Ray Candy

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

American professional wrestler (1951–1994)

title: "Ray Candy" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1951-births", "1994-deaths", "20th-century-american-male-actors", "20th-century-african-american-sportsmen", "20th-century-american-sportsmen", "20th-century-male-professional-wrestlers", "20th-century-american-professional-wrestlers", "american-male-professional-wrestlers", "african-american-professional-wrestlers", "masked-wrestlers", "sportspeople-from-decatur,-georgia", "professional-wrestlers-from-georgia-(u.s.-state)", "american-professional-wrestling-trainers", "sportspeople-from-dekalb-county,-georgia", "wwc-puerto-rico-champions", "nwa-florida-global-tag-team-champions", "nwa-florida-heavyweight-champions", "nwa-united-states-tag-team-champions-(florida-version)", "nwa-international-tag-team-champions", "nwa-national-television-champions"] description: "American professional wrestler (1951–1994)" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Candy" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American professional wrestler (1951–1994) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox professional wrestler"]

FieldValue
nameRay Candy
imageRay Candy.jpeg
captionCandy, circa 1988
birth_nameRay Canty
namesBlackstud Williams
Commando Ray
Kareem Muhammad
Masked Superfly
Ray Candy
Super Mario Man
height6 ft 5 in
weight341 lb
birth_date
birth_placeDecatur, Georgia, U.S.
death_date
death_placeDecatur, Georgia, U.S.
death_causeMyocardial infarction
billedDecatur, Georgia
trainerDory Funk Jr.
debut1973
retired1990
::

|name= Ray Candy |image=Ray Candy.jpeg |caption= Candy, circa 1988 |birth_name = Ray Canty |names= Blackstud Williams Commando Ray Kareem Muhammad Masked Superfly Ray Candy Super Mario Man |height= 6 ft 5 in |weight= 341 lb |real_height= |real_weight= |birth_date= |birth_place=Decatur, Georgia, U.S. |death_date= |death_place=Decatur, Georgia, U.S. |death_cause=Myocardial infarction |billed= Decatur, Georgia |trainer=Dory Funk Jr. |debut= 1973 |retired=1990 |website= Ray Canty (December 3, 1951 – May 23, 1994), better known by the ring name Ray Candy, was an American professional wrestler who worked for a variety of different wrestling promotions in the United States, Japan and Puerto Rico such as Jim Crockett Promotions, All Japan Pro Wrestling, World Wrestling Council and others. He also competed as Blackstud Williams, Super Mario Man, Commando Ray, Masked Superfly and Kareem Muhammad.

As Kareem Muhammad he formed a tag team with Elijah Akeem as the tag team "The Zambuie Express". He also spent time as part of Skandor Akbar's Devastation Inc. group as well as a team known as "The Shock Troops" with Ed Gantner and "The Commandos" with Commando Boone. Canty was responsible for training New Jack for his professional wrestling career.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1983–1983)

Ray Canty was trained for his professional wrestling career by former NWA World Heavyweight Championship holder Dory Funk Jr. before making his in-ring debut in 1973. Starting out he adopted the ring name "Ray Candy", a modified version of his birth name. To start with Candy worked for the local All-South Wrestling Alliance (ASWA) based out of Atlanta, Georgia. In the ASWA he won the ASWA United States Championship early in his career. He later worked for Dory Funk Sr.'s National Wrestling Alliance Western States Sports promotion. In Western States Sports, he won both the NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship and the NWA Western States Tag Team Championship, teaming with his mentor Dory Funk Jr.

By 1976, Canty was a regular worker for Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF), but also worked for the nearby NWA Mid-America promotion where he held the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship twice while teaming with Pez Whatley.

Zambuie Express / Muslim Connection (1983–1984)

In 1983, the Florida bookers came up with the idea to team up Candy with the , 310 lb, Leroy Brown. Candy took the Muslim name "Kareem Muhammad" while Brown was billed as "Elijah Akeem". Together they formed "the Zambuie Express", which was at times billed as "the Muslim Connection" in some promotions. The duo began to wear camouflage pants and shirts to the ring, adopting militaristic Muslim in ring characters, based to some extent on the Black Panther Party. The two toured mainly in the southern parts of the United States where their racially charged characters made them very hated. The team was often managed by Sir Oliver Humperdink and was part of the "House of Humperdink". In Florida the duo defeated Mike Graham and Scott McGhee to win the NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship on July 31, 1983. The duo held the championship until September of that year, when it was replaced by the Florida version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship. The Zambuie Express were declared the United States Champions, with the storyline being that they won a tournament. Two months later the Zambuie Express lost the championship to the team of Dusty Rhodes and Blackjack Mulligan on November 5, 1983.

From Florida the team traveled to Memphis to compete for the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) where they were immediately pitted against the top face team of the territory The Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane and Steve Keirn). On January 24, 1984, the Zambuie Express were awarded the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship when the Fabulous Ones failed to show up for a match, but the titles were declared vacant instead of giving them to Akeem and Muhammad. The Express competed on the 1984 version of Starrcade, where they lost to the team of Buzz Tyler and The Masked Assassin #1. The loss to Tyler and the Assassin was one of the last matches the Zambuie Express worked together, splitting up a short time later.

Late career (1984–1990)

Candy later formed a duo with Ed Gantner, known as the Shock Troops, working for the CWF. In 1987 he travelled to Puerto Rico, working for the World Wrestling Council (WWC) where he won the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship on June 6from Mighty Igor, holding it for about six months before losing it to Miguel Perez, Jr.

Personal life

After his retirement from professional wrestling in 1990, Canty returned to Decatur to work as a dispatcher and supervisor for a local transport firm. He was also responsible for training Glenn Jacobs (Kane in WWE) and New Jack.

Death

On May 23, 1994, he died at his home in Decatur, after suffering a heart attack.

Championships and accomplishments

References

References

  1. "Kareem Muhammad « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database".
  2. "Champion Carnival 1980". Pro Wrestling History.
  3. Lewis III, Harris M.. (2003). "Biographical Dictionary of Professional Wrestling". McFarlane.
  4. Matt Mackinder. (January 17, 2008). "Sir Oliver Humperdink recalls career of yesteryear". SLAM! Wrestling.
  5. "House of Humperdink". Online World of Wrestling.
  6. Cawthon, Graham. (2013). "the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 3:Jim Crockett and the NWA World Title 1983–1989". CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
  7. (November 22, 1984). "Starrcade 1984". Pro Wrestling History.
  8. [[RD Reynolds]] and Randy Baer. (2003). "Wrestlecrap – the very worst of pro wrestling". ECW Press.
  9. (December 26, 1988). "Starrcade 1988". Pro Wrestling History.
  10. Royal Duncan and Gary Will. (2000). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  11. (July 9, 1974). "Event: ASWA". Cagematch.
  12. Gary Will and Royal Duncan. (2006). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  13. Gary Will and Royal Duncan. (2006). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  14. Gary Will and Royal Duncan. (2006). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  15. Royal Duncan and Gary Will. (2000). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  16. Royal Duncan & Gary Will. (2006). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  17. "Southern Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.
  18. Royal Duncan and Gary Will. (2000). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  19. Royal Duncan and Gary Will. (2000). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  20. Royal Duncan and Gary Will. (2000). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  21. Royal Duncan and Gary Will. (2000). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  22. (September 23, 1991). "Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 – 1991: 334 Ray Candy". Sports and Entertainment publications LLC.
  23. Royal Duncan and Gary Will. (2000). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  24. Royal Duncan and Gary Will. (2000). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  25. Royal Duncan and Gary Will. (2000). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  26. Royal Duncan and Gary Will. (2000). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  27. Royal Duncan and Gary Will. (2000). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.
  28. Royal Duncan and Gary Will. (2000). "Wrestling Title Histories". Archeus Communications.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

1951-births1994-deaths20th-century-american-male-actors20th-century-african-american-sportsmen20th-century-american-sportsmen20th-century-male-professional-wrestlers20th-century-american-professional-wrestlersamerican-male-professional-wrestlersafrican-american-professional-wrestlersmasked-wrestlerssportspeople-from-decatur,-georgiaprofessional-wrestlers-from-georgia-(u.s.-state)american-professional-wrestling-trainerssportspeople-from-dekalb-county,-georgiawwc-puerto-rico-championsnwa-florida-global-tag-team-championsnwa-florida-heavyweight-championsnwa-united-states-tag-team-champions-(florida-version)nwa-international-tag-team-championsnwa-national-television-champions