Emory Hale

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Emery Hale
Born(1969-12-13)December 13, 1969
St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
DiedJanuary 28, 2006(2006-01-28) (aged 36)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Emery Hale
Big Hail
Lord Humongous
The Machine
Hail
Billed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Billed weight350 lb (160 kg)
Debut1998
Retired2003

Emery Hale (December 13, 1969 – January 28, 2006) was an American professional wrestler, best known for his two year run in World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

Early life[edit]

Emery Hale was born on December 13, 1969.[1] Early in life, Hale played baseball, and at one point had a tryout with the Baltimore Orioles.[2]

Professional wrestling career[edit]

Weighing in at 350 pounds and standing in at 6' 9", Hale made his professional wrestling debut in 1998 for the World Wrestling Alliance, occasionally teaming up with Test in a couple of matches.[1] He also wrestled for Music City Wrestling as Lord Humongous, and used a leaping piledriver as a finisher.[3]

In late 1998, Jimmy Hart brought Hale to World Championship Wrestling (WCW), grooming him as the next big opponent for Hulk Hogan.[2] He mainly wrestled on WCW Monday Nitro and WCW Saturday Night, losing to bigger stars like Lex Luger, Barry Windham and Booker T.[1] On February 2, 2000, he appeared on WCW Thunder as the Machine, losing to Diamond Dallas Page.[1]

On September 8, 2001 he lost to Abdullah the Butcher by disqualification for World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico.[2] Hale also worked in many projects involving Hart and Hogan.[2] In 2001, he signed with the X Wrestling Federation, where, like his time in WCW, was managed by Hart and was groomed to be the top heel for the promotion.[3] After leaving XWF, he went on to wrestle on the independent circuit as Lord Humongus.[3] He would retire after developing pneumonia stemming from a kidney transplant in 2003.[2]

Illness and death[edit]

In 2003, Hale received a kidney transplant, but eventually developed pneumonia and was hospitalized in the ICU of Tampa General Hospital.[2] On January 28, 2006, Hale died of kidney failure at the age of 36.[2]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Big Hail matches". Cagematch. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Emory Hale profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Makropoulos, Georgiann (January 30, 2006). "Emory Hale passes away". WrestlingFigs. Retrieved December 14, 2021.