. Politician Tom Gulotta attended the Grand Opening. Brimstone contacted News 12, the local news station for all of Long Island and had reporter Bonnie Schneider do the morning show live from the school. Brimstone did a large part of the interviews as the students trained in the background. They were on and off in between the regular news all morning.
As CMPW grew, they decided it was time to get a bigger location. They found a building located in the Delco Plaza Shopping Center in Hicksville. The school also bought a second ring, which was an ECW ring (trap door and all) used in a pay-per-view.
After several years, tensions within the company boiled over, and in April 2002, Brimstone took a leave of absence from CMPW/NYWC. Brimstone utilized his time away from wrestling by focusing on his personal endeavors.
Pro Wrestling Revolution[]
Brimstone came to Pro Wrestling Revolution in January 2007 after a brief hiatus from the wrestling business. Brimstone soon became an assistant trainer by lending his experience to the established team of Johnny Ova, Bobby Riedel, and Demolition Blast. He was shown training and working with the students of PWR on episode two of “For Your Island” in their pro-wrestling feature launched on Thursday, March 29, 2007. His debut match with the federation was against Jesta on February 24, 2007 at Battlezone. He defeated Jesta to begin an undefeated streak that would last until July. Brimstone is now tagging up with Lou "Hot Bod" Valentino.
Carnival of Destruction[]
"Called Out" on July 21, 2007 was a monumental event in PWR history due to the unveiling of the Carnival of Destruction (C.o.D.). It was initially announced during a segment of the Demolition Derby with Blast that he, along with Brimstone, Lou Valentino, Armand DeMuerto, and manager Rayna Fyre would be uniting to form C.o.D. with intentions of destroying everything and everyone that is PWR. Later that night, Brimstone was scheduled to face Johnny Ova in the third match of Ova's quest for the PWR Heavyweight Championship. Towards the end of the match-up, Brimstone attempted to hit XiBalba, however Ova managed to kick and stomp his way out and then rolled over Brimstone's back into a superkick. Valentino rushed the ring taking out Johnny and inciting a DQ decision on Brimstone by the referee. The Carnival of Destruction proceeded to take turns crushing Ova, who is the federation's most beloved face. Brimstone violently hit Johnny Ova with XiBalba, while Blast followed up with a crushing chokeslam. Queen Yasmine rushed the ring as if to protect Johnny, she attacked Ova by hitting him with the Gravedigger. It is then revealed that Yasmine is a member of C.o.D., and Blast calls for the recruits from the locker room. Immediately, out came Draven and Vito Bari of the LI Wrecking Crew, Armand DeMuerto, and Donnie Bon Jovi looking eager to destroy Ova. As the Carnival of Destruction laughed at the carnage, Manager Rayna Fyre got in the face of Johnny and told him, "How does it feel to be slapped by C.o.D.?"
In a vignette, C.o.D. was seen leaving the arena while the recruits were reminded that the foundation of the Carnival is and always will be Brimstone, Blast, Valentino, Yasmine, and Rayna Fyre. The members collectively agreed, and Brimstone stated, "At Lethal Lottery, PWR will never be the same again!" On August 11, 2007 at PWR "Lethal Lottery", Brimstone won a 16-person Battle Royal earning himself a shot at the PWR World Heavyweight Championship. He will get this title match at the next PWR show against the reigning champion Samir Ahmed II.
At "Collision Course" on September 15, 2007, Samir Ahmed II retained the title against Brimstone. Rayna Fyre interfered allowing Brimstone to hit Samir with the Attitude Adjustment. As Brimstone set up for XiBalba, Samir countered into a surprise victory roll for the pin. Brimstone attacked the celebrating Champion, and the locker room cleared to try and restrain him. He attacked his own C.o.D. stablemates just to get his hands on Samir.
Wrestling facts[]
- Finishing and signature moves
- Xibalba
- Hell's Bells
- Tag teams and stables
- Carnival of Destruction (with Demolition Blast, Lou Valentino, Queen Yasmine and Rayna Fyre)
- Wrestlers trained
- Mike Mondo
- Spyder
- Armand DeMuerto
- Kris Kildaire
- Black Dawg
- Brock Vendetta
- Cynosura
- Dean Angel
- Dickie Rodz
- Evan Spade
- Hazel
- JD Lishus
- John Doe
- Johnny Ova