Charles Ashenoff (born Carlos Santiago Espada Moises; January 6, 1964), better known by his ring name, Konnan, is a Cuban professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to IMPACT Wrestling where he is the manager of the Latin American X-change (LAX). During a career spanning almost three decades, he has wrestled for independent and national promotions in the United States and Mexico, and held fifteen title belts in nine promotions. He has also worked as a manager, color commentator, booker, and creative consultant, primarily for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA).
He is best-known to United States audiences for his run in World Championship Wrestling as part of the nWo stable and as part of The Filthy Animals. He also created 3Live Kru for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in the early 2000s and later the Latin American Xchange (LAX) stable there as well. In Mexico, Konnan was the first-ever CMLL World Heavyweight Champion, and was the leader of the Foreign Legion in AAA when they were the top stable. He at one point he was referred to as "The Mexican Hulk Hogan" for breaking attendance records across the country, and Konnan still holds the all-time attendance record in Mexico City as well as cities including Tijuana, Guadalajara, Acapulco, Torreon, Hermosillo and Nuevo Laredo. Konnan also broke the pro wrestling attendance record in Los Angeles when he headlined AAA's first Los Angeles event and the company had a sell-out, turn-away crowd at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. He was also involved in the creation of Lucha Underground, where he was supposed to serve as a writer and producer, but ended up in an on-camera role as manager to Prince Puma throughout the first season.
Konnan is known to be outspoken, and in the last decade, he has been openly critical of promotions that he feels have mistreated either him personally or the talent in general. He has been particularly outspoken against what he sees as racism against Latino wrestlers in United States promotions – he butted heads with TNA over treatment of himself and Ron Killings, and WWE over issues regarding Latino wrestlers Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio, but he has also come into conflict with AAA over what he alleged was non-payment of talent.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- 187 / Montezuma's Revenge (Cradle DDT)
- Tequila Sunrise (Arm trap single leg Boston crab)
- Signature moves
- DDT
- Face Jam / K-Factor (Sitout facebuster, often preceded by a mule kick)
- Rolling thunder clothesline
- Power Drop / Splash Mountain (Sitout crucifix powerbomb, sometimes from the second rope)
- Zip Lock (Arm trap cloverleaf)
- Managers
- Jimmy Hart
- Kevin Sullivan
- Torrie Wilson
- Tygress
- Vincent
- Wrestlers managed
- Fénix
- Latin American X-change
- Pentagón Jr.
- Prince Puma
- Nicknames
- "K-Dogg"
- Entrance themes
- Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
- "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor
- Asistencia Asesoría y Administración / Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
- "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor
- Extreme Championship Wrestling
- "Murder Was the Case" by Snoop Dogg
- World Championship Wrestling
- "In Yer Face" by Howard Pfeifer
- "Dead Man's Trousers" Andrew Blythe, Colin Anderson & Marten Joustra
- "Dungeon of Doom Theme" by Jimmy Hart (used as a member of the Dungeon of Doom)
- "Tear It Up" by Jimmy Hart and H. Helm (used as a member of the New World Order)
- "Rockhouse" by Frank Shelly (used as a member of the New World Order)
- "Wolfpac Theme" (used as a member of the nWo Wolfpac)
- "Psyko" by K-Dogg & Mad One
- "Bow Wow Wow" by K-Dogg &Mad One
- "Filthy" by The Filthy Animals
- "The Reason" by Mad One
- Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / IMPACT Wrestling
- "I'm Everything" by Dale Oliver
- "What's My Name?" by Ron Killings (used as a member of 3Live Kru)
- "Beware" by 3 Live Kru (used as a member of 3Live Kru)
- "3 Live K" by 3 Live Kru (used as a member of 3Live Kru)
- "Dawgz" by K-Dogg, Mad One & Maniak (used as a member of the Latin American X-change)
- "To Live and Die in LAX" by Dale Oliver & Serg Salinas (used as a member of the Latin American X-change)
- "LAX" by Dale Oliver (used as a member of the Latin American X-change)
- Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
Championships and accomplishments[]
- Asistencia Asesoría y Administración
- AAA Americas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- AAA Parejas Increibles Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Cibernético
- IWC World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Championship Wrestling USA Northwest
- Championship Wrestling USA Northwest Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Beetlejuice
- Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
- CMLL World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- International Wrestling All-Stars
- IWAS World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- IWAS World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rey Mysterio, Jr.
- Latin American Wrestling Association
- LAWA Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- Global Championship Wrestling
- GCW Heavyweight Champion (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him #131 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
- Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with B.G. James and Ron Killings
- World Championship Wrestling
- WCW World Television Championship (1 time)
- WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- WCW World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Rey Mysterio, Jr. (1) and Billy Kidman (1)
- World Wrestling Council
- WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- WWC World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Carly Colón
- WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2009)
Luchas de apuestas record[]
| Winner
(Wager) |
Loser
(Wager) |
Location | Event | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Konnan
(Mask) |
Red Killer
(Mask) |
Unknown | Live event | Unknown |
| Konnan
(Mask) |
Junior Killer
(Mask) |
Unknown | Live event | Unknown |
| Konnan
(Mask) and Unknown (Hair) |
Red Killer
(Hair) and Junior Killer (Hair) |
Monterrey, Nuevo León | Live event | Unknown |
| Konnan
(Mask) |
As Charro
(Hair) |
Tijuana, Baja California | Live event | February 24, 1989 |
| Perro Aguayo
(Hair) |
Konnan
(Mask) |
Mexico City | Live event | March 22, 1991 |
| Konnan
(Hair) |
Perro Aguayo
(Hair) |
Mexico City | EMLL 58th Anniversary Show | September 6, 1991 |
| Konnan
(Hair) |
El Cobarde II
(Hair) |
Los Angeles, California, United States | Live event | July 4, 1992 |
| Konnan
(Hair) |
Rey Gestas
(Hair) |
Apatlaco, Mexico State | Live event | August 15, 1992 |
| Konnan
(Hair) |
Jake Roberts
(Hair) |
Tijuana, Baja California | Triplemanía II-C | May 27, 1994 |
| Konnan
(Hair) |
Cien Caras
(Hair) |
Los Angeles, California, United States | Live event | July 15, 1995 |
| Konnan
(Kidman's Hair) |
Mike Awesome
(Hair) |
Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States | Live event | January 15, 2001 |
| Vampiro Canadienese
(Hair of Joaquin Roldan) |
Konnan
(Hair of Arturo Rivera) |
Guadalajara, Jalisco | Rey de Reyes (2009) | March 15, 2009 |