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Robert Howard picture

Robert Howard

Acting
Known For

62 Years Old

Robert William Howard is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his 15-year stint with the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring names Thurman "Sparky" Plugg, Bob Holly, Bombastic Bob and Hardcore Holly. After debuting in 1990, Holly worked for Smoky Mountain Wrestling and other independent promotions, before joining WWE full-time in 1994. Initially portraying the character of a NASCAR driver, Thurman "Sparky" Plugg, his name was soon changed to Bob "Spark Plug" Holly, before forming a team with Bodacious Bart, known as The New Midnight Express in 1998. After becoming known simply as "Hardcore Holly" in 1999, he was joined by on-screen cousins, Crash and Molly. In 2002, he suffered a broken neck, which sidelined him for over a year. Upon his return, he engaged in minor feuds with wrestlers such as Mr. Kennedy and Rob Van Dam, before forming a tag team with Cody Rhodes in 2007. Holly was released from WWE in 2009. During his career, Holly has held the WWF/E Hardcore Championship six times, the WWF/E Tag Team Championship three times (with 1–2–3 Kid, Crash Holly and Cody Rhodes), and the NWA World Tag Team Championship once with Bart Gunn. Howard's autobiography, titled The Hardcore Truth: The Bob Holly Story was released in the United States on April 1, 2013. Co-authored by former British wrestler Ross Owen Williams, an actor and writer[63] who wrestled Holly in June 2010, it was published by ECW Press. Reviews of the book were positive, with Nolan Howell of Canoe.com describing it as a "straightforward look into the life of a man that has dedicated himself to the sport of professional wrestling" and has "an endearing, personal style that gives an apt representation of the author...For fans such as myself who appreciated the blunt style of the man known as Hardcore Holly, this ECW Press product will be an entertaining, worthwhile look into one of the unique personalities of professional wrestling." Joe Babinsack, writing for the Wrestling Observer, described the book as "brutal, boisterous and definitely worth reading". Bruce Mitchell, writing for the Pro Wrestling Torch, described the book as "hard-hitting, straightforward, and not very fancy", rating it "one of the strongest professional wrestling books in a long while". Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer wrote, "in a lot of books, you think you're reading what the person writing feels is the right thing to say for their career... With Holly, whether you agree or not (and I agreed with some of his stuff, not others), I had no doubt he was giving his true opinions on things. In that sense, it was a very honest look at a period of WWF history from a guy who had ups and downs... but survived a long time."

