Corporal Punishment (wrestler)


Daniel McDevitt, best known by his ring name Corporal Punishment, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler, trainer and promoter. His career spans over a decade working in numerous independent promotions throughout the United States including the American Wrestling Federation, Extreme Championship Wrestling, Cueball Carmichael's Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance, Doug Flex's International Pro Wrestling, Independent Superstars of Professional Wrestling, House of Pain Wrestling Federation / National Wrestling League, and the National Wrestling Alliance.
He was a well-known "heel" in the mid-to late 1990s, especially in the Mid-Atlantic region as a top star in the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation, and engaged in feuds with Johnny Gunn, Axl Rotten, Stevie Richards and Adam Flash on the East Coast. He occasionally appeared in the World Wrestling Federation, as both an in-ring character and preliminary wrestler, during the "Attitude Era".
In 1998, McDevitt and Mark "The Shark" Shrader, then owners of the "Bone Breakers Pro Wrestling Training Center" in Halethorpe, Maryland, left the MEWF to form Maryland Championship Wrestling starting a 5-year rivalry which would last until MCW's close in 2003. A graduate of the Baltimore Monster Factory, where he was trained by Axl and Ian Rotten, McDevitt's "Bone Breakers" students include WWE's Lita, Mickie James, Orlando Jordan and Florida Championship Wrestling star Calvin Raines.
McDevitt reopened MCW in 2006 where he resumed his long-running feud with Adam Flash, and later, Zachary Shane. It was the latter feud which revolved around the real-life affair between Shane and McDevitt's now ex-wife Kim McDevitt. He gradually cut back his in-ring activity after 2008 but has continued to make on-camera appearances as MCW's owner.
In recent years, he has become involved in more "behind-the-scenes" positions within the industry. In 2011, he was hired by the Urban Wrestling Federation as an agent and associate producer for its debut pay-per-view event. That same year, he also accepted a position as a guest columnist for the South Carolina newspaper Lexington Patch where he maintains a professional wrestling blog. Outside of pro wrestling, McDevitt maintains a successful career as a Baltimore-area real estate agent.

Career

Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation (1993–1996)

Dan McDevitt was born and raised in Catonsville, Maryland. A wrestling fan since age 10, he decided to become a professional wrestler after graduating high school. He was trained by Axl and Ian Rotten at the Baltimore Monster Factory and made his pro debut on November 14, 1993. Within a year, he was wrestling full-time for Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation under the name "The Comet". On May 11, 1994, in his hometown of Catonsville, McDevitt teamed with Road Warrior Hawk to win the MEWF Tag Team Championship from The Hollywood Hunks. The following night, he defeated Joe Thunder for the MEWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship in Hampstead, Maryland. It was around this time that he began wrestling as "Corporal Punishment" and won the MEWF Heavyweight Championship from Mad Dog O'Malley in Baltimore on March 26, 1995; he won the title after O'Malley had put out an open challenge to the MEWF locker room. It was also during the year that branched out to other promotions in the region. In 1995 alone, he wrestled Morgus the Maniac in the National Wrestling League, the Cuban Assassin in NWA New Jersey, and Doink the Clown at a National Wrestling Alliance show for Dennis Coraluzzo at the Rutgers Campus.
McDevitt held both titles for over a month before dropping the Mid-Atlantic belt to Raven, helped by his valet Isis, in Essex on April 23. He eventually gained his revenge for the loss by interfering in a title defense between Raven and Chad Austin on October 1, 1995, costing Raven to lose the belt; He regained the Mid-Atlantic title from Austin, beating him for the championship a month later, before the title was vacated. McDevitt lost the heavyweight championship to Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart at that same event, however, he won it back from Neidhart in Catonsville on November 10, 1995. His loss to Joe Thunder less than a month later ended his second title reign. He had one more final run as MEWF Mid-Atlantic Champion after defeating Johnny Gunn for the vacant title on February 26, 1996; he and Gunn feuded in other East Coast promotions during this time such as Wild Organization of Wrestling in Martinsburg, West Virginia. He successfully defended the title against Ricky Blues, among others, and in a three-way dance involving Axl Rotten and Johnny Gunn before losing the title to Joe Thunder in Baltimore on June 2. His third and final reign as MEWF Heavyweight Champion lasted less than a day following his victory of Johnny Gunn in Essex on June 30, 1996, losing the belt immediately after to Axl Rotten in a steel cage match. The title initially switched hands in a tag team match pitting himself and Rotten against Johnny Gunn and Joe Thunder. McDevitt was then challenged by his tag team partner who defeated him for the title.
Over the summer, McDevitt formed a tag team with Axl Rotten and together defeated Darkside in Catonsville on August 16. He lost the titles while teaming with Headbanger Mosh, who was substituting for Rotten, against Menace 2 Society in Baltimore on September 13, 1996. McDevitt would both feud and team with his former trainer throughout his career.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1997)

