Duke Droese
| Duke Droese | |
|---|---|
Duke Droese in 2001.
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| Birth name | Michael David Droese |
| Born |
October 13, 1970 Lodi, California |
| Residence | McMinnville, Tennessee |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Duke Droese Marshall Duke Rocco Gibraltar Garbage Man |
| Billed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Billed weight | 305 lb (138 kg; 21.8 st) |
| Billed from | "Mount Trashmore, Florida" The garbage heaps of Mt. Trashmore, Florida |
| Trained by | Bobby Wales |
| Debut | February 1990 |
| Retired | 2001 |
Michael David "Mike" Droese (born October 13, 1970) is an American retired professional wrestler and special education teacher. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation between 1994 and 1996 under the ring name Duke "The Dumpster" Droese.
Droese was trained as a professional wrestler by Bobby Wales. He debuted in Miami, Florida in February 1990, defeating Johnny Blade in his first match. Droese wrestled on the Florida independent circuit throughout the early 1990s. In 1993, Droese wrestled under the name "Garbage Man", which was the inspiration for the gimmick he took the following year in the World Wrestling Federation. Before being signed to the WWF, Droese also wrestled under the ring name Rocco Gibraltar. Droese first came to national wrestling attention in 1992 thanks to Pro Wrestling Illustrated's first annual PWI 500 (top 500 wrestlers in the world) where he was placed at #500. Throughout the first part of his tour with the WWE Droese was accompanied to the ring by many fans chanting "500".
In 1994, Droese was signed to a contract by the World Wrestling Federation. Droese was given the gimmick Duke "The Dumpster" Droese, a garbage man who carried a trash can to the ring. He debuted in late 1994 as an opponent for color commentator Jerry Lawler. In the course of a confrontation with Lawler, Droese was struck in the head with his own can, one of the first instances of hardcore wrestling on WWF Monday Night Raw. Lawler was obliged to apologize legitimately for "demonstrating such a brutal amount of violence".
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