Robert Strauss (born October 1, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and manager. He is signed to WWE, where he is a producer and the on-screen NXT general manager under the ring name Robert Stone. He also makes appearances for partner promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he served as the former manager of The Diamond Collective (Tessa Blanchard, Victoria Crawford, and Mila Moore). In TNA, he previously performed under the ring name Robbie E, where he was a former two-time TNA World Tag Team Champion as part of The BroMans with Jessie Godderz, while also being a former one-time TNA Television Champion and TNA X Division Champion; he also temporarily served as the Overseer to the Director of Authority under the name Sheriff Stone.
Strauss has also competed in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic independent promotions under the ring name Rob Eckos, including Chaotic Wrestling, the East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA), Hardway Wrestling, Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW), the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling and Mikey Whipwreck's New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC).
Early life Strauss began watching professional wrestling at the age of 4 and was a fan of The Ultimate Warrior, StingMcCaffrey, Sean (April 2006). "Interview with Rob Eckos". DeclarationofIndependents.net. Accessed 2008-08-31. and Shawn Michaels. He knew he wanted to become a professional wrestler while at John F. Kennedy Memorial High School in his hometown of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey, even though he was skinny at .Staff. , Living In Media, September 21, 2016. Accessed September 17, 2017. "Some people laughed because I was thin and only 160 pounds when I was at John F. Kennedy High School in Iselin." He saw his first live event at a local wrestling show in Woodbridge Township, headlined by "Iron" Mike Sharpe and later became interested in becoming a professional wrestler.
Professional wrestling career
Independent circuit (2000–2015) When he turned 16, Strauss began training at Kevin Knight's Camp IWF in Woodland Park, New Jersey, where he practiced regular drills and exercises for four months until his debut against Chad Warwick on October 1, 2000. For a few short years, he taught at Woodbridge High School as a physical education teacher.
Strauss spent his early career in the Independent Wrestling Federation (IWF), a local promotion based in Woodland Park, New Jersey, performing under the name Rob Eckos. In January 2002, Eckos was one of several independent wrestlers to star in a commercial for the 2002 Royal Rumble. Eckos also made three appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on their secondary Xplosion television show, losing to Josh Daniels on May 21, 2003, Norman Smiley on August 6, 2003, and to Team Canada (Eric Young and Johnny Devine) in a tag team match, where he teamed with Damian Adams, on July 4, 2004. A participant in the 2007 Super 8 Tournament, he defeated Billy Bax in the opening round before losing to Sonjay Dutt in the semi-finals in Newark on November 10. He later lost to Billy Bax in a rematch on December 1, 2007.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2005–2006) Strauss made an appearance on the May 5, 2005, episode of WWE SmackDown under the ring name Rob Eckos, where he lost to Matt Morgan. On January 2, 2006, Eckos made his second appearance for World Wrestling Entertainment, when he was attacked in a skit by Edge, who was doing a mock impersonation of Ric Flair during WWE Raw. The following day, Eckos appeared on the taping for Friday Night Smackdown where he teamed alongside Gus Harlacher and John Troske in a three-on-one handicap match against Mark Henry.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / Impact Wrestling (2010-2017) The Shore (2010–2011)
On July 27, 2010, Strauss wrestled in a tryout dark match for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, losing to Bobby Fish. On August 5, it was reported that TNA had signed Strauss to a contract. At the August 10 tapings of TNA Impact! Strauss wrestled a dark match under the ring name Robbie E with a gimmick inspired by DJ Pauly D and the television show Jersey Shore, defeating Jeremy Buck, while being managed by Cookie. On the August 26 edition of Impact!, vignettes began airing to promote Strauss' upcoming debut. Prior to their televised debuts, Robbie E and Cookie made an appearance on September 24 at TNA's live event at The Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, interrupting Jeremy Borash and insulting the crowd, before Robbie E was defeated in a match by Rhyno. At the following day's event in Rahway, New Jersey, Robbie E and Cookie interrupted Mick Foley, before Robbie E was again defeated in a match against Rhyno, with Foley serving as the special guest referee. Robbie E and Cookie made their televised debuts on the October 7 live edition of Impact!, cutting a promo insulting the Florida crowd. The following Sunday at Bound for Glory Robbie E attacked X Division Champion Jay Lethal after his title match with Douglas Williams, claiming he was a disgrace to New Jersey. Robbie E and Cookie gained mainstream attention through the following edition of Impact!, where Cookie had a cat fight with Jersey Shore cast member Jenni "JWoww" Farley.
