Christopher Daniels
Christopher Daniel Covell, better known by the ring name Christopher Daniels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling, where he works as the Head of Talent Relations and is the on-screen manager of SkyFlight. He is best known for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Ring of Honor, as well as extensive time on the independent circuit; he is known as the "King of Indies" for his work with independent promotions across the world, including Frontier Wrestling Alliance, International Wrestling Cartel, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.
Daniels has won 20 total championships between Impact, ROH, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, with three reigns as Impact X Division Champion, six reigns as NWA World Tag Team Champion, and two reigns as Impact World Tag Team Champion during his time with Impact Wrestling; one reign as ROH World Champion, one reign as ROH World Television Champion, four reigns as ROH World Tag Team Champion, and one reign as ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion while wrestling for ROH; and one reign as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion in NJPW.
Daniels retired from in-ring competition in January 2025.
Early life
Christopher Daniel Covell was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on March 24, 1970. When Covell was three, his family relocated to Fayetteville, North Carolina, where he became an avid fan of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. After he graduated from Methodist College with a degree in theater, Covell and his wife moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he planned to become an actor.Professional wrestling career
Early career (1993–2002)
After being trained by Sam DeCero, Mike Anthony and Kevin Quinn, Daniels made his debut for Windy City Pro Wrestling in April 1993, losing a tag match with Titan to The Manson Brothers. The following month he defeated Trevor Blanchard for the WCPW Light Heavyweight Championship, and shortly thereafter won the WCPW Tag Team Championship with Kevin Quinn. Daniels subsequently traveled to Puerto Rico to wrestle for the World Wrestling Council, and on October 22, 1995, teamed with Kevin Quinn to defeat Huracán Castillo Jr. and Invader I for the WWC World Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles a month later to The Canadian Glamour Boys. Back in Windy City, Daniels defeated Bret Sanders for the WCPW Middleweight Championship, losing it to Brandon Bishop 17 days later. Around this time, he also wrestled for the Empire Wrestling Federation, where he won the EWF Heavyweight Championship.Daniels teamed with Kevin Quinn to defeat Danny Dominion and Ace Steele at the NWA's 50th Anniversary show in October 1998 to become the first NWA Midwest Tag Team Champions. He participated in the 3rd Annual ECWA Super 8 Tournament, reaching the finals where he lost to Steve Bradley. After a short stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling he traveled to Japan, where he developed his masked persona, Curry Man, and competed in the Masked Man League, finishing third.
On December 19, 1999, he defeated Minoru Fujita in Michinoku Pro Wrestling for the British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Championship. Back in the U.S., he defeated Michael Modest for the APW Worldwide Internet Championship in All Pro Wrestling and won the 4th Annual ECWA Super 8 Tournament. He then won APW's King of the Indies tournament, the WCPW League Championship, and the UPW Heavyweight Championship.
World Wrestling Federation (1998–2001)
In 1998, Daniels signed a developmental deal with the World Wrestling Federation and trained at Dory Funk Jr.'s Funkin' Dojo. He made his WWF debut on January 19, 1998, losing a dark match to Mick Tierney, and went on to be used as a jobber on the WWF's B-shows, Sunday Night Heat and WWF Shotgun Saturday Night, throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.In 2000, he donned a mask and teamed with Aaron Aguilera as Los Conquistadores, as part of The Hardy Boyz' feud with Edge and Christian. He also appeared as one of the Los Conquistadores alongside Aaron Aguilera where they competed in the APA's bar room brawl at the WWE Vengeance pay-per-view event in 2003.
He made several appearances on WWF Jakked during the spring of 2001, including a singles loss to Jerry Lynn and a tag team loss to Kaientai with Scoot Andrews as his partner.
World Championship Wrestling (2000–2001)
On January 14, 2000, Daniels received a tryout match with World Championship Wrestling, defeating Mikey Henderson. The original idea was for Daniels to portray Vampiro's dark master, Syndrome, but his WCW debut was continually postponed, and he eventually returned to the independent scene.On the June 17, 2000, episode of WCW WorldWide, Daniels lost to Chris Candido and on the October 21 episode of WorldWide, Daniels lost to Kwee Wee. On the January 22, 2001, episode of WCW Monday Nitro, Daniels wrestled Michael Modest. During the match, he attempted a springboard moonsault, but his left foot missed the ring rope. Unable to sufficiently push off to complete the rotation, he botched the move and landed on his head, damaging his neck. Though he was able to finish the match, his left arm was impaired throughout it. Afterwards, Daniels and Modest signed 90-day contracts, but Daniels was released before he had another match.