Born

Glendale, California, USA on 29th January 1963

All Credits

WWF Wrestling Challenge Image
WWF Wrestling Challenge
Bob Holly
Raw Image
Raw
Bombastic Bob
Raw Image
Raw
Bob Holly
Raw Image
Raw
Hardcore Holly
Raw Image
Raw
Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly
Raw Image
Raw
Thurman "Sparky " Plugg
ECW on TNN Image
ECW on TNN
Hardcore Holly
ECW Hardcore TV Image
ECW Hardcore TV
Hardcore Holly
WWE ECW Image
WWE ECW
Hardcore Holly
WWE Tough Enough Image
WWE Tough Enough
Hardcore Holly
WWE SmackDown Image
WWE SmackDown
Hardcore Holly
WWE Wrestlemania X8 Image
WWE Wrestlemania X8
Hardcore Holly
WWE Velocity Image
WWE Velocity
Hardcore Holly
The Marine 2 Image
The Marine 2
Linwood's Left
WWE WrestleMania XXIV Image
WWE WrestleMania XXIV
Hardcore Holly
WWE WrestleMania 22 Image
WWE WrestleMania 22
Hardcore Holly
WWE Backlash 2000 Image
WWE Backlash 2000
Hardcore Holly
WWE: OMG! The Top 50 Incidents in WWE History Image
WWE: OMG! The Top 50 Incidents in WWE History
Himself
WWE Royal Rumble 2000 Image
WWE Royal Rumble 2000
Hardcore Holly
WWE WrestleMania 2000 Image
WWE WrestleMania 2000
Hardcore Holly
WWE Armageddon 1999 Image
WWE Armageddon 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE Rebellion 1999 Image
WWE Rebellion 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE WrestleMania 21 Image
WWE WrestleMania 21
Hardcore Holly
WWE WrestleMania XIV Image
WWE WrestleMania XIV
"Bombastic" Bob Holly
WWE King of the Ring 1999 Image
WWE King of the Ring 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 2007 Image
WWE Royal Rumble 2007
Hardcore Holly
WWE SummerSlam 1999 Image
WWE SummerSlam 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House Image
WWE St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House
Hardcore Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 1999 Image
WWE Royal Rumble 1999
Bob Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 2001 Image
WWE Royal Rumble 2001
Hardcore Holly
WWE Backlash: In Your House Image
WWE Backlash: In Your House
Hardcore Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 2005 Image
WWE Royal Rumble 2005
Hardcore Holly
WWE WrestleMania XV Image
WWE WrestleMania XV
Hardcore Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 2004 Image
WWE Royal Rumble 2004
Hardcore Holly
WWE Survivor Series 1999 Image
WWE Survivor Series 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE No Way Out 2001 Image
WWE No Way Out 2001
Hardcore Holly
WWE Survivor Series 2000 Image
WWE Survivor Series 2000
Hardcore Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 1995 Image
WWE Royal Rumble 1995
Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly
WWE: Attitude Era: Vol. 2 Image
WWE: Attitude Era: Vol. 2
Hardcore Holly
WWE The Great American Bash 2004 Image
WWE The Great American Bash 2004
Hardcore Holly
WWE Armageddon 2000 Image
WWE Armageddon 2000
Hardcore Holly
WWE Survivor Series 2007 Image
WWE Survivor Series 2007
Hardcore Holly
WWE Global Warning Image
WWE Global Warning
Hardcore Holly
WWE Judgment Day 2004 Image
WWE Judgment Day 2004
Hardcore Holly
WWE: The Best of SmackDown - 10th Anniversary, 1999-2009 Image
WWE: The Best of SmackDown - 10th Anniversary, 1999-2009
Hardcore Holly (archive footage)
No Image
WWE: Falls Count Anywhere: The Greatest Street Fights and Other Out of Control Matches
WWE Survivor Series 1996 Image
WWE Survivor Series 1996
Bob Holly (Free-for-All)
WWE Royal Rumble 2008 Image
WWE Royal Rumble 2008
Hardcore Holly
WWE No Mercy 1999 Image
WWE No Mercy 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE Night of Champions 2008 Image
WWE Night of Champions 2008
Hardcore Holly
Chris Benoit: The Aftermath Image
Chris Benoit: The Aftermath
Himself
WWE SummerSlam 1995 Image
WWE SummerSlam 1995
Bob "Spark Plug" Holly
WWE Rock Bottom: In Your House Image
WWE Rock Bottom: In Your House
Bob Holly
WWE: Satan's Prison - The Anthology of the Elimination Chamber Image
WWE: Satan's Prison - The Anthology of the Elimination Chamber
Hardcore Holly
WWE Unforgiven: In Your House Image
WWE Unforgiven: In Your House
"Bombastic" Bob
WWE King of the Ring 1998 Image
WWE King of the Ring 1998
"Bombastic" Bob Holly
WWE Over the Edge Image
WWE Over the Edge
Hardcore Holly
WWE Survivor Series 1995 Image
WWE Survivor Series 1995
Bob Holly
WWE Armageddon 2004 Image
WWE Armageddon 2004
Hardcore Holly
WWE: WrestleMania Monday Image
WWE: WrestleMania Monday
Bob Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 1994 Image
WWE Royal Rumble 1994
Thurman "Sparky " Plugg
Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows Image
Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows
Bob 'Spark Plugg' Holly (archive footage)
WWE Survivor Series 2003 Image
WWE Survivor Series 2003
Hardcore Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 1996 Image
WWE Royal Rumble 1996
Bob Holly
Operation Sandman Image
Operation Sandman
Sturner
WWE Insurrextion 2001 Image
WWE Insurrextion 2001
Hardcore Holly
WWE No Mercy 2005 Image
WWE No Mercy 2005
Hardcore Holly
ECW December to Dismember Image
ECW December to Dismember
Hardcore Holly
WWE No Way Out 2004 Image
WWE No Way Out 2004
Hardcore Holly
WWE King of the Ring 1995 Image
WWE King of the Ring 1995
Bob "Spark Plug" Holly
WWE WrestleFest '95 Image
WWE WrestleFest '95
Bob Holly
WWE Judgment Day 2005 Image
WWE Judgment Day 2005
Hardcore Holly
Ring Roasts III: The Roast of Jim Cornette Image
Ring Roasts III: The Roast of Jim Cornette
Self
WWF Action! Image
WWF Action!
Hardcore Holly
The History of The WWE Hardcore Championship Image
The History of The WWE Hardcore Championship
WWF: Hardcore Image
WWF: Hardcore
Hardcore Holly
WWF SummerSlam Spectacular 1994: Sunday Night Slam Image
WWF SummerSlam Spectacular 1994: Sunday Night Slam
Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly
TNA One Night Only: Hardcore Justice 2 Image
TNA One Night Only: Hardcore Justice 2
Bob Holly
YouShoot: Bob Holly Image
YouShoot: Bob Holly
Himself