His first major stint was in the WWF as Aldo Montoya, where he competed as a mid-carder between 1994 and 1997.[6] He got his biggest exposure when he joined ECW in 1997 as Justin Credible and enjoyed a successful career. He began a two-month winning streak before feuding with the company's top wrestlers for the next two years. He formed Impact Players with Lance Storm in 1999 and the duo won the World Tag Team Championshiptwice in 2000.[7][8]
Later that year, he won the ECW World Heavyweight Championship at CyberSlam and held it for five months.[5] He remained in the title contention until ECW folded in 2001 and competed in the last match of ECW. He headlined the company's flagship event November to Remember twice. He then returned to WWF as a member of X-Factor and later The Alliance during the Invasionangle.[9]
Polaco traveled to Alberta in 1992 to train at the Hart Brothers Training Camp, nominally run by Keith Hart. He was mainly trained by his future tag team partner, Lance Storm, and Chris Jericho, who both graduated the program the year before. After wrestling unpaid as P.J. Walker, and setting up the rings there for a time, he began working for New England–based wrestling promotions. [citation needed]
In November 1994, Polaco was hired by Pat Patterson to a full-time contract in the WWF. His Portuguese ancestry inspired the WWF to give him the soccer player character of Aldo Montoya. However the idea changed to the "Portuguese Man O' War" character since he didn't like soccer.[14] He made his televised debut as a fan favorite on the November 14 episode of Monday Night Raw, where he picked up a victory over The Brooklyn Brawler.[15] He was once offered to be a part of the Million Dollar Corporation by Ted DiBiase. He refused and told him to "shove his money in his ear". His mask drew criticism by fellow wrestlers, who called it a "jockstrap". Polaco befriended The Kliq, an influential group of upper card wrestlers, after Razor Ramon offered to mentor him. Polaco made his pay-per-view debut at the 1995 Royal Rumble as a participant in the Royal Rumble match. He lasted 13 minutes until he was eliminated by eventual winner Shawn Michaels.[16] Montoya suffered his first televised loss against Mantaur on the January 29 episode of Action Zone.[17] On the April 8 episode of Superstars, Polaco defeated the Intercontinental ChampionJeff Jarrett in a non-title match, which earned him a title shot against Jarrett for the Intercontinental Championship on the April 22 episode of Superstars, where Jarrett retained the title.[18] Montoya appeared at the In Your House pay-per-view, where he attempted to prevent Jarrett and The Roadie from attacking Razor Ramon after a handicap match.[19]
He made only one pay-per-view appearance in 1996 at the Royal Rumble, where he participated in the Royal Rumble match, where he lasted only two minutes until he was eliminated by Tatanka.[20] His only highlight of the year was an upset victory against Jerry Lawler on the July 27 episode of Superstars, which he gained by pinning Lawler with Jake Roberts' DDT finishing move. He lost to Lawler in a rematch on the August 5 episode of Monday Night Raw. After the match, Lawler poured Jim Beam whiskey down his throat.[21]
Throughout this time, Montoya became more of a lower card wrestler and even asked for his release in June 1997 when he was only being booked twice a month.[22] The WWF initially declined and sent him to a developmental promotion United States Wrestling Association in Memphis to hone his skills, where he remained for seven weeks. He was then released on the condition that he could not work for rival promotion World Championship Wrestling, which was then luring wrestlers away from the WWF with the promise of larger salaries. Polaco was instead sent to Extreme Championship Wrestling as part of a talent exchange between WWF and ECW.[11]
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1997–2001)
Undefeated streak and various feuds (1997–1999)
Polaco at an ECW event in 1998
Polaco joined ECW under the guidance of bookerPaul Heyman, who promised to make him a star. He debuted in ECW as "PG-187" in a loss to Chris Candido on August 21, 1997.[23] He later resumed his "PJ Walker" name. At As Good as It Gets, his character was repackaged as he shaved his head and switched to a grunge style of dress, and adopted a cocky, sneering, egomaniacal attitude. He was introduced by Jason Knight, who named him "Justin Credible" ("Just Incredible").[24] Credible defeated Jerry Lynn by debuting a new finisher called That's Incredible.[24][25] He began an undefeated streak which included a notable win over The Great Sasuke on the October 24 episode of Hardcore TV.[24] Credible suffered his first loss in ECW against Mikey Whipwreck in his pay-per-view debut at November to Remember.[26] Credible continued his rivalry with Whipwreck, beating him in televised rematches on Hardcore TV,[11] while losing again at Better Than Ever.[27]
In the midst of his rivalry with Tommy Dreamer, Polaco aligned himself with his mentor Lance Storm after the duo lost a three-way dance against Dreamer at House Party.[39] Storm and Credible continued to feud with Dreamer until the duo formed a tag team at Crossing the Line called The Impact Players. They proclaimed themselves to be "New Franchise" after Shane Douglas teased his retirement but Douglas instead chose Dreamer as his successor.[7][37] Impact Players were defeated by Dreamer and Douglas at Living Dangerously on March 21.[40] Credible lost a match to Douglas at CyberSlam.[41] The feud with Dreamer and Douglas ended when Douglas left the company in mid-1999.[37] Following Douglas' departure, Credible faced Sid Vicious in a match at May's Hardcore Heaven, which ended in a no contest.[42]
