Phi Delta Slam
Encyclopedia
Phi Delta Slam is a professional wrestling
tag team
, consisting of Big Tilly
and Bruno Sassi
. They wrestle principally on the Floridian
independent circuit
.
playing fraternity
members. After Evans retired for several years, Sassi continued to use the gimmick, and eventually found a new tag team partner, Big Tilly. Sassi and Tilly then became known collectively as "Phi Delta Slam".
Phi Delta Slam debuted in the now-defunct Future of Wrestling
promotion
in 2001 and remained there until the promotion folded in 2002. They were rejoined by Evans, expanding Phi Delta Slam to a stable. Phi Delta Slam appeared with the South Florida
based Coastal Championship Wrestling promotion throughout 2004.
. Phi Delta Slam were introduced to TNA after Dusty Rhodes
told his two competing assistants, Traci Brooks
and Trinity
, to each find a tag team. The tag teams would wrestle one another at Destination X, with the winning tag team's sponsor becoming Rhodes' sole assistant. Trinity selected Phi Delta Slam, and they debuted in February 2005, wrestling dark matches, and made their onscreen debut on March 13 at Destination X, where they lost to Traci's choice, The Harris Brothers. Phi Delta Slam remained in TNA for several weeks afterwards, but were unable to get over with fans, and began appearing only sporadically with the promotion. In September 2005, their profiles were removed from the TNA website, confirming that the team was gone from TNA.
Tilly and Sassi later made a cameo appearance in a series of comedy segments on the December 20, 2007 episode of Impact!
where they were seen at Eric Young's Christmas party, which also involved the likes of Bushwhacker Butch
, Kevin Nash
, ODB
, and Awesome Kong
.
In early 2009, both Tilly and Sassi returned to TNA as the personal security of The Main Event Mafia
in order to help them fend off the TNA Frontline
. In order play into the mafia
aspect of the stable, both were renamed to Rocco and Sal respectively, both began wearing sunglasses at all times and Sassi dyed his normally blond hair to black and began sporting a beard. On the March 13 edition of Impact!, Sal and Kurt Angle
accompanied Rocco as he wrestled Frontline member Eric Young
in the main event, which Rocco lost after Young pinned him following a Death Valley driver. On the April 2 edition of Impact! they were defeated in a tag team match by Team 3D
. On the May 7 edition of Impact! they were defeated in a handicap match by Matt Morgan. On the May 28 edition of Impact! Sting, the new leader of the Main Event Mafia, fired Rocco and Sal. On the June 4, 2009, edition of Impact! Rocco and Sal were hired by Mick Foley
, thus turning face. They wrestled their first title match on the July 23 edition of impact, losing to TNA World Tag Team Champions
Scott Steiner
and Booker T. The two of them have since made only sporadic appearances as security men.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
, consisting of Big Tilly
Big Tilly
James Tilquist is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Big Tilly. He is best known for being a member of the tag team Phi Delta Slam as well as his appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
and Bruno Sassi
Bruno Sassi
Bruno Sassi is an American professional wrestler best known for being a member of the tag team Phi Delta Slam, as well as his appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
. They wrestle principally on the Floridian
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
independent circuit
Independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent promotions which are much smaller than major televised promotions. They are roughly analagous to a minor league for pro wrestling, or community or regional theatre.Specific promotions on the...
.
History
When Sassi began wrestling on the Floridian independent circuit, he formed a tag team with "Brother" Dan Evans. Evans and Sassi used the gimmick of a pair of boisterous, prankPractical joke
A practical joke is a mischievous trick played on someone, typically causing the victim to experience embarrassment, indignity, or discomfort. Practical jokes differ from confidence tricks in that the victim finds out, or is let in on the joke, rather than being fooled into handing over money or...
playing fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
members. After Evans retired for several years, Sassi continued to use the gimmick, and eventually found a new tag team partner, Big Tilly. Sassi and Tilly then became known collectively as "Phi Delta Slam".
Phi Delta Slam debuted in the now-defunct Future of Wrestling
Future of Wrestling
Future of Wrestling is an American independent wrestling promotion based in southern Florida starting during the late 1990s. Founded by Bobby Rogers, the promotion was a predecessor of Full Impact Pro, Independent Pro Wrestling and NWA Florida and featured several top independent wrestlers...
promotion
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...
in 2001 and remained there until the promotion folded in 2002. They were rejoined by Evans, expanding Phi Delta Slam to a stable. Phi Delta Slam appeared with the South Florida
South Florida metropolitan area
The South Florida metropolitan area, also known as the Miami metropolitan area, and designated the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area by the U.S...
based Coastal Championship Wrestling promotion throughout 2004.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2005-2007, 2009, 2010)
In 2005, Phi Delta Slam were signed by Total Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
. Phi Delta Slam were introduced to TNA after Dusty Rhodes
Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. , better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for WWE...
told his two competing assistants, Traci Brooks
Tracy Brookshaw
Tracy Brookshaw is a Canadian professional wrestler, professional wrestling valet and professional wrestling referee, better known by her ring name Traci Brooks. She is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where she has spent most of her career.-Early life:Brookshaw grew up on a...
and Trinity
Stephanie Finochio
Stephanie Finochio is an American stuntwoman and retired professional wrestler and valet better known by her ring name Trinity...
