Christopher Nowinski

Christopher Nowinski - Former Wwe Wrestler, Facts and Childhood

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Christopher Nowinski's Personal Details

Christopher Nowinski is an American former professional wrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment

InformationDetail
BirthdaySeptember 24, 1978
NationalityAmerican
FamousBoston University, Harvard University, Sportspersons, Wrestlers, Former Wwe Wrestler
City/StateIllinois
Universities
  • Boston University,Harvard University
  • Harvard University
  • John Hersey High School
Notable Alumnis
  • Boston University
  • Harvard University
Birth PlaceOak Park, Illinois, United States
Height196
GenderMale
Sun SignLibra
Born inOak Park, Illinois, United States
Famous asFormer WWE Wrestler
Socials

Christopher Nowinski's photo

Who is Christopher Nowinski?

Christopher Nowinski is an American former professional wrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment. He retired due to post-concussion syndromes and thereafter became involved in raising awareness about head injury in contact sports and its longtime effects. He recorded his experiences, as well as that of other wrestlers and footballers, in his book 'Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis’. Along with Dr. Robert Cantu, he co-founded the Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF), which conducts research on brain damage due to concussions. He is currently the CEO of CLF and is also a co-director at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy of BUSM, which he helped establish. He also takes active steps in convincing family members of sportspeople who die unnaturally to donate brain tissue for study. He has appeared on media numerous times to discuss concussion, and has been featured in articles in ‘The New York Times’, and news programs like ‘60 Minutes’ and ‘Frontline’. He appeared on Stan Lee's 'Superhumans' as a non-medical expert on concussions.

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Childhood & Early Life

Christopher John Nowinski was born on September 24, 1978 in Arlington Heights, Illinois, USA. He was raised there, and graduated from John Hersey High School.

He attended Harvard University, from where he graduated cum laude with an A.B. in Sociology in 2000. He was an All-Ivy defensive tackle for his university football team.

In 2017, he did his Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from Boston University School of Medicine.

Wrestling Career

Following his graduation from Harvard, Christopher Nowinski was hired by the life sciences consulting firm Trinity Partners, LLC. His fascination with the pharmaceutical development industry started during his time with the company.

He used to enjoy the physicality of getting into a good fight during his days as a footballer and hence he decided to try his luck as a professional wrestler. While still working at Trinity, he enrolled into Killer Kowalski’s Institute of Professional Wrestling and started taking classes at night.

In 2001, he participated in WWE’s first series of ‘Tough Enough’, a professional wrestling reality television series where the participants undergo training and eventually compete for a contract with WWE. He was one of the three finalists and finished runner-up to Maven Huffman.

Taking up the ring name Chris Harvard, he made independent appearance for the Frontier Wrestling Alliance promotion at the ‘Lights Camera Action’ show on December 14, 2001 in London, UK. He teamed up with Alex Shane and defeated Drew McDonald and Flash Barker in the main event of the show, showcasing one of his best performances outside WWE.

He was soon signed by WWE and debuted on ‘Monday Night RAW’ on June 10, 2002 and helped William Regal beat Bradshaw in a European Championship match. With Regal in his corner, he defeated Spike Dudley in his debut match in the following week.

He again teamed up with Regal to defeat Bradshaw and Dudley on the June 24 episode of ‘Raw’, and continued the feud in the next few weeks. However, he lost to Bradshaw and Trish Stratus in a rematch on the July 8, 2002 episode, for which he had teamed with Jackie Gayda.

Christopher Nowinski next won a feud with The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and Spike), followed by another with Tommy Dreamer on September 9, 2002 but was later attacked by Dreamer in a classroom.

On the October 14, 2002 episode of RAW, he ended the feud by once again defeating Dreamer, and went on to claim victories over Jeff Hardy and Booker T in the following weeks.

His next feud was with Al Snow, his former ‘Tough Enough’ trainer, who, following two consecutive defeats, teamed up with Maven on November 25, 2002 but the match ended in no-contest.

He defeated Snow and Maven on two different occasions, alongside D'Lo Brown, but was defeated by Maven and Test on January 13, 2003 episode of Raw.

He participated in the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event, but was eliminated by Rey Mysterio. He then started a feud with Scott Steiner, but lost twice to him, both solo and with La Résistance (Rene Dupree and Sylvain Grenier), on March 31, 2003 and May 12, 2003, respectively.

Aligning himself with the African American wrestling stable Thuggin' And Buggin' Enterprises, he teamed up with Rodney Mack and Theodore Long in a losing effort against The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray, Devon and Spike).

On June 23, 2003 he teamed up with Mack to successfully defeat Bubba Ray and Devon at Bad Blood. On the same day, he lost to Maven and suffered a serious concussion, which turned into post-concussion syndrome, as he continued to train in the following weeks, not knowing the full extent of the damage.

He was subsequently forced to retire, but returned to WWE on December 12, 2005, and stated that the new General Manager of ‘Raw’ should be a “Harvard Graduate”, which he is.

Consussion Legacy Foundation

In October 2006, Christopher Nowinski recorded details of his career-ending injury and discussed the dangers of concussions in sports, primarily football, in his self-published book ‘Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis’. Apart from his experiences, the book also contained stories from other NFL players and wrestlers and had an introduction by former governor of Minnesota and professional wrestler, Jesse Ventura.

In November 2006, he took the initiative to begin an inquiry into the suicide of Andre Waters, a 44-year-old former NFL defensive back who committed suicide by shooting himself. He was instrumental in the discovery of the fourth case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in former NFL player Justin Strzelczyk and dementia in Chris Benoit, who committed double-homicide of his family before committing suicide.

In June 2007, he co-founded the Sports Legacy Institute, which was rebranded as Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF) in September 2015, to conduct research on sports-related head injuries and to increase awareness of safety in sports. On September 5, 2007, ESPN documented his work on the television program ‘Outside the Lines’.

In September 2008, CLF began a partnership with Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), forming its Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE Center). The following year, the foundation created the Coaches Concussion Clinic program to directly educate coaches, athletes and parents about sports injury.

In 2012, CLF co-founder Dr. Cantu wrote the foreword for an updated version of his book, which was also adapted into the documentary film, ‘Head Games’, directed by Steve James. The book, as well as the documentary, was updated in 2014 as ‘Head Games: the Global Concussion Crisis’.

Major Works

Raising awareness about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) due to concussions in contact sports has been Christopher Nowinski's major work since he retired from wrestling. While his book first began the discussion on CTE crisis, the Concussion Legacy Foundation has conducted breakthrough research in this field.

Awards & Achievements

Christopher Nowinski is the first Harvard graduate to become a WWE wrestler. He won the WWE Hardcore Championship twice, and was the youngest wrestler to do so.

Trivia

Christopher Nowinski became interested in youth football in the seventh grade, but his mother, worried about knee injuries, did not allow him to play till he was in high school. Ironically, he received the career-ending kick in a wrestling match.

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Christopher Nowinski biography timelines

