Ernest Miller

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For other people named Ernest Miller, see Ernest Miller (disambiguation).
Ernest Miller
Birth name Ernest Clifford Miller
Born (1964-01-14) January 14, 1964 (age 61)[1]
Atlanta, Georgia[1]
Residence Atlanta, Georgia[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Ernest Miller
Billed height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1]
Billed weight 235 lb (107 kg)[1]
Billed from Atlanta, Georgia[1]
Trained by DeWayne Bruce
WCW Power Plant
Debut 1997[1]

Ernest Clifford Miller[2] (born January 14, 1964) is an American actor and former professional wrestler who worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) better known by his ring name, Ernest "The Cat" Miller.[1] As a wrestling villain or 'heel', he had several notable matches against strong WCW stars. As an actor, he's perhaps best known for his critically praised role in the popular 2008 drama The Wrestler.

Career

Early career

Miller graduated from Gordon High School in Decatur, Georgia, playing on the football team as a linebacker.[2] He then went to Savannah State University in Savannah, Georgia studying electrical engineering and playing football as an All-American linebacker.[2]

World Championship Wrestling (1997-2001)

After a career as a karate tournament competitor, Miller was brought into WCW by Eric Bischoff. Miller was a karate instructor and was teaching Bischoff's son Garett, when Bischoff asked him to become a wrestler.[1]

Miller made his WCW debut when he saved Glacier from a two-on-one attack by Wrath and Mortis at the WCW Slamboree 1997 PPV. Initially thought as just a fan who had jumped the railing, the WCW commentators then realized that this was no ordinary man and he was in fact the three-time karate champion Ernest Miller. Glacier and Ernest Miller quickly became tag team partners in their feud with Mortis and Wrath. He soon left Glacier and became a villain with Sonny Onoo as his manager (although Glacier actually turned on Miller first). It was during this time that Miller's popularity heightened.

As a villain, he often gloated that he could beat anybody within two minutes and managed to do so on several occasions using his signature springboard kick, The Feliner. It was also around this time that Ernest Miller began wearing ruby slippers in the ring and dancing in a James Brown-esque fashion to celebrate his victories. He claimed on weekly editions of Nitro that he knew the actual James Brown, leading to a pay-per-view "dance-off" between Miller and Brown, who had been brought in specially. Miller even went as far promoting his own instructional, karate home video with a pseudo infomercial. This served as a comedic parody to Billy Blanks' Tae Bo exercise videos which were quite popular at the time.

While Miller was most often a villain, he eventually turned into a fan favorite and became WCW Commissioner in 2000. He began the angle as a villain but eventually turned into a fan favorite due to the high fan reaction he was getting whenever he entered an arena. He was feuding with Ric Flair's Magnificent Seven stable during the purchase of WCW by Vince McMahon in March 2001.

Miller had two years on his WCW contract; as a result, he decided to stay at home for the two years to take care of his children.[3] Miller also appeared at some World Wrestling All-Stars shows before going to the WWE where he would have a somewhat brief career.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2002-2004)

Under his Ernest "The Cat" Miller ring name and gimmick, he made his dark match debut for World Wrestling Entertainment on October 28, 2002. He then served as an announcer for Velocity. After his run on Velocity, he became an active wrestler on the main roster, competing for the SmackDown brand.

Miller appeared in the 2004 Royal Rumble match, making his entrance (along with manager Lamont) while the other two people in the ring, Chris Benoit and Randy Orton, were knocked down. Miller and Lamont proceeded to dance to his theme music, not bothering to capitalize on the advantage he'd been given. When Benoit and Orton got back up, both men quickly tossed him from the ring. During his time, his catchphrase, "somebody call my momma" (which was also used in WCW), started to be used in WWE. This phrase also appeared in the lyrics to his theme song, which he would dance to. Miller then competed in a 15-man Royal Rumble on SmackDown! to earn a shot at the WWE Championship against then Champion Brock Lesnar at No Way Out, but was once again thrown out during his theme song, this time by Kurt Angle. Following this, he started a short-lived feud with Tajiri after Tajiri attacked Lamont with his trademark Buzzsaw Kick. After the feud ended, Miller was released from WWE on February 10, 2004.

In 2012 his old theme song was then recycled for the entrance of Brodus Clay's new "Funkasaurus" gimmick. Brodus Clay also started to use his phrase, 'Somebody better call my momma'. Miller had this to say about the WWE and Brodus Clay recycling his music and phrase to Inside the Ropes Radio “I haven’t watched it. I’ve nothing against him, he’s working for a company. I feel like someone told him to do it. He’s trying to make it work. Many fans have said he’s not as good as me and it made me popular without being on the TV show. It’s a little more than dancing. I was an athlete, I could wrestle. WWE had so many people afraid of their jobs, they never let me develop into what it could be. People like this guy out there dancing and saying call my momma, but he’s not the original. I could’ve made it work so in other words, I’m a little pissed off about it.”

Outside pro wrestling

Miller had a significant role in the Academy Award nominated film The Wrestler[4][5] as The Ayatollah, in-ring nemesis of Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke). He played Earnie Shavers opposite Michael Jai White in the 2008 Chinese television series The Legend of Bruce Lee and appeared in the 2009 film Blood and Bone. In a January 2009 interview, Miller announced he was cast as George Foreman in an HBO biopic[5] that has yet to be produced.

In wrestling

  • "I'm The Greatest"
  • "Somebody Call My Momma" by Jim Johnston (January 25, 2004 – February 10, 2004)

Championships and accomplishments

Professional wrestling

References

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External links

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