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) as part of The System. He uses the ring name Johnny Dango Curtis (or JDC). He also appears on the NXT brand. Many fans know him best from his time in WWE, where he was known as Fandango.
Hussey started his wrestling journey in 1999. He competed in many smaller wrestling groups in New England. He won several championships, including the PLW New England Championship and the PWF Northeast Heavyweight Championship. He also won tag team titles with partners like Kenn Phoenix and Damian Houston.
In 2006, Hussey joined World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He trained in their special schools, first Deep South Wrestling (DSW) and then Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). In FCW, he won the Florida Tag Team Championship twice with different partners. In December 2010, he joined the fourth season of NXT as Johnny Curtis. He won the entire competition in March 2011.
In 2013, Hussey became the character Fandango. Fans loved his entrance music and started singing and dancing along. This made his song very popular on iTunes. Later, he formed a tag team called Breezango with Tyler Breeze. They won the NXT Tag Team Championship in August 2020.
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Early Life and Training
Curtis Jonathan Hussey was born in Portland, Maine, on July 22, 1983. He is a Native American from the Cherokee tribe. He learned how to wrestle from a famous trainer named Killer Kowalski. Hussey started wrestling professionally in September 1999.
Wrestling Career Highlights
Starting Out: Independent Wrestling (1999–2006)
Hussey spent his early years wrestling for different groups in the New England area. From 2000 to 2003, he wrestled for Power League Wrestling (PLW). He won the PLW New England Championship in May 2002 and held it for a year.
He also wrestled for Premier Wrestling Federation. He teamed up with Kenn Phoenix to win the PWF Northeast Tag Team Championship in October 2002. They won the title again in February 2003. Hussey also wrestled for other groups like NWA: Total Nonstop Action and Chaotic Wrestling.
Joining WWE: Developmental Years (2006–2010)
In 2006, Curtis signed a contract with WWE. He was sent to Deep South Wrestling (DSW) to train. He wrestled many matches there, often losing at first. He later teamed with Robert Anthony and they challenged for the DSW Tag Team Championship.
When WWE stopped working with DSW, Curtis moved to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in June 2008. He quickly became successful. In December 2008, he teamed with Tyler Reks to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. They held the titles for a long time before losing them in April 2009.
After Reks moved to WWE's main shows, Curtis changed his name to Jonathan Curtis and became a "bad guy" (a villain). He tried to win the Florida Heavyweight Championship but was not successful. He soon went back to using the name Johnny Curtis.
In August 2010, Curtis teamed with Derrick Bateman. They won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. They held the titles for almost three months before losing them in November.
Winning NXT and Becoming Fandango (2010–2013)
Curtis was chosen for the fourth season of NXT in December 2010. His mentor was R-Truth. He won his first match on NXT against Jacob Novak. He also won several challenges during the season. On March 1, 2011, Curtis was announced as the winner of NXT Season Four, beating Brodus Clay in the final.
After winning NXT, Curtis appeared on SmackDown in strange videos. He finally had his first match on SmackDown in August 2011, but he lost quickly to Mark Henry.
Curtis returned to NXT in November 2011 as a villain. He started a storyline where he tried to win over Maxine, who was dating Derrick Bateman. This led to a long rivalry between them. At one point, Curtis and Maxine planned to get married on NXT, but Bateman stopped the wedding.
In late 2012, Hussey introduced a new character called Fandango. He was a fancy ballroom dancer. After many videos promoting him, Fandango finally debuted on SmackDown on March 1, 2013. He was known for being very picky about how his name was said.
Fandango's Rise and "Fandango-ing" (2013–2016)
Fandango refused to wrestle his first few matches because announcers couldn't say his name "correctly." This led to a rivalry with Chris Jericho. Fandango had his first big match at WrestleMania 29, where he defeated Jericho. This was a huge win for him.
The night after WrestleMania, Fandango wrestled Kofi Kingston. Even though Fandango was a villain, the audience started singing and dancing to his entrance music. This became a huge trend called "Fandango-ing." His song became very popular on iTunes.
Fandango continued his rivalry with Jericho, but Jericho defeated him at Extreme Rules. Fandango then aimed for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. He was supposed to win the title at Payback, but he got a head injury (a concussion) and had to miss the match.
Fandango returned in July 2013. He competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match but did not win. He had a rivalry with The Miz and later teamed with Summer Rae in mixed tag team matches.
Over the next few years, Fandango had different dance partners, including Layla and Rosa Mendes. He also changed his character from a villain to a "good guy" (a face) in April 2015, bringing back his original theme music. He continued to wrestle on shows like Superstars and Main Event.
Breezango: A Popular Tag Team (2016–2021)
In April 2016, Fandango teamed up with Tyler Breeze. They formed a new tag team called "Breezango." They became villains again and had a rivalry with Goldust and R-Truth. Breezango was drafted to the SmackDown brand in the 2016 WWE draft.
Breezango became very popular with fans as the "Fashion Police." They would investigate funny "crimes" backstage. They challenged for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship but did not win. In April 2018, Breezango moved to the Raw brand. Soon after, Fandango suffered a shoulder injury and was out of action for several months.
At the end of 2018, both Breeze and Fandango were sent to NXT. Fandango returned from his injury in July 2019, helping Tyler Breeze. They started a rivalry with The Forgotten Sons. However, Fandango got another injury in December, needing elbow surgery.
Fandango returned to NXT in June 2020. Breezango won a match to become the top challengers for the NXT Tag Team Championship. On August 26, 2020, Breezango defeated Imperium to win the NXT Tag Team Championship! This was Fandango's first championship in WWE. They held the titles for 56 days before losing them in October.
In June 2021, Fandango and Tyler Breeze were released from their WWE contracts. This ended Fandango's 15 years with the company.
Back to Independent Wrestling and TNA (2021–Present)
After leaving WWE, Fandango started using the name Dirty Dango on the independent wrestling scene. In July 2022, he won the Immortal Heavyweight Championship.
In December 2021, Dango also debuted for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). In 2022, he returned to Impact Wrestling (formerly TNA). He challenged for the Impact Digital Media Championship but lost.
In January 2023, Dango officially signed with Impact Wrestling. He was involved in a storyline where he was revealed to be the person who attacked Director of Authority Santino Marella. This made him a villain again. He joined The System in June 2024 and changed his name to Johnny "Dango" Curtis (JDC).
In February 2025, Curtis returned to WWE NXT as Fandango, using his old theme music. He challenged Lexis King for the NXT Heritage Cup but was unsuccessful.
Video Games and Other Appearances
As Fandango, he has been a playable character in many WWE video games. His first game was WWE 2K14. He has also appeared in WWE 2K15, WWE 2K16, WWE 2K17, WWE 2K18, WWE 2K19, WWE 2K20, WWE 2K Battlegrounds, and WWE 2K22.
He also appeared in web shows like Swerved and Southpaw Regional Wrestling.
Championships and Achievements
Curtis Jonathan Hussey has won many titles throughout his wrestling career:
- 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 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
