Steve Lombardi ( The Brooklyn Brawler ) Part 2 -
In 2000, he scored a pinfall against Triple H in a handicap match and singles victory over Just Joe on an episode of WWE Jakked. He would then face Just Joe again and pick up the victory. As part of an angle on SmackDown!, he adopted the moniker of the "Boston Brawler", shedding his customary New York Yankees apparel in favor of Boston Red Sox clothing. This was done in response to the Red Sox' defeat of the Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series. Lombardi did this in a segment on SmackDown! (in New York City) with Heidenreich. Heidenreich was looking to make more friends, but Lombardi decided he'd rather be the Boston Brawler. Heidenreich stopped wanting to be Lombardi's friend, which aided Heidenreich's ongoing face turn. In early 2006, he still worked behind the scenes of WWE, including behind the camera with John Cena on his WWE.com show "Five Questions". Cena often makes references to Lombardi, even jokingly calling him the greatest technical wrestler of all time. Also, his face popped up in front of Cena's mouth to censor curse words, usually saying "nu-uh" or "brawler". On the June 2, 2006 episode of Five Questions, Brawler showed his face. He even censored himself, saying "you are a piece of Brawler". In another episode of "Five Questions," Cena acknowledged that Lombardi was actually born in Detroit, and not in Brooklyn. On May 7, 2006, WWE.com announced that, as part of Jakks Pacific's WWE Classic Superstars collection, they would be releasing a Brooklyn Brawler action figure. At Vengeance, Brawler appeared as Doink the Clown when he came out to the ring with Eugene during Eugene's match with Umaga. On August 1, 2006, Lombardi went to the ECW brand for a match against then ECW wrestler, Kurt Angle. Lombardi quickly lost when Angle applied an ankle lock on him. That same week, he appeared on SmackDown! against Vito, losing by submission. On the December 18 edition of Raw, Lombardi appeared in the 30 man battle royal as the Brooklyn Brawler. Lombardi made a return appearance in the November 15, 2010 "Raw Goes Old School" episode of Raw as the Brooklyn Brawler with Harvey Wippleman as his manager. He lost in a match against Ezekiel Jackson. The Brooklyn Brawler made a surprise return to pay-per-view on December 16, 2012 at the TLC pay-per-view (which took place in Brooklyn), teaming with the Miz and Alberto Del Rio to defeat 3MB (Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal). Brawler won the match for his team via submission with a Boston crab on Mahal. At the July 15, 2013 Raw taping from Brooklyn, in a match taped for Superstars, the Brawler was defeated by Ryback, though, unlike the enhancement talent Ryback faced at the time, the Brawler took offense and even managed to dominate his opponent. On May 10, 2016, pwinsider.com reported that Lombardi had been released from WWE a week ago, thus ending Lombardi's 33 year career with WWE.