Steve Lombardi ( The Brooklyn Brawler ) Part 2 -In 2000, he scored a
pinfall against
Triple H in a
handicap match and singles victory over
Just Joe on an episode of
WWE Jakked. He would then face Just Joe again and pick up the victory. As part of an
angle on
SmackDown!, he adopted the moniker of the "Boston Brawler", shedding his customary
New York Yankees apparel in favor of
Boston Red Sox clothing. This was done in response to the Red Sox' defeat of the Yankees in the
2004 American League Championship Series. Lombardi did this in a segment on
SmackDown! (in New York City) with
Heidenreich. Heidenreich was looking to make more friends, but Lombardi decided he'd rather be the Boston Brawler. Heidenreich stopped wanting to be Lombardi's friend, which aided Heidenreich's ongoing face turn. In early 2006, he still worked behind the scenes of WWE, including behind the camera with
John Cena on his WWE.com show "Five Questions". Cena often makes references to Lombardi, even jokingly calling him the greatest technical wrestler of all time. Also, his face popped up in front of Cena's mouth to censor
curse words, usually saying "nu-uh" or "brawler". On the June 2, 2006 episode of Five Questions, Brawler showed his face. He even censored himself, saying "you are a piece of Brawler". In another episode of "Five Questions," Cena acknowledged that Lombardi was actually born in
Detroit, and not in Brooklyn. On May 7, 2006, WWE.com announced that, as part of
Jakks Pacific's
WWE Classic Superstars collection, they would be releasing a Brooklyn Brawler
action figure. At
Vengeance, Brawler appeared as Doink the Clown when he came out to the ring with
Eugene during Eugene's match with
Umaga. On August 1, 2006, Lombardi went to the
ECW brand for a match against then ECW wrestler,
Kurt Angle. Lombardi quickly lost when Angle applied an
ankle lock on him. That same week, he appeared on
SmackDown! against
Vito, losing by
submission. On the December 18 edition of
Raw, Lombardi appeared in the 30 man battle royal as the Brooklyn Brawler. Lombardi made a return appearance in the November 15, 2010 "Raw Goes Old School" episode of
Raw as the Brooklyn Brawler with
Harvey Wippleman as his manager. He lost in a match against
Ezekiel Jackson. The Brooklyn Brawler made a surprise return to pay-per-view on December 16, 2012 at the
TLC pay-per-view (which took place in Brooklyn), teaming with
the Miz and
Alberto Del Rio to defeat 3MB (
Heath Slater,
Drew McIntyre and
Jinder Mahal). Brawler won the match for his team via submission with a
Boston crab on Mahal. At the July 15, 2013
Raw taping from Brooklyn, in a match taped for
Superstars, the Brawler was defeated by
Ryback, though, unlike the enhancement talent Ryback faced at the time, the Brawler took offense and even managed to dominate his opponent. On May 10, 2016, pwinsider.com reported that Lombardi had been released from WWE a week ago, thus ending Lombardi's 33 year career with WWE.