Fandango (wrestler) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fandango |
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Hussey, as Fandango, in 2016
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| Birth name | Curtis Jonathan Hussey |
| Born | July 22, 1983 Portland, Maine, U.S. |
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| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) |
| Billed weight | 244 lb (111 kg) |
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| Debut | 1999 |
Curtis Jonathan Hussey, born on July 22, 1983, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and is known as Johnny Dango Curtis (or JDC). Many fans also remember him from his time in WWE, where he wrestled as Fandango.
Hussey started his wrestling journey in 1999. He won several championships in smaller wrestling groups. Later, he joined WWE's training programs. He even won the fourth season of WWE NXT in 2011. In 2013, he became the dancing character Fandango, which became very popular. He also formed a tag team called Breezango with Tyler Breeze, and they won the NXT Tag Team Championship in 2020.
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Early Life
Curtis James Hussey was born in Portland, Maine, on July 22, 1983. He has mentioned that he has some Cherokee family background.
Professional Wrestling Career
Starting Out (1999–2006)
Hussey began his wrestling training in 1999 with Killer Kowalski. For the next few years, he wrestled for many different wrestling groups in the New England area. He competed in Power League Wrestling (PLW) from 2000 to 2003. During this time, he won the PLW New England Championship.
He also wrestled for the Premier Wrestling Federation. He teamed up with Kenn Phoenix to win the PWF Northeast Tag Team Championship twice. They were known as The Talent Exchange. Hussey also wrestled for NWA: Total Nonstop Action, Chaotic Wrestling, and NWA Wildside.
Joining WWE's Training Programs
Deep South Wrestling (2006–2008)
In 2006, Curtis signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He was sent to their training area called Deep South Wrestling (DSW). He started wrestling there on November 9, losing his first match. After some losses, he teamed with Robert Anthony and started winning. They even challenged for the DSW Tag Team Championship but did not win.
Florida Championship Wrestling (2008–2010)
When WWE stopped working with DSW, Curtis moved to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in June 2008. He won his first match there. He later teamed with Tyler Reks to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship in December 2008. They held the titles for a long time.
After Reks moved to WWE's main shows, Curtis changed his name to Jonathan Curtis and became a "bad guy" (a villain). He later went back to being Johnny Curtis. In 2010, he teamed with Derrick Bateman. They won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship in August 2010. They held the titles for almost three months.
Winning NXT (2010–2012)
Curtis was chosen for the fourth season of WWE NXT, a competition show. His mentor was R-Truth. He won his first match on the show in December 2010. He also won several challenges, earning points. On March 1, 2011, Curtis was named the winner of NXT, beating Brodus Clay in the final.
After winning NXT, Curtis appeared on SmackDown. He had some strange backstage videos. His first match on SmackDown was a quick loss to Mark Henry in August 2011.
He later returned to NXT as a villain. He started a storyline where he tried to win back his former girlfriend, Maxine, from Derrick Bateman. This led to many funny and dramatic moments. At one point, Curtis and Maxine even planned a wedding, but it was interrupted. They were involved in a storyline where they kidnapped Matt Striker (in a wrestling story, not real life).
For the rest of 2012, Curtis sometimes teamed with Michael McGillicutty. He also finally got his tag team title shot from winning NXT. He teamed with McGillicutty but lost to the champions Team Hell No (Kane and Daniel Bryan).
Becoming Fandango (2013–2016)
In late 2012, Hussey started a new character called Fandango. He was a ballroom dancer who was very picky. He would refuse to wrestle if his name was not said perfectly. Fandango finally debuted on SmackDown in March 2013. He was often joined by a female dance partner, like Summer Rae.
Fandango's first big match was at WrestleMania 29, where he defeated Chris Jericho. The next night on Raw, something amazing happened. Even though Fandango was a villain, the fans started singing and dancing to his entrance music! This became a huge trend called "Fandango-ing." His song even climbed high on the iTunes music charts.
Fandango then had a rematch with Jericho, which he lost. He was supposed to challenge for the WWE Intercontinental Championship but got a real concussion (a head injury). This meant he had to miss the match.
He returned in July 2013. At Hell in a Cell, Fandango and Summer Rae won a mixed tag team match. Later, Layla became his new dancer. Then Summer Rae returned and attacked Layla, starting a rivalry between the two women. They both ended up attacking Fandango and dancing together.
In late 2014, Fandango returned with Rosa Mendes as his new dance partner. He had a new salsa dancer style. In April 2015, Fandango brought back his old theme music and dance. He also broke up with Rosa Mendes and became a "good guy" (a fan favorite).
Breezango (2016–2021)
In April 2016, Fandango teamed up with Tyler Breeze. They called themselves "Breezango." They became villains again. They had a rivalry with The Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth). Breezango was drafted to the SmackDown brand. They also started calling themselves the "Fashion Police."
In April 2017, Breezango became fan favorites again. They earned a chance to challenge for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship but did not win. In April 2018, Breezango moved to the Raw brand. However, Fandango suffered a shoulder injury and was out of action for many months.
Later, Breeze and Fandango were sent to NXT. Fandango returned from his injury in July 2019. He saved Tyler Breeze from an attack. They started a rivalry with The Forgotten Sons. But in December, Fandango had another injury, needing elbow surgery.
Fandango returned in June 2020. Breezango won a match to become the number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championship. On August 26, 2020, Breezango defeated Imperium to win the titles! This was Fandango's first championship in WWE. They held the titles for 56 days before losing them. In June 2021, Fandango and Breeze were released from their WWE contracts.
After WWE (2021–Present)
After leaving WWE, Fandango started using the name Dirty Dango on the independent wrestling circuit. In July 2022, he won the Immortal Heavyweight Championship.
He also wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in December 2021.
Return to TNA (2022–Present)
Hussey returned to Impact Wrestling (which used to be TNA) in 2022 as Dirty Dango. He challenged for the Impact Digital Media Championship but lost. In January 2023, he officially signed with Impact Wrestling.
He was involved in a storyline where he helped investigate an attack on Santino Marella. But later, it was revealed that Dango was the one who attacked Marella! He then became a villain again. In June 2024, Dirty Dango joined a group called The System. He changed his name again to Johnny "Dango" Curtis (JDC).
Other Media
As Fandango, he has been a playable character in many video games. These include WWE 2K14 and other games up to WWE 2K22.
Web Shows
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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| 2015 | Swerved | Himself | Appeared in 3 episodes |
| 2017 | Southpaw Regional Wrestling | Chet Chetterfield | Appeared in 8 episodes of this web series |
| 2017 | Superstar Ink | Himself |
Championships and Accomplishments
- Eastern Wrestling Alliance
- EWA Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Kamikaze (2) and Brian Black (1)
- Florida Championship Wrestling
- FCW Florida Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Tyler Reks (1) and Derrick Bateman (1)
- Independent Connecticut Championship Wrestling
- ICCW Connecticut Championship (1 time)
- Immortal Championship Wrestling
- ICW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Northeast Championship Championship Wrestling
- NCW New England Championship (1 time)
- NCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Damian Houston
- Power League Wrestling
- PLW New England Championship (1 time)
- Premier Wrestling Federation
- PWF Northeast Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- PWF Northeast Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Kenn Phoenix
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ranked no. 59 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2013
- South Coast Championship Wrestling
- SCCW Lightweight Championship (1 time)
- Superstars Of Wrestling Federation
- SWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- WWE
- NXT Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tyler Breeze
- NXT (Season four)
See also
In Spanish: Fandango (luchador) para niños