Impact Players began dominating the roster in singles and tag team competition and quickly earned main event status by feuding with the company's top wrestlers. They defeated Jerry Lynn and Sabu at the Hostile City Showdown event in June[43] while lost to Lynn and Rob Van Dam in the main event of Heat Wave pay-per-view on July 18.[44] Polaco then embarked on a feud with Sabu, which culminated in a match between the two at September's Anarchy Rulz pay-per-view, which Polaco won.[45] Impact Players' next feud was with The Sandman and the ECW World Tag Team Champions Tommy Dreamer and Raven. At November to Remember, Impact Players teamed with Rhino against Sandman, Raven and Dreamer in a losing effort.[46]
Impact Players continued their rivalry with Raven and Dreamer as they began pursuing the ECW World Tag Team Championship. On the January 7, 2000, episode of ECW on TNN, Credible defeated Dreamer in the second Stairway to Hell match.[37] Impact Players were booked to win the titles from Raven and Dreamer at Guilty as Charged on January 9, 2000.[8][47] A month later, Impact Players dropped the titles to Dreamer and Masato Tanaka on the March 3 episode of ECW on TNN.[48] Shortly after, Mike Awesome and Raven won the titles from Dreamer and Tanaka. At Living Dangerously, Impact Players defeated both teams in a three-way dance to regain the World Tag Team Championship.[8][49]
World Heavyweight Champion (2000–2001)
Polaco received the biggest push of his career at the CyberSlam event on April 22, when he and Jason attacked rival Tommy Dreamer and Raven after Dreamer defeated Taz to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. He threw down his ECW World Tag Team Championship belt and challenged Dreamer to defend the title against him on the spot to which Dreamer agreed. Polaco defeated Dreamer to win the title after Dreamer's valetFrancineturned on Dreamer.[5][48][50] From this point, Francine became Credible's valet. Credible became a loyal ally of The Network and the top wrestler of the group. Upon winning the World Heavyweight Championship, Credible vacated his half of the World Tag Team Championship and berated his mentor and tag team partner Lance Storm, leading to a rivalry between the two. At the Hardcore Heaven pay-per-view, Credible was scheduled to defend the title against Dreamer and Storm in a three-way dance but he refused to defend the title against anyone except Storm and threatened to throw the World Heavyweight Championship. Credible defended the title against Storm in a singles match, during which he injured Storm's valet Dawn Marie with a That's Incredible. Credible retained the title and was assaulted by Dreamer after the match.[48][51] Credible successfully defended the title against Dreamer in the third Stairway to Hell match between the duo at Heat Wave.[52]
Credible represented The Network with Rhino in a tournament for the vacant World Tag Team Championship in September. They defeated The Sandman and Chilly Willy in the first round before losing to Dreamer and Jerry Lynn in the quarterfinals. Credible defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Network's Steve Corino on the September 15 ECW on TNN, during which Corino brought Dawn Marie as his valet, who had been injured by Credible at Hardcore Heaven. Credible managed to retain the title but it stirred up problems between Credible and Corino. Credible successfully defended the title against Corino and Jerry Lynn in an elimination match on the September 29 episode of ECW on TNN,[48] before losing the title to Lynn at Anarchy Rulz on October 1 after being hit with his own move That's Incredible,[48][53] ending his five-month reign at 162 days.[5]
Credible competed against Lynn, Corino and The Sandman for the title in a Double Jeopardy match, the following month at November to Remember. Corino and Credible eliminated Sandman and Lynn respectively and then Corino defeated Credible to win the title.[54] Credible faced Corino and Lynn in a three-way dance for the title at Massacre on 34th Street, where Corino retained the title.[55] He received another opportunity for the title against Corino and Sandman in a Tables, Ladders, Chairs and Canes match at the company's final pay-per-view Guilty as Charged, where Sandman won the title.[56] He competed against Sandman in the final match in the history of ECW on January 13, 2001, which he won but offered a rematch, which he lost to Sandman.[48][57]
Return to WWF/E (2001–2003)
X-Factor and The Alliance (2001)
With ECW facing imminent bankruptcy and Paul Heyman becoming unable to pay the roster, Polaco returned to the WWF as Justin Credible in February 2001, immediately forming an alliance with X-Pac and assisting him in his pursuit of the WWF Intercontinental Championship. The duo eventually formed a stable with Albert known as X-Factor. X-Pac and Credible tried several times to win the WWF Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful. The team split when Credible aligned himself with Paul Heyman's band of ECW insurgents and helped form The Alliance with World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Credible remained on the company's "B" shows, forming a team with Raven, until Team Alliance lost at Survivor Series.
