Robert Howard
Acting • Born 1963-01-29
Biography
Robert William Howard is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his 15-year stint with the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring names Thurman "Sparky" Plugg, Bob Holly, Bombastic Bob and Hardcore Holly. After debuting in 1990, Holly worked for Smoky Mountain Wrestling and other independent promotions, before joining WWE full-time in 1994. Initially portraying the character of a NASCAR driver, Thurman "Sparky" Plugg, his name was soon changed to Bob "Spark Plug" Holly, before forming a team with Bodacious Bart, known as The New Midnight Express in 1998. After becoming known simply as "Hardcore Holly" in 1999, he was joined by on-screen cousins, Crash and Molly. In 2002, he suffered a broken neck, which sidelined him for over a year. Upon his return, he engaged in minor feuds with wrestlers such as Mr. Kennedy and Rob Van Dam, before forming a tag team with Cody Rhodes in 2007. Holly was released from WWE in 2009. During his career, Holly has held the WWF/E Hardcore Championship six times, the WWF/E Tag Team Championship three times (with 1–2–3 Kid, Crash Holly and Cody Rhodes), and the NWA World Tag Team Championship once with Bart Gunn. Howard's autobiography, titled The Hardcore Truth: The Bob Holly Story was released in the United States on April 1, 2013. Co-authored by former British wrestler Ross Owen Williams, an actor and writer[63] who wrestled Holly in June 2010, it was published by ECW Press. Reviews of the book were positive, with Nolan Howell of Canoe.com describing it as a "straightforward look into the life of a man that has dedicated himself to the sport of professional wrestling" and has "an endearing, personal style that gives an apt representation of the author...For fans such as myself who appreciated the blunt style of the man known as Hardcore Holly, this ECW Press product will be an entertaining, worthwhile look into one of the unique personalities of professional wrestling." Joe Babinsack, writing for the Wrestling Observer, described the book as "brutal, boisterous and definitely worth reading". Bruce Mitchell, writing for the Pro Wrestling Torch, described the book as "hard-hitting, straightforward, and not very fancy", rating it "one of the strongest professional wrestling books in a long while". Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer wrote, "in a lot of books, you think you're reading what the person writing feels is the right thing to say for their career... With Holly, whether you agree or not (and I agreed with some of his stuff, not others), I had no doubt he was giving his true opinions on things. In that sense, it was a very honest look at a period of WWF history from a guy who had ups and downs... but survived a long time."
Filmography
83 credits
Ring Roasts III: The Roast of Jim Cornette
Movie • 2010
Self
Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows
Movie • 1998
Bob 'Spark Plugg' Holly (archive footage)
WWE WrestleFest '95
Movie • 1995
Bob Holly
WWE Survivor Series 2003
Movie • 2003
Hardcore Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 2004
Movie • 2004
Hardcore Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 2005
Movie • 2005
Hardcore Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 2000
Movie • 2000
Hardcore Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 2008
Movie • 2008
Hardcore Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 2001
Movie • 2001
Hardcore Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 2007
Movie • 2007
Hardcore Holly
Chris Benoit: The Aftermath
Movie • 2010
Himself
The Marine 2
Movie • 2009
Linwood's Left
WWE WrestleMania XV
Movie • 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE No Way Out 2004
Movie • 2004
Hardcore Holly
WWE Survivor Series 1999
Movie • 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE Backlash 2000
Movie • 2000
Hardcore Holly