Robbie E made his in–ring debut the following week, defeating Amazing Red, and afterwards called out X Division Champion Jay Lethal. The following week Robbie E defeated Lethal in a non–title street fight, after interference from Cookie, to earn the right to challenge for the X Division Championship. On November 7 at Turning Point, Robbie E defeated Lethal, with help from Cookie, to win the X Division Championship for the first time. The following month at Final Resolution Robbie E retained the title in a rematch via disqualification, when Lethal was caught using Cookie's hairspray on him. During the match Cookie was suspended above the ring in a shark cage. On December 7 at the tapings of the December 16 edition of Impact!, Robbie E lost the X Division Championship back to Lethal.
On the February 10 edition of Impact!, Robbie E entered a tournament to determine a new number one contender to the X Division Championship, now held by Kazarian, and defeated Brian Kendrick and Suicide in a three-way match to advance to the finals at Against All Odds. Robbie E won the finals at Against All Odds via forfeit, after both of his competitors, Jeremy and Max Buck were unable to attend the event due to travel issues. Kazarian granted Robbie E his title match immediately afterwards and defeated him to retain the X Division Championship. On the following edition of Impact! Robbie E complained about the rushed title match and was granted another shot at the X Division Championship, but lost via disqualification, after Cookie interfered in the match. After the match Kazarian's real life wife Traci Brooks returned to TNA and helped her husband chase Robbie E and Cookie out of the ring. On the March 3 edition of Impact! Robbie E and Cookie aligned themselves with former Jersey Shore cast member Angelina Pivarnick, with whom they bonded through their mutual dislike of Jenni "JWoww" Farley, whom Pivarnick proceeded to challenge to a match. On March 13 at Victory Road, Robbie E received another shot at Kazarian and the X Division Championship, this time in an Ultimate X match, which also included Jeremy and Max Buck, but was again unsuccessful in his attempt to regain the title. On the August 11 edition of Impact Wrestling, Robbie E broke up with Cookie, after she inadvertently cost him his match against X Division Champion Brian Kendrick.
Teaming and feuding with Rob Terry (2011–2013)
After Cookie's departure from TNA, Robbie E began looking for a new partner and, on the August 25 edition of Impact Wrestling, Robbie E made an offer to Rob Terry. On the September 8 edition of Impact Wrestling, Terry attacked Eric Young after his match with Robbie E, signifying a new alliance between the two. After losing another match against Young on the October 27 edition of Impact Wrestling, Robbie E and Terry, now dubbed "Robbie T", again attacked the Television Champion, which led to him announcing that he was going to bring another Jersey Shore cast member, Ronnie, to face the two the following week. After a confrontation, which led to Robbie E and Robbie T attacking Young and Ronnie, on the November 3 edition of Impact Wrestling, the two teams faced each other in a tag team match the following week, where Ronnie was able to pick up the win for his team by pinning Robbie E. On November 13 at Turning Point, Robbie E defeated Young to win the TNA Television Championship for the first time. He would go on to defend his title against Devon and Rob Van Dam on the November 17 and December 1 editions of Impact Wrestling. On December 11 at Final Resolution, Robbie E successfully defended the title against Young in a rematch. On February 12, 2012, at Against All Odds, Robbie E retained his title against Shannon Moore, who answered his open challenge. On the February 23 edition of Impact Wrestling, Robbie E was defeated by A.J. Styles via disqualification, following interference from Kazarian and Christopher Daniels; as a result Robbie E retained his title. On March 18 at Victory Road, Robbie E lost the Television Championship to Devon after Devon answered his open challenge. During the next two months, Robbie E made three unsuccessful attempts at regaining the Television Championship from Devon; first in a steel cage match on April 15 at Lockdown, then in a singles match on the May 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, and finally in a three-way match, also involving Robbie T, on May 13 at Sacrifice. Robbie E and Robbie T would continue their feud with Devon by attacking him during his title matches. On the June 7 episode of Impact Wrestling, Robbie E received another shot at Devon's Television Championship, but was defeated following outside interference from Garett Bischoff. Three days later at Slammiversary, Robbie E and Robbie T were defeated in a tag team match by Devon and Bischoff.
On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Robbie E entered the 2012 Bound for Glory Series, taking part in the opening gauntlet match, from which he was eliminated by Samoa Joe. Robbie E ended his participation in the tournament on the August 23 episode of Impact Wrestling with a win over A.J. Styles and Rob Van Dam in a three-way match, finishing eleventh out of the twelve wrestlers in the tournament. On the October 18 episode of Impact Wrestling, Robbie E unsuccessfully challenged Samoa Joe for the TNA Television Championship. Going into 2013, tension began to be teased between the Robbies, with Robbie T constantly upstaging and defying Robbie E. On the February 28 episode of Impact Wrestling, the alliance between the Robbies ended with Robbie E, who was pretending to reconcile with Robbie T, hitting him over the head with his VIP sign before being chased off. The rivalry culminated in a singles match on March 10 at Lockdown, where Robbie T emerged victorious. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Robbie E was again defeated by Robbie T, now using his real name Rob Terry, in a rematch to end the feud.
The BroMans (2013–2015)