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In
a wrestling promotion known for its fondness for wrestlers
with fantastic physiques, Chris Mordetsky is second to
known. It should come as no surprise that Mordetsky's
resume includes a Mr. California bodybuilding
title. Mordetsky trained in the Ultimate Pro Wrestling
(UPW) promotion before landing a developmental deal with Ohio
Valley Wrestling (OVW). In OVW, Masters won the
Southern Tag Team Championship on two occasions. He
then debuted in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
as Chris Masters, the Masterpiece.
On
Monday Night RAW, vignettes began
airing that showed a
phenomenally built wrestler staring in the
mirror (somewhat similar to the promos cut in the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) when Lex Lugar debuted
as The Narcissist. After several weeks, the
Masterpiece debuted on Monday Night
RAW where he destroued Steven Richards in a
matchup, finishing him off with a full nelson which he called
the Masterlock. During the match, Masters
accidentally broke Richards nose leading some to believe that
Masters was too green to be wrestling on the WWE's flagship
show. Richards returned to RAW and faced Masters in
a rematch but he was unsuccessful in his bid to defeat the
Masterpiece.
Masters
then began challenging members of the audience to see if they
could escape from his Masterlock. He offered $1,000 to
anyone who could escape it. Several people tried,
including a woman but no one was able to break the hold.
Masters then began increasing the amount after no one could
break out of it. Recently, Masters opened the challenge
up to wrestlers and WWE superstar Val Venis was the first to
take him up on it. Masters attacked Venis from behind
and applied the Masterlock. Venis fought back but in the
end he was unable to escape the hold. Venis is just one
of many wrestlers who have fallen to the Masterlock including
Shelton Benjamin, Rosey, and Ric
Flair.
Recently, Shawn Michaels took the
Masterlock Challenge on Monday Night RAW and despite a
spirited effort, he too fell to the devastating hold (although
there was some controversy as to whether Michaels
escaped). Whether or not anyone will be able to
beat Masters' challenge remains to be seen.
As of March 2006, no one has
officially broken the Masterlock. At Wrestlemania XXII,
Chris Masters teamed with Carlito to challenge Kane and the Big Show for the World Tag Team
Championship. They were unable to defeat the powerhouse
team however. The next night on Monday Night
RAW, Carlito attacked the
Masterpiece. | 
