Charles Doyle Haas II (born March 27, 1972) is an American professional and former amateur wrestler. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) from 2000 to 2009 and Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2010 to 2013. In WWE he was a member of Team Angle, which later became a Tag team duo with Shelton Benjamin known as "The World's Greatest Tag Team".
Haas was an amateur wrestler in high school, and attended Seton Hall University on a wrestling scholarship, before becoming a stockbroker. He became a professional wrestler in 1996, and regularly teamed with his brother, Russ, with the two winning numerous championships on the independent circuit, including the CZW World Tag Team Championship and the JAPW Tag Team Championship. After signing contracts with WWE, Haas Brothers were assigned to WWE's developmental territories, where they won the MCW Southern Tag Team Championship on three occasions. After Russ died in 2001 due to a heart attack, Haas began wrestling in singles competition, winning the HWA Heavyweight Championship once.
Haas formed a team with Shelton Benjamin and the two debuted on SmackDown in December 2002. They won the WWE Tag Team Championship twice, and dubbed themselves The World's Greatest Tag Team before they split in 2004. Haas won the WWE Tag Team Championship once more with Rico, and gained Miss Jackie, whom he later married, as a valet. Haas then transferred into singles competition before being released from WWE in 2005. After a short stint in Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW) and other independent promotions, Haas was re-signed to WWE in April 2006. He formed a short-lived team with Viscera, before reforming the World's Greatest Tag Team with Benjamin. After Benjamin transferred to the ECW brand, Haas began wrestling with a comical luchador persona, before developing a character where he imitated other wrestlers and WWE Hall of Famers. In addition, Haas won the last match on WWE Heat when the show ended on May 30, 2008.
Haas was released from WWE in February 2010. He soon returned to the independent circuit, including returning to JAPW and appearing for Ring of Honor. In September 2010, he won the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship. On April 1, 2011, Haas and Benjamin won the ROH World Tag Team Championship and held it until December 2011. Haas announced his retirement from professional wrestling in March 2013, but returned to competition in August that same year. Aside from wrestling, Haas and his then-wife Jackie ran a nutritional store, Custom Muscle Nutrition and Smoothie Shop, in Frisco, Texas, which they opened in October 2008 but has since closed.
After debuting in 1996 as a professional wrestler, Haas regularly teamed with his brother Russ for numerous independent promotions. On July 22, 1998, The Haas Brothers won the Jersey All Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship by defeating The Skin Head Express. They lost it to The Nation of Immigration just over a month later on August 25. They won the championship for the second time on May 21, 1999, by defeating The Big Unit (Rick Silver and Dave Desire), and held the championship until February 25, 2000 when they were defeated by Da Hit Squad. During 2000 they also held the Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship and the ECWA Tag Team Championship in the East Coast Wrestling Association promotion, which they won by defeating The Backseat Boyz (Trent Acid and Johnny Kashmere).
The Haas brothers began competing for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) in November 1999, losing to The King Pinz at The War Begins on November 20, 1999. They competed regularly for CZW throughout early 2000, and won the CZW World Tag Team Championship on February 12 at Climbing The Ladder by defeating The Kashmerino Brothers and The Thrill Kill Kult in a three-way match. On July 10, they lost the championship to The Backseat Boyz at Caged To The End, when Johnny Kashmere defeated Russ in a singles match and was awarded the championship.
World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (2000–2005)
After a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) tryout match at Madison Square Garden on August 7, 2000, they signed a developmental contract with WWF. The two worked their way through the tag ranks in the WWF's developmental territories, Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW) and the Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA). Also competed in dark matches and house shows for WWF. The brothers won the MCW Southern Tag Team Championship three times during early 2001, defeating The Dupps the first time and The Island Boyz and Joey Matthews and Christian York in a three-way match on both the second and third occasions. Russ died from a heart attack due to a pre-existing heart condition, on December 15, 2001 at age 27. The brothers fought in house shows and dark matches in the WWF up until Russ died. After Russ' death, Charlie continue to fight in dark matches. After Russ' death as a tribute to him, Haas wrote Russ' name on his wrist tape, and used the name "R.C. Haas" (standing for Russ–Charlie) before being called up to the main WWE roster. On January 2, 2002, Haas won the HWA Heavyweight Championship, his first singles championship, by defeating Val Venis. He was later stripped of the title on January 29 due to a scripted contract loophole. After World Wrestling Entertainment (renamed from the WWF) ended its affiliation with the HWA, Haas was moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) where he competed until December 2002.
Haas debuted on WWE's main roster on the December 26, 2002 episode of SmackDown! as a heel (villainous character) along with Shelton Benjamin as Team Angle. The tag team was the "contingency plan" of Paul Heyman, and were intended to help WWE Champion Kurt Angle retain his title, attacking Chris Benoit and Brock Lesnar in an attempt to soften them up. They quickly won the WWE Tag Team Championship on February 6, 2003, by defeating Los Guerreros (Eddie and Chavo Guerrero Jr.). They held the championship for three months, including a successful title defense at WrestleMania XIX against Los Guerreros and the team of Chris Benoit and Rhyno, before losing the championship to Eddie Guerrero and his new partner Tajiri in a ladder match on May 18 at Judgment Day. On the June 12 episode of SmackDown!, Angle fired Haas and Benjamin after they blamed him for losing the Tag Team Championship and began to question his leadership. The duo then dubbed themselves The World's Greatest Tag Team, although announcers made sure to add "Self Proclaimed" to the name. Haas and Benjamin regained the championship from Guerrero and Tajiri on the July 3 episode of SmackDown!, but lost it to the reformed Los Guerreros on September 18. The team was separated when Benjamin was moved to the Raw brand as part of the 2004 Draft Lottery.
After Benjamin's draft, Haas turned into a fan favorite and gained Miss Jackie as a valet. He teamed with Rico to win the WWE Tag Team Championship on April 22, 2004. The pair lost the championship to the Dudley Boyz on June 17, and shortly afterwards, Haas became a singles wrestler, although he retained Miss Jackie as his valet. Haas lost a match to Luther Reigns at the Great American Bash.
Haas was later involved in an angle in which he was in a love triangle with Miss Jackie, who was acknowledged on-screen as his fiancée, and Dawn Marie. The storyline culminated when Haas served as the special-guest referee in a match at Armageddon between the two women. After the match, Haas left both women in storyline, although he continued his relationship with Miss Jackie off-screen. In early 2005, he formed a tag team with Hardcore Holly. They were involved in a feud (scripted rivalry) with MNM for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but never won the championship.
On July 8, 2005, Haas was released by World Wrestling Entertainment along with his real-life wife Jackie Gayda.
Independent circuit (2005–2006)
He returned to JAPW later in July 2005, and began a feud for the JAPW Heavyweight Championship with Jay Lethal. On September 10 at JAPW Haas of Pain, Lethal defeated Haas to retain his title. In JAPW, on October 27, 2007, Haas was inducted along with his late brother Russ into the first class of the Jersey All Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame.