Raymond John Leppan (born 20 July 1979) is a South African retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE under the ring name Adam Rose.
Making his debut on the South African independent circuit in 1995, Leppan signed with WWE in 2010, wrestling in its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) under the ring name Leo Kruger, where he became a two-time FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion. After FCW folded in 2012, Leppan continued to wrestle in its successor NXT as Leo Kruger, before moving to WWE's main roster, as Adam Rose in early 2014. After a series of controversies, Leppan asked for his release from the promotion in April 2016 and wrestled in the international independent circuit.
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Early life
According to an E60 interview, Adam wanted to wrestle from the age of 9. A school drop-out, Leppan ran away from home when he was 14, then spent two years living on the streets and in abandoned buildings. Leppan later described that he had been "spiraling out of control" during that period, which was full of violence and alcohol, and only the thought of becoming a wrestler had helped him escape. Leppan's mother later successfully managed to entice Leppan to return home to Johannesburg from Durban with the prospect of beginning wrestling classes.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1995–2010)
Leppan made his professional wrestling debut in 1995 at the age of 15 He eventually wrestled on the South African independent circuit as Z-Max, a character based on The Karate Kid.
He worked in Philadelphia with Paul Lloyd Jr., known as the tag team Pure Juice. He also wrestled as Dameon Duke in World Wrestling Professionals. While there, he won the WWP World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Tornado in 2007 and lost it to Fury the following year.
World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2010-2016)
Leppan debuted at a Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) house show under his real name on 12 February 2010, in a losing effort against David Otunga. He made his televised debut two weeks later, losing to Curt Hawkins.
The following week, Leppan changed his ring name to Leo Kruger, chosen as a tribute to his relative and former President of South Africa Paul Kruger, before losing to Johnny Curtis. On 25 March, Kruger picked up his first televised win by defeating Jacob Novak. At the television tapings on 20 May, Kruger challenged the former Paul Lloyd, Jr. and fellow South African wrestler, Justin Gabriel to a match. At the television tapings on 10 June, Kruger lost to Gabriel, before defeating him in a rematch on 1 July. In mid-2010, Kruger formed a team with Derrick Bateman, known as The Handsome Man Express. The duo challenged Los Aviadores (Hunico and Epico) for the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship on 2 July, but were unsuccessful. On 8 July, Kruger teamed with Tyler Reks to challenge Los Aviadores again for the championship, but was unsuccessful. Kruger then went on a winning streak, defeating Big E Langston, Bateman, Austin Watson, Husky Harris, and Wes Brisco, before finally losing in a mixed tag team match, when he and Kaitlyn lost to Brad Maddox and Jamie Keyes on 9 September. Kruger's final match in 2010 was at the television tapings on 23 September, when he lost to Bo Rotundo. Following the match, Kruger lost feeling in his arm, and it was discovered that he had broken his neck. While recuperating, Kruger became a commentator for the FCW television program.
After Bo Rotundo was injured in September 2011, his FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship was vacated and a tournament set up to determine the new champion. Kruger defeated Percy Watson to make it to the final, a fatal four-way match against Husky Harris, Damien Sandow, and Dean Ambrose. Kruger won the match and the championship, his first in FCW. Kruger then appeared in dark matches prior to the SmackDown television tapings on 20 and 27 September, losing to Trent Barreta and defeating Johnny Curtis respectively. Kruger successfully defended the championship against Harris on 24 October episode of FCW television and on 14 November episode of FCW television, Kruger defeated Harris and Richie Steamboat in a triple threat match to retain the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship. On 18 December episode of FCW television, Kruger successfully defended the championship against Seth Rollins, after interference from Antonio Cesaro.
Later career and retirement (2016–2019)
After his release, Leppan announced his new ring name as Aldo Rose, maintaining the party host gimmick, but as an edgier character. His first match after his release took place on 23 July, losing a match against fellow WWE alumnus Damien Sandow. Rose took an absence from the professional wrestling industry in November. In January 2017, Rose addressed his absence from the industry, stating he had been with his family, and his social media was hacked. In addition, he announced that he had "killed off" the Adam Rose character and returned to his Leo Kruger persona, now renamed Krugar. Since then, however, he began to compete both under the Adam Rose and Krugar name.
On 25 March 2017, Rose defeated Aaron Orion to become the Championship International Wrestling Heavyweight Champion; however, Rose lost the title to Orion the next day. On 21 April, Rose defeated CJ O'Doyle and Axx Clover to become the new Atomic Wrestling Entertainment Heavyweight Champion.
On 18 March 2019, Leppan announced his retirement from pro wrestling, saying that he would be fulfilling the rest of his current bookings, not taking any more after that. In his retirement match on June 14, 2019, for the Atomic Revolutionary Wrestling promotion against Bull James, at ARW's 3rd annual Star Spangled event in Cocoa, Florida, Rose lost via submission when James reversed an attempted submission into a crossface.
Other media
Rose is included as downloadable content for the video game WWE 2K15, and is also playable in WWE 2K16 and mobile game WWE SuperCard.
In May 2015, a documentary by E:60 titled "Behind the Curtain", aired on ESPN, focusing on Leppan, Austin Watson (Xavier Woods), Matthew Polinsky (Corey Graves), and their time in WWE's developmental system, NXT.
Personal life
Leppan has two sons, Maverick and Levi. Maverick was born in 2011 with an omphalocele (a rare abdominal wall defect), and needed immediate surgery after being born to correct the defect. By the age of three, Maverick had outlived his prognosis, had four operations, and needed to be fed through a tube linked to his stomach. Levi was born in 2014.
Leppan is a Christian.
Controversy
On 11 May 2016, Leppan was arrested in Lutz, Florida by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office for tampering with a witness (domestic) and battery domestic assault. The incident took place at 1:30 am ET. The following day at 4:10 pm ET, Leppan was released from custody on a bond of $1,000. WWE officials suspended Leppan indefinitely, citing their "Zero Tolerance" policy for domestic abuse, and would later grant him his request for a release. On 14 June 2016, all charges against Leppan were dropped.
On 17 June 2016, Leppan garnered controversy after releasing a T-shirt via the Pro Wrestling Tees website that featured the mugshot from his domestic violence arrest. Leppan wrote on his Twitter saying "To those who were offended by the mug shot t-shirt... I wasn't. It represented the lowest point in my life and no crime was ever committed". "It represented over coming and pardon the expression but taking a lemon and turning it into lemonade. So bite on my lemon! Get a life!". He also explained that the idea for the shirt came from his wife. The shirt has since been removed from the website.
Championships and accomplishments
Atomic Revolutionary Wrestling
ARW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
ARW Next Level Championship (1 time)
Atomic Wrestling Entertainment
AWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Blue Water Championship Wrestling
BWCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Championship International Wrestling
CIW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Florida Championship Wrestling
FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Ranked No. 77 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2012
World Wrestling Professionals
WWP World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Worst Gimmick (2014)