Christian Michael Garland is an American professional wrestler under the ring name Lazarus. He is best known for his time in Unleashed Pro Wrestling where he is a former 3 time Undisputed Champion.
Career[]
Ultimate Extreme Pro Wrestling[]
Lazarus' journey started in the Northeast Independent promotion of Ultimate Extreme Pro Wrestling. During this time, he was known as Ravage, an up and coming luchador who uses speed and a variety of technical maneuvers in his arsenal. Ravage achieved great success in UEPW, eventually becoming the World UEPW Champion. UEPW, however, died shortly after his big win.
Death/Rebirth[]
With nothing left, and nobody to help him, Christian turned to drugs and alcohol. He slowly wasted away what little life he had left, and fell into a deep depression. In the end, Christian pumped his veins one last time and overdosed. Somehow, emergency medical personnel were able to find him and restart his heart. Upon reawakening Rick Ravage was indeed dead and a new person emerged in his place.
Unleashed Pro Wrestling[]
Ravage returned to wrestling under the name Lazarus. A name that he used to describe his new change in life. No longer a slave to drugs or alcohol, Lazarus is a vastly different being than that of his former self. Ravage only cared about himself, while Lazarus is all about putting on the best show he can. Lazarus signed with Unleashed Pro Wrestling and brought his skill with him. In his first few months, he had an unprecedented 10-0 undefeated streak, along with the privilege of being the first ever UPW World Champion.
Lazarus went on to even more success. Along with his World Title, Lazarus formed one of the most dominant tag-teams in all of UPW, the Power Trip. Together, the World Champion Lazarus, and the Television Champion J.C. Thunder, wreaked havoc on the tag division. Capturing the tag-titles in October. The duo held onto that title until Halloween Hell, in which they lost to The Dead. During the match, J.C. Thunder left Lazarus to be slaughtered, ending their friendship.
Lazarus would bounce back however, and came back strong. Lazarus formed the Pass of Existence. Lazarus along with Tony Maestro, Mick Mercury, Ryan Sanders and lastly, Sky Jones. The quintet were broken up with the departure of Mercury and the injury of Sanders, but they still were strong, winning multiple tag-titles, and hardcore titles. Then came Hostile Intent.
Hostile Intent saw Lazarus take on the Legend Killer for the World Title. Lazarus won the match, but the finish saw Lazarus brutally attack Jester, and the former Champion with a steel chair. The UPW Chairman than vacated his title after the assault. Lazarus was showing a side of himself not seen since his days as Ravage. Lazarus attacked his P.O.E. members and sadistically injured Maestro. Lazarus then turned his sights on Sky Jones, who managed to escape his assault.
Before Lazarus could purge his stable, an old face of Lazarus appeared. Ravage, or some kind of impostor showed his face during Lazarus' matches and even backstage. For weeks leading up to July 28, Lazarus was haunted by a mirror reflection of his former self. Lazarus once again looked at the way he was, and what he was going to be, and rejected himself. Lazarus once again changed his ways for the better.
With a renewed vigor, Lazarus set forth on his quest to retain his gold. On the way, reuniting with his arch rival, Big Daddy Kool, whom he lost the title to in the first place. Lazarus defeated his old foe and gained one more step in regaining what was his.
Holiday Brawl came so quickly for Lazarus. Weeks after being robbed at the number one contender spot from J.C. Thunder, Lazarus was one of the nominees for the new contender, as voted by the fans. For the second straight year, Lazarus was voted into the main event title match, but unlike the year prior, Lazarus made the most of this opportunity defeating J.C. Thunder with the Breaking Point.
Lazarus was back on top, but for how long? Shortly after Holiday Brawl, Kaos Kid was named Number One Contender for the title at New Year's Rumble. However, a loophole found by Thunder forced him into that match making it a triple threat. With the odds stacked against him once again, Lazarus defeated Kaos Kid, with some unlikely assistance from Big Daddy Kool. Later in that night, a new challenger would rise. The winner of the Rumble, The Jackal.