WWE SummerSlam 1995
Movie • 1995
Bob "Spark Plug" Holly
WWE Survivor Series 1995
Movie • 1995
Bob Holly
WWE King of the Ring 1995
Movie • 1995
Bob "Spark Plug" Holly
WWE Over the Edge
Movie • 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE Rock Bottom: In Your House
Movie • 1998
Bob Holly
WWE St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House
Movie • 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE Backlash: In Your House
Movie • 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE King of the Ring 1999
Movie • 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE SummerSlam 1999
Movie • 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE Armageddon 1999
Movie • 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE No Mercy 1999
Movie • 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE Rebellion 1999
Movie • 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE No Way Out 2001
Movie • 2001
Hardcore Holly
WWE King of the Ring 1998
Movie • 1998
"Bombastic" Bob Holly
WWE Unforgiven: In Your House
Movie • 1998
"Bombastic" Bob
WWE Survivor Series 2000
Movie • 2000
Hardcore Holly
WWE Armageddon 2000
Movie • 2000
Hardcore Holly
WWE Insurrextion 2001
Movie • 2001
Hardcore Holly
WWE Armageddon 2004
Movie • 2004
Hardcore Holly
WWE Judgment Day 2005
Movie • 2005
Hardcore Holly
WWE No Mercy 2005
Movie • 2005
Hardcore Holly
WWE Global Warning
Movie • 2002
Hardcore Holly
ECW December to Dismember
Movie • 2006
Hardcore Holly
WWE Judgment Day 2004
Movie • 2004
Hardcore Holly
WWE Survivor Series 2007
Movie • 2007
Hardcore Holly
WWE The Great American Bash 2004
Movie • 2004
Hardcore Holly
WWE Night of Champions 2008
Movie • 2008
Hardcore Holly
WWF: Hardcore
Movie • 2001
Hardcore Holly
WWE: Falls Count Anywhere: The Greatest Street Fights and Other Out of Control Matches
Movie • 2012
The History of The WWE Hardcore Championship
Movie • 2016
WWE Survivor Series 1996
Movie • 1996
Bob Holly (Free-for-All)
WWF Action!
Movie • 2001
Hardcore Holly
WWE: WrestleMania Monday
Movie • 2017
Bob Holly
YouShoot: Bob Holly
Movie • 2010
Himself
WWE: Attitude Era: Vol. 2
Movie • 2014
Hardcore Holly
WWE: The Best of SmackDown - 10th Anniversary, 1999-2009
Movie • 2012
Hardcore Holly (archive footage)
WWE: Satan's Prison - The Anthology of the Elimination Chamber
Movie • 2010
Hardcore Holly
WWE WrestleMania 2000
Movie • 2000
Hardcore Holly
WWE WrestleMania XXIV
Movie • 2008
Hardcore Holly
WWE: OMG! The Top 50 Incidents in WWE History
Movie • 2011
Himself
WWE WrestleMania 21
Movie • 2005
Hardcore Holly
WWE Wrestlemania X8
Movie • 2002
Hardcore Holly
WWE WrestleMania 22
Movie • 2006
Hardcore Holly
WWE WrestleMania XIV
Movie • 1998
"Bombastic" Bob Holly
TNA One Night Only: Hardcore Justice 2
Movie • 2013
Bob Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 1996
Movie • 1996
Bob Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 1994
Movie • 1994
Thurman "Sparky " Plugg
WWF SummerSlam Spectacular 1994: Sunday Night Slam
Movie • 1994
Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly
WWE Royal Rumble 1995
Movie • 1995
Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly
Operation Sandman
Movie • 2000
Sturner
WWE Royal Rumble 1999
Movie • 1999
Bob Holly
Hard Knocks
Movie • 2009
WWE Hall Of Fame 1995
Movie • 1995
Self
Raw
TV • 1993
Thurman "Sparky " Plugg
WWE Tough Enough
TV • 2001
Hardcore Holly
Raw
TV • 1993
Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly
WWE Friday Night SmackDown
TV • 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWF Wrestling Challenge
TV • 1986
Bob Holly
WWE ECW
TV • 2006
Hardcore Holly
WWE Velocity
TV • 2002
Hardcore Holly
Raw
TV • 1993
Hardcore Holly
Raw
TV • 1993
Bob Holly
Raw
TV • 1993
Bombastic Bob
ECW Hardcore TV
TV • 1993
Hardcore Holly
ECW on TNN
TV • 1999
Hardcore Holly
WWE Friday Night SmackDown
TV • 1999
WWE Sunday Night Slam
TV • 1994
Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly