S.D. Jones

S.D. Jones
Birth name Conrad Efraim
Born (1945-03-30)March 30, 1945[1]
Antigua, Federal Colony of the Leeward Islands[2]
Died October 26, 2008(2008-10-26) (aged 63)[1]
Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda[2]
Cause of death Stroke
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Roosevelt Jones
S.D. Jones[3]
Special Delivery Jones[3]
Billed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[3]
Billed weight 260 lb (120 kg)[3]
Billed from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania[3]
Trained by Johnny Rodz
Debut 1971
Retired 1991

Conrad Efraim (March 30, 1945 – October 26, 2008) was a professional wrestler best known by his ring name, Special Delivery Jones or S.D. Jones (sometimes referred to as S.D. Special Delivery Jones) from his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He also wrestled in Jim Crockett Promotions and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), and he won the NWA Americas Tag Team Championship three times.[4]

Professional wrestling career

Before becoming a wrestler, Efraim worked at a telephone company.[4] While there, he began training under Johnny Rodz in the sport of professional wrestling.[4] Upon completion of his training, he quit his job and began working for NWA Mid-Atlantic under the name "Roosevelt Jones" in a tag team with his partner and kayfabe cousin Rufus R. Jones.[2] While there, they had a memorable feud with the Anderson family (Ole and Gene).[2]

On January 17, 1975, after leaving the Mid-Atlantic area for California, Jones won his first of three tag team titles, combining with Porkchop Cash to take the NWA Americas Tag Team Championship from the Hollywood Blonds (Buddy Roberts and Jerry Brown).[5] The following month, Jones and Cash dropped the titles back to the Blonds. Jones won the title again in 1977, teaming with Tom Jones to defeat Black Gordman and Goliath.[5] Gordman and Goliath regained the championship, but Jones and Jones won the belts back from them on November 18, 1977.[5]

Jones also continued to wrestle in the WWF as a mid-card babyface who would give the heels a hard time but end up losing.[6] He did, however, win quite a few matches on smaller cards against lower card or fellow mid carders like Ron Shaw and Johnny Rodz.[2][7] Jones was often featured in tag team matches partnered with Tony Atlas, and the two challenged Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito for the WWF Tag Team Championship several times in 1981.[7] On one occasion, the two ended up as the final men in a battle royal and flipped a coin to decide the winner, as seen on the WWF Coliseum Video 'Best of the WWF Volume 4' and 'Grand Slams' video cassettes.[8]

He was also the tag team partner of André the Giant on November 13, 1984 when André's hair was cut by Ken Patera and Big John Studd.[9] At the inaugural WrestleMania in 1985 he famously lost to King Kong Bundy in an official match time of nine seconds, although the actual time from bell to pinfall was twenty-five seconds.[10] In any case, it would stand as the quickest match in WrestleMania history until The Rock defeated Erick Rowan in six seconds at WrestleMania 32 in 2016.[11]

Despite mainly being used as a preliminary talent in the 1980s WWF, Jones garnered further recognition when LJN created an action figure of him for their Wrestling Superstars toy line.[4] He also appeared in the WWF's music video for Land of a Thousand Dances.[4] In 2006, SD Jones appeared for the WWE inducting Tony Atlas into the Hall of Fame.[12] After retiring from wrestling, Jones lost a considerable amount of weight and took a job at the New York Daily News.[4]

Efraim died in Antigua on October 26, 2008, following a stroke suffered two days earlier.[1]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 "S.D. Jones dies in Antigua". Slam Wrestling. 2008-10-27. Retrieved 2008-10-27.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Wrestler Profiles: "Special Delivery" Jones". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "S.D. Jones's WWE Alumni Profile". WWE. Retrieved 2012-03-19.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hillhouse, Dave. "S.D. Jones: An unforgotten gladiator". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
  5. 1 2 3 "NWA Americas Tag Team Championship history". Wrestling Titles. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
  6. ↑ "Jobbers of the Eighties". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
  7. 1 2 "1981". The History of WWE. Archived from the original on 2007-11-18. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
  8. ↑ "1982". The History of WWE. Archived from the original on 2007-11-02. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
  9. ↑ "1984". The History of WWE. Archived from the original on 2007-12-04. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
  10. ↑ "WrestleMania I Facts/Stats". WWE. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
  11. ↑ Caldwell, James. "4/3 WrestleMania 32 PPV Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live Report on Main PPV". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  12. ↑ Oliver, Greg. "Hall of Fame inductions sincere and entertaining". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
  13. ↑ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
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