It was announced the following week on Throwdown that Jackal and Lazarus would meet on the grandest stage of them all, Hostile Intent. With Hostile Intent less than a month away, Jackal forged an alliance with Big Daddy Kool. Together the Unholy Alliance decimated Lazarus and J.C. Thunder simultaneously. This causes a resurgence in the Power Trip. The duo reunited, put their differences aside for one final match against the Alliance.
The two teams met at Mayhem. The ending saw Jackal use a steel chair behind the referee's back to obtain the victory, however the Power Trip would not go down without a fight. Post match mayhem ensued, seeing Thunder nailing BDK with a huge Thundersplash from the turnbuckle to the announce table, and Lazarus crushing himself and Jackal with a Breaking Point '07 onto a chair-covered Jackal.
Jackal and Lazarus finally met one on one in their highly anticipated match and before a sold-out crowd in the TD Banknorth Garden, the Jackal defeated Lazarus to win his first UPW title. As per pre-match stipulation, Lazarus was forced to leave Unleashed Pro Wrestling. After an emotional send-off, Lazarus signed with the VWA.
Volatile Wrestling Alliance[]
Lazarus signed with the VWA shortly after Hostile Intent. In his first match he was "awarded" a win by Shane Lawson. Lazarus could not catch the same success as he once had and faded out of the VWA when he was released shortly after.
Recent Years[]
Lazarus has not been seen since being released from VWA and rumors have speculated upon his whereabouts. The most common is that Lazarus has been detained by an unnamed mental facility. Another common rumor is that Lazarus once again slipped back into his old lifestyle of drugs and alcohol. These rumors have been neither confirmed nor denied...
In wrestling[]
- Finishing Moves
- Schizo-Frantic (Spinning headscissors takedown into a single arm DDT and from that into a Fujiwara armbar)
- Lazarus Phenomenon (Somersault corkscrew leg drop)
- Fall of Lazarus (Top Rope Double Underhook Facebuster)
- Signature Moves
- Facelift (Running Double Knee Facebreaker)
- Eternal Struggle (Half Nelson Chokehold)
- Chasing the Dragon (Standing shiranui)
- Black Swan (High Angle Senton Bomb)
- Dissociative Identity Disorder (Cross-arm sitout sleeper slam)
- Bleed the Freak (Inverted facelock to shoulderbreaker)
- Creepy Crawl (Dragonrana)
- Hand of Doom (Full Nelson Facebuster)
- The Destruction of a Person (Straight jacket Russian legsweep)
- Burnt Ice (Shining wizard to the back of an opponent's head)
- Breaking Point (450 Splash)
- Standing Shooting Star Press
- Corkscrew Neckbreaker
- Falling Reverse DDT
- Springboard enzuigiri
- Feint shining wizard spun into a buzzsaw kick
- Running fireman's carry slam onto the top turnbuckle
- Elevated cloverleaf
- Rope hung crucifix armbar
- Jumping back wheel kick
- Headscissors into figure four necklock
- Sharpshooter
- Double Underhook Backbreaker
- Springboard tornado DDT
- Feint enzuigiri into headscissors takedown
- Back to belly piledriver
- Snapmare driver
- Bridging leg hook suplex
- Dragon suplex
- Tiger suplex
- Nicknames
- "The Eternal Underdog"
- Theme music
- Severe Emotional Distress – Into Eternity
Championships and accomplishments[]
- Unleashed Pro Wrestling
- UPW Undisputed Champion (3 time)
- UPW Tag-Team Champion (3 time)
- UPW Hardcore Champion
- UPW FTW Champion
- Only UPW Grandslam Winner
- Ultimate Extreme Pro Wrestling
- UEPW Heavyweight Champion (1 time)(Final)
Federations Worked For[]
- Volatile Wrestling Alliance
- Unleashed Pro Wrestling
- Ultimate Extreme Pro Wrestling