In early-1997, McDevitt began wrestling for Philadelphia's Extreme Championship Wrestling. He made his debut for the promotion wrestling Spike Dudley in back-to-back appearances in Hamburg and Downingtown, Pennsylvania, from February 8–9, 1997. On March 1, at an ECW house show held in Scranton, McDevitt wrestled Sabu at the Catholic Youth Center in front of 1,590 fans. The following night, this time for an MEWF event, he faced Big Stevie Cool of The Blue World Order in Baltimore. He similarly faced Chris Candido in his home promotion several days later and, a few years afterwards met Candido again in Doug Flex's International Pro Wrestling.
Over the next few months, he would appear on ECW Hardcore TV and numerous live events against ECW stars such as Pitbull #2, Balls Mahoney, Taz, and Tommy Dreamer, He also both wrestled and teamed with his one-time rival Axl Rotten facing then NWA United States Tag Team Champions The Lost Boys and The Gangstas that spring.

Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation (1997–1998)

McDevitt continued to face ECW stars even after his eventual return to the MEWF. In March 1997, Miss Patricia became McDevitt's manager. On June 1, 1997, he wrestled a four-way match in Dundalk, Maryland, against Axl Rotten, New Jack, and The Sandman. He soon began tagging with Mark "The Shark" Shrader and, on July 17, 1997, they defeated MEWF Tag Team Champions The Wiseguys for the titles but lost them back to The Wiseguys the next month. The team made one more attempt to recapture the tag team titles, in a three-way dance with the champions on October 23, 1997, but both teams ended up losing to the Badstreet Boys. Weeks later, McDevitt wrestled Salvatore Sincere for the vacant MEWF Heavyweight Championship in Keyser, West Virginia, but failed to defeat the WWF superstar; the match was not billed as a heavyweight title bout.
By the late-1990s, McDevitt had established himself as a "rough and tough rulebreaker" on East Coast independents, and later, throughout the continental United States. His in-ring persona, as the facepaint-clad "Corporal Punishment", was portrayed as having "little regard for warnings, fines, or possible suspensions" and, in fact, was "threatened" with being banned from several promotions. Among the different organizations he competed for included Cueball Carmichael's Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance where, in early 1998, he wrestled Adam Flash in Alexandria, Virginia. He would return to the IPWA the following year, facing Tom Brandi in Chincoteague Island, Virginia, for the vacant IPWA Heavyweight Championship, as well as making an appearance for Tommy Fierro's Independent Superstars of Professional Wrestling He would also feud with another "Corporal Punishment" while in Doug Flex's International Pro Wrestling. McDevitt was among the top independent wrestlers later featured on Smart Mark Video's "The Indies" Best of 1997–2000.

Maryland Championship Wrestling (1998–2003)