Independent circuit (2001–2002)
Throughout 2001 and 2002, he continued wrestling on the independent circuit, winning multiple titles and tournaments and debuting in Canada and the United Kingdom.Ring of Honor (2002–2004)
The Prophecy
On February 23, 2002, Daniels wrestled in the triple threat main event of Ring of Honor's first show, The Era of Honor Begins, against Low Ki and Bryan Danielson. He lost the match, then refused to shake hands with his opponents, breaking ROH's "Code of Honor", which mandated that all wrestlers shake hands before and after a match. He then took the mic and challenged Low Ki and Danielson to a round robin tournament at ROH's second show, Round Robin Challenge. Daniels defeated Danielson in the first match, then forced him to shake his hand. He next submitted to Low Ki's Dragon Clutch, but again refused to shake hands and said he would have won if he had not already wrestled that night, vowing to not wrestle Low Ki again unless the ROH World Championship was on the line.At Ring of Honor's third show, A Night of Appreciation, Daniels lost to Donovan Morgan, with both men showing mutual respect. The two men formed a partnership, eventually adding other members and growing into the stable known as The Prophecy. Daniels defeated AJ Styles on June 22, to qualify for the first ROH World Championship match, a one-hour Iron Man match against Spanky, Doug Williams, and Low Ki. In this title match, Daniels scored a pin on the eventual winner, Low Ki, and was the only wrestler not to lose a fall by pin or submission.
Two months later, Low Ki defended the title against Xavier. During the match, Daniels came to the ring to distract Low Ki, allowing Xavier to attack the champion with a chair and pin him for the title. Xavier was subsequently announced as the newest member of The Prophecy. Later that night, Daniels and Morgan defeated Danielson and Michael Modest to become the inaugural ROH Tag Team Champions, giving The Prophecy possession of all championships in Ring of Honor.
At Glory By Honor, Daniels defeated Doug Williams, who was consequently banned from shaking hands in ROH. The Prophecy recruited the debuting Samoa Joe to take out Low Ki in the first ever Fight Without Honor, a match that does not follow ROH's Code of Honor rules. Low Ki won the match and shook Joe's hand.
On March 13, 2003, A.J. Styles and Amazing Red defeated Daniels and Xavier for the ROH Tag Team Championship. At the next show, The Prophecy also lost the ROH Championship, when former member Samoa Joe defeated Xavier. On April 26, Daniels won the second Round Robin Challenge by defeating Amazing Red and Paul London in singles matches. On June 14, The Prophecy put their existence in ROH on the line in a six-man tag team match against The Group. The Prophecy won, and The Group was forced to disband.
Daniels defeated the returning Xavier on August 16 to become number one contender for the ROH World Championship, only to be defeated by champion Samoa Joe on September 20.
After CM Punk declined an offer to join The Prophecy, someone assaulted his girlfriend Lucy backstage, forcing her out of ROH. On December 23, 2003, Daniels revealed that B. J. Whitmer, the newest member of The Prophecy, had attacked Lucy, starting a rivalry between The Prophecy and Punk's stable, The Second City Saints. On January 10, 2004, at Battle Lines are Drawn, The Prophecy faced The Second City Saints in a six-man tag team main event. The Prophecy was disqualified when Whitmer accidentally hit the referee with a chair. After the match, Punk dropped Daniels from the ropes through a table with the Pepsi Plunge, putting him out of ROH.
In reality, Daniels' exit was a result of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling not allowing their contracted wrestlers to work ROH shows, in light of a scandal surrounding ROH promoter Rob Feinstein.
Return to ROH (2005–2007)
In the summer of 2005, Ring of Honor announced that, after a sixteen-month absence, Daniels would return on July 8. However, on June 18, at Death Before Dishonor III, he made a surprise early return, confronting and challenging the new ROH World Champion, CM Punk, who had threatened to leave for World Wrestling Entertainment with the title. Punk refused the challenge and fled the arena. At the next show, Sign of Dishonor, Daniels defeated Punk's stablemate, Colt Cabana, when Punk attempted to hit Daniels with a steel chain, but instead hit Cabana. At Fate of an Angel, Daniels lost to the debuting Matt Hardy after Punk interfered. Later that night, after Punk's successful defense against James Gibson, Daniels stole the belt and was granted a title shot.On July 23, at The Homecoming, Daniels wrestled Punk to a one-hour time limit draw; the time expired just as Daniels hit his Angel's Wings finisher. At the next show on August 12, Redemption, Daniels, Gibson and Samoa Joe challenged CM Punk for the title in a Four-Way Elimination match. While Joe had Daniels in a submission move, Daniels put his foot on the rope to force a break. Punk knocked it off before the referee noticed, and Daniels submitted. Daniels tried to get revenge, but inadvertently helped Punk eliminate Joe.
Daniels remained a regular member of the ROH roster, while also working other promotions. He made his U.S. debut as Curry Man on August 27, against Shingo Takagi at Dragon Gate Invasion
After defeating Matt Sydal in two singles matches and losing to him in a third, they became tag team partners in the summer of 2006. On August 26, they failed in their first shot at the ROH World Tag Team Championship, against Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. On November 25, they defeated Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli for the title, making Daniels a two-time champion. After defending against CIMA and Shingo, Austin Aries and Roderick Strong and Jack Evans and Shingo, Daniels and Sydal lost the title to The Briscoe Brothers on February 24, 2007.
At Good Times, Great Memories on April 28, Daniels wrestled a fifteen-minute time-limit draw with Erick Stevens. Following the match, Daniels turned heel and quit ROH.