Darrell Anthony
Biography
Darrell W. Anthony is a retired American professional wrestler, also known by his ring name "The Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony. He wrestled primarily for independent promotions in the Southeastern United States. He was most active throughout the 1980s and 1990s in the Tennessee-based United States Wrestling Association (USWA) and Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW), and had two short stints with WWE under the ring names of T.L. Hopper and Uncle Cletus. Anthony competed primarily as a singles wrestler in Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW). He was quickly pushed as a main event wrestler, and won the SMW Heavyweight Championship from Brian Lee on August 8, 1992 After dropping the title to Tracy Smothers the following April, Anthony (under his masked Mighty Yankee gimmick) won the SMW Beat the Champ Television Championship in June 1993.] While holding this title, he defeated Brian Lee to regain the Heavyweight Championship. He was involved in an angle in which he was kayfabe forced to vacate the Television Championship on August 16, after a series of defenses. The rules stipulated that any wrestler who successfully defended the title five times would be awarded $5000, but be forced to vacate it. Anthony regained the title by beating Robert Gibson on September 13. He won his final SMW Heavyweight Championship on July 5, 1994, by defeating Jake Roberts. He held the title for over six months before losing it to Jerry Lawler on January 28, 1995. Anthony's performance in 1994 earned him his highest ever ranking (No. 25) in the annual PWI 500. Anthony won his final title in SMW on July 6, 1995, teaming with Tracy Smothers (as The Thugs) to defeat The Dynamic Duo (Al Snow and Unabomb) for the SMW Tag Team Championship. Although he did not wrestle on any WWE pay-per-views, he made an appearance during the "Bikini Beach Blast-Off" segment, on the Free-for-All show immediately preceding SummerSlam '96. Based on his experience as a plumber, Hopper was chosen to investigate a brown object resembling feces on the bottom of the swimming pool. The segment parodied a scene in the movie Caddyshack. After taking a brief hiatus, he returned to WWE in September 1997 as Uncle Cletus, coming from the audience to help the heel tag team of The Godwinns (Henry O. & Phineas I. Godwinn) in a match against The Headbangers. He hit Mosh in the head with a horseshoe, allowing Phineas to make the pin. He was then billed as the uncle of The Godwinns, and became the team's manager. At Badd Blood 1997, The Godwinns won the WWE World Tag Team Championship, with Cletus in their corner. On October 13, Cletus interfered in another match, but his interference backfired and allowed The Road Warriors to win the title. Following this, The Godwinns attacked Cletus, who was never seen in WWE again. After leaving WWE, Anthony returned to his home state of Tennessee (where he had maintained considerable fame and popularity) and wrestled for various independents around East Tennessee until retiring from active competition in 2006. In recent years, he played a prominent role in Knoxville's Tennessee Xtreme Wrestling, as its face commissioner.
Known For & Full Filmography18 Titles
Drama Series - 1993, 16 episodes • as TL Hopper
A regularly scheduled, live, year-round program featuring some of the biggest WWE Superstars.
Drama Series - 1993, 16 episodes • as Uncle Cletus
A regularly scheduled, live, year-round program featuring some of the biggest WWE Superstars.
Drama Series - 1977, 16 episodes • as "Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony
Jerry Jarrett's Continental Wrestling Assocation (CWA) Wrestling show on WMC-TV, later renamed to "Championship Wrestling Association" and keeping the same CWA name around the time Jerry Lawler joined Jerry Jarrett in running the show. After Jarrett and Lawler purchased the rights to World Class Wrestling Association's "World Class Championship Wrestling" shows in the Dallas area, both the Dallas shows and the CWA show were rebranded under the "United States Wrestling Association" name. This show was rebranded to "USWA Championship Wrestling." The show ended in 1997.
Drama Series - 1981, 16 episodes • as Tony Anthony
Mid-South Wrestling was one of the most successful wrestling territories in the 1981s; featuring future WWE Hall of Famers.
Drama Series - 1981, 16 episodes • as Grappler #2
Mid-South Wrestling was one of the most successful wrestling territories in the 1981s; featuring future WWE Hall of Famers.
Drama Series - 1982, 16 episodes • as Boy Tony
From the Sportatorium comes the groundbreaking sports-entertainment brand World Class Championship Wrestling, featuring legendary competitors such as The Von Erichs, Bruiser Brody, The Fabulous Freebirds and more.
Drama Series - 1981, 16 episodes • as Tony Anthony
Relive the glory days of the National Wrestling Alliance through Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling's weekly television show.
Drama Series - 1994, 16 episodes • as The Dirty White Boy
Smoky Mountain Wrestling presents exciting in-ring action in the early-1990s, featuring SMW stars like Chris Jericho and Lance Storm.
Drama Series - 1992, 16 episodes • as Tony Anthony
A rare collection of matches from the Memphis-based, sports-entertainment territory, featuring Jeff Jarrett, Dr. Tom Pritchard, Eddie Gilbert, Memphis' own Jerry "The King" Lawler, "Stunning" Steve Austin and more.
Movie - 1997, 2h 15m • as Uncle Cletus
The Road Warriors battles The Nation of Domination. The Headbangers defend the WWE World Tag Team Championship against The Godwinns. The first ever Hell In a Cell match as Shawn Michaels squares off with The Undertaker. Plus, Bret Hart competes in a Tag Team Flag Match and more!
Movie - 1995, 2h 15m • as The Dirty White Boy
This is the Big One! The biggest stars from SMW, WWE, NWA and more battle it out in the squared circle!
Movie - 1994, 2h 15m • as Dirty White Boy
Bullet Bob Armstrong, Tracy Smothers and Road Warrior Hawk battle Jim Cornette's team of the Funk Brothers and Bruiser Bedlam, the controversial Gangstas speak their minds, The Dirty White Boy defends the SMW Heavyweight Title, the Rock N Roll Express challenge Chris Candido and Brian Lee for the SMW Tag Team Titles, and, in the bloodiest match in SMW history, the Thrillseekers face the Heavenly Bodies, and more!
Movie - 2015, 2h 15m • as The Invader
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the man behind the black and white face paint with Sting: Into the Light. Go into the mind of "The Vigilante" himself as he reflects on his historic career in sports entertainment and prepares to compete in a WWE ring for the first time ever on The Grandest Stage of Them All at WrestleMania. Hear from his greatest allies and rivals, relive his greatest matches as "The Franchise of WCW" and see "The Man Called Sting" finally emerge from the shadows and into the light.
Movie - 1994, 2h 15m • as The Dirty White Boy
The biggest and brightest stars in the professional wrestling universe converge on Cherry Hill, New Jersey!
Movie - 1993, 2h 15m • as The Dirty White Boy
It's Triple-Threat Tag Team Madness with a six man melee main event! From The College Gym in Pikeville, Kentucky!
Movie - 1995, 2h 15m • as The Dirty White Boy
This two hour DVD release contains wild, bloody matches and brawls from Smoky Mountain Wrestling arena events between 1993 and 1995, most of which were never shown on television! Announcers like Les Thatcher, Dutch Mantell, Chip Kessler and more call the action live, with special match intros by Jim Cornette, and second audio track expert commentary by Cornette and the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer!
Movie - 1992, 2h 15m • as The Dirty White Boy
Tag Team action at it's finest as The Heavenly Bodies collide with The Fantastics, plus all your favorite Smokey Mountain Superstars get set to start the fire!
Movie - 1993, 2h 15m • as The Dirty White Boy
The thunder rolls in the Tennessee Valley as a Tag Team Gang Fight breaks out during a wrestling show!