Line #4 Wrestling/DelWilkes


1	[[quoteright:202:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/patriotdelwilkes_2705.jpg]]
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3	Del Wilkes (born December 21, 1961-July 1st 2021) was an American {{Professional Wrestl\|ing}}er from Columbia, SC best known for his work from the late 1980s until the mid 1990s as The Trooper and The Patriot. He debuted in 1988 and teamed with a young Wrestling/ScottSteiner as the Wrestling Machines in Memphis, before leaving for the Wrestling/AmericanWrestlingAssociation. In 1990, he and [=DJ=] Peterson became the final [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/awa/awa-t.html AWA World Tag Team Champions]]. He changed his gimmick to the Patriot and would compete for the GWF in Dallas, for the UWA in Mexico and for Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling from 1991 to 1994. He debuted in Wrestling/{{WCW}} in 1994 and he and [[Wrestling/BuffBagwell Marcus Bagwell]] would hold the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-t.html WCW World Tag Team Titles]] as Stars and Stripes, defeating Pretty Wonderful (Pauls Roma and Orndorff) for the belts on ''WCW Saturday Night'' in September before losing them back a month later at ''WCW Halloween Havoc.'' They regained the belts in November at ''Clash of the Champions XXIX'' before losing them three weeks later to Harlem Heat (Wrestling/BookerT and Stevie Ray). He stayed with WCW until he left in mid-1995 to go back to [=AJPW=], where he stayed for the next two years. In 1997, he signed with Wrestling/{{WWE}} and joined the fight alongside Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin and Wrestling/KenShamrock against the Hart Foundation, until he suffered a torn triceps muscle, leading to the returning Wrestling/SteveBlackman taking his place on Team USA (Wrestling/{{Vader}}[=/=]Wrestling/{{Goldust}}[=/=]Wrestling/MarcMero) at ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 97.'' He was released in early 1998 and retired soon after.
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5	He passed away July 1st 2021 at the age of 59.
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7	!! "Patriotic Tropes":
8	* AllAmericanFace: Complete with carrying the American flag to the ring. However, he got a ForeignWrestlingHeel reaction in his match with [[Wrestling/TooColdScorpio Flash Funk]] at WWE's ''One Night Only'' [=PPV=], which was held in [[UsefulNotes/{{Britain}} Birmingham, England.]]
9	* ByTheBookCop: As the Trooper.
10	* {{Eagleland}}: Flavor one and constant {{Face}} against the Hart Foundation consisting of [[ForeignWrestlingHeel wrestlers from or who trained in]] UsefulNotes/{{Canada}}.
11	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: He was the original user of the theme song that would later became associated with Wrestling/KurtAngle. To fans who watched in the later 1990s and early 2000s, hearing his theme without chants of "[[CrowdChant You Suck]]" (and with ''bells'' instead of the guitar riff) is pretty jarring.
12	* FinishingMove: Patriot Missile (top rope diving shoulderblock), Uncle Slam (Full-Nelson Slam)
13	* FunWithAcronyms: His trio with Wrestling/KentaKobashi and [[Wrestling/JohnLaurinaitis Johnny Ace (John Laurinaitis)]] in Japan: GET, which stood for '''G'''lobal '''E'''nergetic '''T'''ough.
14	* IHaveManyNames: The Masked Dream Weaver, Wrestling Machine #2, the Trooper, the Patriot
15	* OddFriendship: With Wrestling/NikolaiVolkoff in the International Wrestling Cartel

Context Wrestling / DelWilkes