Singles competition (2001–2003)
Credible was fired along with the rest of the Alliance roster (in kayfabe) by Vince McMahon until Ric Flair was able to save his job and get him drafted over to the Rawbrand in March 2002.
On the Raw brand, Credible wrestled mostly on Sunday Night Heat and lost many singles matches he was in, but managed to become an eight-time Hardcore Champion. His last match on Raw was a squash match in which he was defeated by Batista. Polaco was released on January 20, 2003, with his final televised WWE appearance being a loss to Test on the December 8, 2002, episode of Heat.[58]
On November 13, 2005, Polaco, wrestling as P.J. Polaco, was announced as the "mystery opponent" for Raven on the TNA pay-per view, Genesis. Polaco lost the match after Raven hit a DDT.[60]
Credible signed a contract with the MTV "Wrestling Society X" stating that if MTV decided to turn the "one time special" into a full season, he would complete the season and would be un-able to compete anywhere else for that time period. He was released from his contract on June 5, 2006. Polaco was in the main event of the first Wrestling Society X Show, the WSX Rumble. He was the first person in the match and the last one eliminated. [citation needed]
Second return to WWE (2006)
Polaco was rehired by World Wrestling Entertainment in June 2006. He returned to WWE television at the June 7 WWE vs. ECW Head to Head event as a member of the ECW brand of WWE, taking part in a 20-man battle royal.[61] He made several appearances on ECW on Sci Fi before being released from his WWE contract on September 28, 2006. During his brief WWE run he won two matches, both by disqualification defeating Balls Mahoney and Sabu. He also lost to CM Punk in Punk's ECW debut match.[62]
Return to the independent circuit (2006–present)
Polaco returned to the independent circuit in 2006 using the name "Justin Time". He wrestled for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate promotion, along with fellow original ECW wrestlers Sabu, Danny Doring and Julio Dinero, as well as making appearances for the Insane Clown Posse owned Juggalo Championship Wrestling. On March 29, 2009, he became the Big Time Wrestling Champion, defeating "Hurricane" John Walters with Ric Flair as special guest referee, but Credible was stripped of the title in August of the same year. [citation needed]
Justin is also the topic of an upcoming documentary The Price of Fame which also includes Ted DiBiase and Sean Waltman. He was inducted into the New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame on July 12, 2009. On August 8, 2010, Polaco returned to TNA to take part in the ECW-themed pay-per-view Hardcore Justice where he performed as P.J. Polaco due to the WWE owning the rights to the Justin Credible name; Polaco was defeated by Stevie Richards. Afterwards, he was assaulted by former rival The Sandman with a Singapore cane.[63] On January 14, 2012, Credible returned to the former ECW Arena, when he was defeated by Sabu at an Evolve event in the venue's final professional wrestling match.[64]
On April 28, 2012, Polaco was scheduled to wrestle on Shane Douglas' Extreme Reunion show, but was removed from the card, as well as the building after being found "slumped over, passed out asleep" in a chair. While he begged management to be let back on the show, they denied his request and kicked him out a second time.[citation needed] On August 8, 2012, Chikara announced that Polaco, returning to his Aldo Montoya character, would be making his debut for the promotion in the following month's 2012 King of Trios tournament, where he would team with the 1-2-3 Kid and Tatanka as "Team WWF".[65] In their first round match on September 14, Team WWF was defeated by The Extreme Trio (Jerry Lynn, Tommy Dreamer and Too Cold Scorpio).[66][67]
Polaco retired on November 20, 2015, after facing long-time rival Tommy Dreamer at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate event.[68]
Credible came out of retirement and faced Matt Tremont in a winning effort at CZW show in August 2016.
In March 2017, he returned to wrestling, and teamed with The Sandman & New Jack in a winning effort at ECPW show.
Personal life
Polaco is of Portuguese ancestry. His parents emigrated to the United States from Portugal three years before he was born. He speaks Portuguese fluently. Peter and his wife Jill Marie Polaco (née Jurecki) were married on June 4, 1997. They have three sons, Nicholas (born April 2000) and Christian, and, Jasper.[69]
Championships and accomplishments
Polaco as Big Time Wrestling Heavyweight Champion.