, to each find a tag team. The tag teams would wrestle one another at Destination X, with the winning tag team's sponsor becoming Rhodes' sole assistant. Trinity selected Phi Delta Slam, and they debuted in February 2005, wrestling dark matches, and made their onscreen debut on March 13 at Destination X, where they lost to Traci's choice, The Harris Brothers. Phi Delta Slam remained in TNA for several weeks afterwards, but were unable to get over with fans, and began appearing only sporadically with the promotion. In September 2005, their profiles were removed from the TNA website, confirming that the team was gone from TNA.
Tilly and Sassi later made a cameo appearance in a series of comedy segments on the December 20, 2007 episode of Impact!
TNA iMPACT!
Impact Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling that currently airs in the United States and Canada on Spike...
where they were seen at Eric Young's Christmas party, which also involved the likes of Bushwhacker Butch
Butch Miller (wrestler)
Butch Miller is a retired professional wrestler best known as one half of the tag team known as "The Sheepherders" on the independent scene and in the National Wrestling Alliance and as one half of The Bushwhackers in the WWF.-Career:Butch Miller started wrestling for NWA New Zealand in 1964 where...
, Kevin Nash
Kevin Nash
Kevin Scott Nash is an American professional wrestler and actor. As of 2011, Nash is signed to a five year contract with WWE under their WWE Legends program and appears as part of their Raw brand roster...
, ODB
Jessica Kresa
Jessica Kresa is an American professional wrestler and actress better known as ODB , currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where she is a former three–time TNA Women's Knockout Champion....
, and Awesome Kong
Kia Stevens
Kia Michelle Stevens , better known by her ring names Amazing Kong, Awesome Kong and Kharma. She is signed with WWE, but has been inactive since May 2011 due to pregnancy...
.
In early 2009, both Tilly and Sassi returned to TNA as the personal security of The Main Event Mafia
The Main Event Mafia
The Main Event Mafia was a heel stable in the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
in order to help them fend off the TNA Frontline
The TNA Front Line
The TNA Front Line was a heroic alliance in the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
. In order play into the mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
aspect of the stable, both were renamed to Rocco and Sal respectively, both began wearing sunglasses at all times and Sassi dyed his normally blond hair to black and began sporting a beard. On the March 13 edition of Impact!, Sal and Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle
Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion...
accompanied Rocco as he wrestled Frontline member Eric Young
Eric Young (wrestler)
Jeremy Fritz is a Canadian professional wrestler, best known under his ring name Eric Young. He currently performs for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he has gained popularity using a variety of comic relief gimmicks....
in the main event, which Rocco lost after Young pinned him following a Death Valley driver. On the April 2 edition of Impact! they were defeated in a tag team match by Team 3D
Dudley Boyz
Team 3D was a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Brother Ray and Brother Devon, formerly sporadically joined into a stable by Brother Runt on several intervals...
. On the May 7 edition of Impact! they were defeated in a handicap match by Matt Morgan. On the May 28 edition of Impact! Sting, the new leader of the Main Event Mafia, fired Rocco and Sal. On the June 4, 2009, edition of Impact! Rocco and Sal were hired by Mick Foley
Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...
, thus turning face. They wrestled their first title match on the July 23 edition of impact, losing to TNA World Tag Team Champions
TNA World Tag Team Championship
The TNA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It is primarily contested within TNA's tag team division. It was created and debuted on May 14, 2007 at the taping of TNA's primary television program,...
Scott Steiner
Scott Steiner
Scott Carl Rechsteiner is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Scott Steiner. Steiner is perhaps best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling alongside his older brother Rick as the Steiner Brothers and as a member of the New World Order...
and Booker T. The two of them have since made only sporadic appearances as security men.
In wrestling
- Double team moves
- Running Powerslam by Sassi followed by a frog splash by Tilly
- Sassi's finishing moves
- Initiation (Sitout DDT)
- Vertical suplex piledriver
- Tilly's finishing moves
- Hell Week (Diving leg drop)
- Tsunami Splash (Frog splash)
Championships and accomplishments
- American Wrestling Federation (Puerto Rico)
- AWF Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- Coastal Championship Wrestling
- CCW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- Florida Wrestling Alliance
- FWA Tag Team Championship (4 times)
- Independent Pro Wrestling Association
- IPWA Tag Team Championship (5 times)
- International Wrestling Federation
- IWF Tag Team Championship (4 times)
- South Eastern Championship Wrestling
- SECW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- World Wide Wrestling
- WWW Tag Team Championship (2 times)