In the spring of 1998, McDevitt and then partner Mark Shrader decided to leave the MEWF following unresolved creative control and salary disagreements with the promotion's management. He and Shrader had started their own wrestling school, the "Bone Breakers Pro Wrestling Training Center" in Halethorpe, Maryland, the previous year and, with the encouragement of other indy wrestlers, decided open Maryland Championship Wrestling as an extension of the "Bone Breakers" facility. Among its most prominent students were Orlando Jordan and Florida Championship Wrestling star Calvin Raines; WWE's Mickie James and Lita would also train at the facility.
Over half the active MEWF roster jumped to their new promotion, including its then booker Axl Rotten, and, on July 19, 1998, MCW's first show was held at Baltimore's Patapsco Arena and attended by nearly 1,200 fans. The event featured manager Jim Cornette, Little Guido, Balls Mahoney, Jerry Lynn, Crowbar, and The Headbangers. The show's success and broke the longstanding monopoly over Maryland pro wrestling by the MEWF and would eventually lead to MCW becoming the top promotion in the region.
As "Corporal Punishment", McDevitt was involved in two major events in the promotion's history. On August 16, he and Axl Rotten joined The Headbangers in an 8-man tag team match against Jimmy Cicero, Julio Sanchez and The Pitbulls to crown the first MCW Tag Team Champions, which The Headbangers won. Two months later, he entered a championship tournament for the MCW Heavyweight Championship and advanced to the finals where he lost to Romeo Valentino. Near the end of the year, while competing for Unified Championship Wrestling in Alabama and Louisiana, he beat Stevie Richards for the promotion's heavyweight title in Bayou La Batre, Alabama. This would set off a short-lived but intense feud between the two men which would continue in MCW.
McDevitt and Shrader used their connections to continue bringing in then current stars from World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation, such as McDevitt's long-time friendship with Cornette, as well as ECW talent, via Axl Rotten, which had formerly appeared for the MEWF. Over the next year, veterans such as Ricky Steamboat, Ricky Morton, Bobby Eaton, Tito Santana, The Iron Sheik, Sherri Martel, The Road Warriors, King Kong Bundy, and Jerry "The King" Lawler appeared on MCW shows. One of their most successful shows, however, was headlined by TV celebrity Steve Wilkos of the Jerry Springer Show set a new attendance record for MCW's home arena, Michael's Eighth Avenue ballroom, with nearly 2,000 fans. MCW would go on to produce over 100 events featuring some of the top independent wrestlers in the country during the next five years.
By 1999, he had switched from a primarily singles competitor to a tag team wrestler. During the year, he would form notable teams with Terry Funk, The Iron Sheik, Axl Rotten, and the Headbangers. The running of MCW, particularly during its first few years, took up much of McDevitt's time and saw far less of him as an active wrestler. Despite this, he was voted "Most Hated Wrestler of the Year" by its fans that year. On July 19, 2000, he entered the 2nd annual Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup but was eliminated by Chip Bowman in the opening rounds. In October 2000, McDevitt appeared before the Maryland State Athletic Commission, then attempting to shut down backyard wrestling in the state, claimed to be aware of "at least 20 unsanctioned backyard-type federations statewide".
On July 18, 2001, at MCW's 3rd annual Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup, McDevitt joined Jimmy Cicero and Kelly Bell in a 6-man tag team match against Brian Christopher, Adam Flash, and The Bruiser. He later faced The Bruiser in an "I Quit" match at the Ft. Meade Army Base on September 15, 2001. A later meeting between the two was featured by RF Video's "Best of the Bloody Indy Matches, Vol. 1".
When MEWF veteran Dave Casanova died following a heart attack on March 1, 2002, then MEWF promoter Donna Burke began organizing a memorial show in his honor. Out of friendship for their late friend, McDevitt and Shrader agreed to the MCW's participation as an interpromotional event. The Casanova memorial show marked was the first time that wrestlers from either promotion appeared in the same ring together since the 1997 split. It was around this time that former "Bone Breakers" student Derek Wayne began heavily investing in the MEWF and became a third co-owner. Wayne was able to broker a deal between McDevitt and MEWF owner Tim Burke to begin working together. Starting in October 2002, a storyline invasion took place between the two companies for the next seven months. It received a somewhat mixed reaction from fans and was brought to an end with MCW's close the following summer. The promotion held its final show, "The Last Dance: Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup", on July 16, 2003, at Michael's Eighth Avenue ballroom, in which over 1,000 fans were in attendance. At the event, it was announced that MCW would be "merging" the MEWF. He and Jeff Jones subsequently served as bookers for the promotion, however, McDevitt left after only a few months. On October 16, 2003, shortly after MCW's close, McDevitt appeared for Ring of Honor's debut show at Michael's Eighth Avenue where he endorsed the promotion and announced ROH would continue holding MCW's Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup.