Birth name | Derick Lee Neikirk |
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Born |
Dayton, Ohio, United States |
September 5, 1974
Residence | Phoenix, Arizona, United States |
Website | www.derickneikirk.com |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Derek Neikirk Derick Neikirk |
Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
Billed weight | 245 lb (111 kg) |
Trained by | Les Thatcher |
Derick Neikirk | |||
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Catcher | |||
Born: Dayton, Ohio |
September 5, 1974 |||
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Professional debut | |||
Gulf Coast League: 1996, for the Gulf Coast League Tigers | |||
California League: 1996, for the Visalia Oaks | |||
Last Northern League appearance | |||
1999, for the Adirondack Lumberjacks | |||
Gulf Coast League statistics | |||
Batting average | .211 | ||
On-base percentage | .348 | ||
On-base plus slugging | .558 | ||
California League statistics | |||
Batting average | .148 | ||
On-base percentage | .207 | ||
On-base plus slugging | .355 | ||
Northern League statistics | |||
Batting average | .263 | ||
On-base plus slugging | .356 |
Derick Lee Neikirk (also spelled Derek Neikirk or Derrick Neikirk, born September 5, 1974) is an American professional wrestler and former minor league baseball player. He has competed for several promotions, and currently competes for Impact Zone Wrestling (IZW), a territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) based in Phoenix, Arizona. He has also wrestled in several other promotions and was signed to a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for several years. Much of his career has been connected with fellow wrestler Mike Knox, as the two have held championships together as a tag team and have feuded on multiple occasions.
Before entering professional wrestling, Neikirk played catcher for the Mesa Community College baseball team in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC). In 1996, he was named to the All-ACCAC Team. That year, he was picked by the Detroit Tigers in the 19th round of the Major League Baseball Draft
At age 21, Neikirk played in Detroit's rookie-class, minor league team, the Gulf Coast League Tigers of the 1996 Gulf Coast League in Lakeland, Florida. He played catcher in 18 games out of a 60-game season. His statistics were as follows: 47 plate appearances, 38 at bats, 8 hits, 4 runs, 1 run batted in (RBI), 5 walks, 7 strikeouts, and 8 total bases. Also, Neikirk ground into a double play 4 times, was hit by a pitch 3 times, and made 1 sacrifice hit. He had a batting average of .211, an on-base percentage of .348, a slugging percentage of .211, and an on-base plus slugging (OPS) of .558.