  • // 24th Sep 1978
    Christopher John Nowinski was born on September 24, 1978 in Arlington Heights, Illinois, USA. He was raised there, and graduated from John Hersey High School.
  • // 2000
    He attended Harvard University, from where he graduated cum laude with an A.B. in Sociology in 2000. He was an All-Ivy defensive tackle for his university football team.
  • // 2001
    In 2001, he participated in WWE’s first series of ‘Tough Enough’, a professional wrestling reality television series where the participants undergo training and eventually compete for a contract with WWE. He was one of the three finalists and finished runner-up to Maven Huffman.
  • // 14th Dec 2001
    Taking up the ring name Chris Harvard, he made independent appearance for the Frontier Wrestling Alliance promotion at the ‘Lights Camera Action’ show on December 14, 2001 in London, UK. He teamed up with Alex Shane and defeated Drew McDonald and Flash Barker in the main event of the show, showcasing one of his best performances outside WWE.
  • // 10th Jun 2002
    He was soon signed by WWE and debuted on ‘Monday Night RAW’ on June 10, 2002 and helped William Regal beat Bradshaw in a European Championship match. With Regal in his corner, he defeated Spike Dudley in his debut match in the following week.
  • // 8th Jul 2002
    He again teamed up with Regal to defeat Bradshaw and Dudley on the June 24 episode of ‘Raw’, and continued the feud in the next few weeks. However, he lost to Bradshaw and Trish Stratus in a rematch on the July 8, 2002 episode, for which he had teamed with Jackie Gayda.
  • // 9th Sep 2002
    Christopher Nowinski next won a feud with The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and Spike), followed by another with Tommy Dreamer on September 9, 2002 but was later attacked by Dreamer in a classroom.
  • // 14th Oct 2002
    On the October 14, 2002 episode of RAW, he ended the feud by once again defeating Dreamer, and went on to claim victories over Jeff Hardy and Booker T in the following weeks.
  • // 25th Nov 2002
    His next feud was with Al Snow, his former ‘Tough Enough’ trainer, who, following two consecutive defeats, teamed up with Maven on November 25, 2002 but the match ended in no-contest.
  • // 13th Jan 2003
    He defeated Snow and Maven on two different occasions, alongside D'Lo Brown, but was defeated by Maven and Test on January 13, 2003 episode of Raw.
  • // 12th May 2003
    He participated in the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event, but was eliminated by Rey Mysterio. He then started a feud with Scott Steiner, but lost twice to him, both solo and with La Résistance (Rene Dupree and Sylvain Grenier), on March 31, 2003 and May 12, 2003, respectively.
  • // 23rd Jun 2003
    On June 23, 2003 he teamed up with Mack to successfully defeat Bubba Ray and Devon at Bad Blood. On the same day, he lost to Maven and suffered a serious concussion, which turned into post-concussion syndrome, as he continued to train in the following weeks, not knowing the full extent of the damage.
  • // 12th Dec 2005
    He was subsequently forced to retire, but returned to WWE on December 12, 2005, and stated that the new General Manager of ‘Raw’ should be a “Harvard Graduate”, which he is.
  • // Oct 2006
    In October 2006, Christopher Nowinski recorded details of his career-ending injury and discussed the dangers of concussions in sports, primarily football, in his self-published book ‘Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis’. Apart from his experiences, the book also contained stories from other NFL players and wrestlers and had an introduction by former governor of Minnesota and professional wrestler, Jesse Ventura.
  • // Nov 2006
    In November 2006, he took the initiative to begin an inquiry into the suicide of Andre Waters, a 44-year-old former NFL defensive back who committed suicide by shooting himself. He was instrumental in the discovery of the fourth case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in former NFL player Justin Strzelczyk and dementia in Chris Benoit, who committed double-homicide of his family before committing suicide.
  • // Sep 2008
    In September 2008, CLF began a partnership with Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), forming its Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE Center). The following year, the foundation created the Coaches Concussion Clinic program to directly educate coaches, athletes and parents about sports injury.
  • // 2012 To 2014
    In 2012, CLF co-founder Dr. Cantu wrote the foreword for an updated version of his book, which was also adapted into the documentary film, ‘Head Games’, directed by Steve James. The book, as well as the documentary, was updated in 2014 as ‘Head Games: the Global Concussion Crisis’.
  • // 2017
    In 2017, he did his Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from Boston University School of Medicine.

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Christopher Nowinski's FAQ

  • What is Christopher Nowinski birthday?

    Christopher Nowinski was born at 1978-09-24

  • Where is Christopher Nowinski's birth place?

    Christopher Nowinski was born in Oak Park, Illinois, United States

  • What is Christopher Nowinski nationalities?

    Christopher Nowinski's nationalities is American

  • What was Christopher Nowinski universities?

    Christopher Nowinski studied at Boston University,Harvard University, Harvard University, John Hersey High School

  • What was Christopher Nowinski notable alumnis?

    Christopher Nowinski's notable alumnis is Boston University, Harvard University

  • How tall is Christopher Nowinski?

    Christopher Nowinski's height is 196

  • What is Christopher Nowinski's sun sign?

    Christopher Nowinski is Libra

  • How famous is Christopher Nowinski?

    Christopher Nowinski is famouse as Former WWE Wrestler

  • What is Christopher Nowinski's facebook?

    Christopher Nowinski's facebook is https://www.facebook.com/nowinski.christopher/

  • What is Christopher Nowinski's twitter?

    Christopher Nowinski's twitter is https://twitter.com/chrisnowinski1