Dave Cooper

He has an athletic build, black hair in a buzzcut style, black mustache, brown eyes, and his wrestling attire consists of standard black wrestling trunks, black kneepads and white wrestling boots. He also wears a brown vest with the words "The Professional" on the back in white lettering.

Dave Cooper's wrestling career began in the NWCI, in which he competed mostly in singles, then in a tag team with longtime friend Eric Matthew Somers. Following NWCI's closure, Cooper became a wrestling promoter, first for the IWWA (a women's wrestling promotion), and then founding his own independent promotion, Land of Enchantment Wrestling. Legal issues resulted in the closure of LEW and Cooper got out of the business, only for Somers to encourage him to return as his tag team partner.

The duo, competing as Rough N' Ready, were active in MBC for a period of time. When that promotion closed, the two signed with the AWA and quickly established themselves as one of the top tag teams in the promotion. They had a lengthy feud with the Bishop Boys, in which several of their matches ended inconclusively. Their rivalry was so heated that, at one point, AWA officials would not allow the two teams to face each other.

Rough N' Ready ultimately worked their way toward the number one contender spot for the tag team titles, but travel issues led to the Bishop Boys being inserted into RnR's scheduled match against Calisto Dufresne and Adrian Freeman for the tag team titles, leading to a shift in attitude for Cooper and Somers. They would meet the Bishops again, and some would say they signed a deal with the devil when they secured the services of Joe Petrow, allowing RnR to win the titles.

Rough N Ready then formed a pact with Petrow and Mark Langseth, leading to the birth of Royalty. RnR feuded with Violence Unlimited, who ultimately won the tag team titles and led to Cooper and Somers assualting a referee and being suspended. Earlier suspensions for Petrow and Langseth meant Royalty was gone from the scene.

But Cooper was ultimately reinstated after choosing to end his partnership with Somers. Cooper then became focused on restoring Royalty, assisting Petrow and Langseth in the infamous () match, in which Langseth took advantage of an open challenge from Dufresne and won the National title in an unsanctioned match. Cooper began antagonizing much of the AWA roster, drawing the ire of the likes of Robert Donovan and Sultan Azam Sharif.

A six-man tag team match was scheduled for SuperClash V, but after Petrow lost a loser-leaves-town match to Jim Watkins, the status of Royalty was left in doubt. Cooper was prepared, though, as he and Langseth had acquired the services of Larry Doyle, who introduced his new Blonde Bombers. Langseth, though, disappeared from the company, leading to Cooper and Doyle pulling Dufresne into the fold.

Following SuperClash VI, Dufresne was sidelined with a back injury and Doyle opted to have the Bombers pursue other interests. Cooper thus declared Royalty dead, referring to himself as an "independent" and feuding with Juan Vasquez. He injured Vasquez's eye, driving an elbow into it repeatedly, but then lost a "loser leaves town" match and vanished from the scene. Although he was only barred from AWA for a six-month period, he remained absent from the promotion.

Upon his return, he aligned himself with “Diamond” Rob Driscoll and Miss Sandra Hayes, forming a group called The Lion’s Den. The group as formed didn’t last long as Driscoll left in a contract dispute and Hayes left the AWA for a brief period, resulting in Cooper starting a recruitment drive to find new members.

He first attempted to recruit the Northern Lights (Chris Choisnet and Rene Rousseau), but they rejected his offer. Cooper then brought the Samoan Hit Squad (Mafu and Scola) back to AWA as the first members. The Samoans then took out Rousseau, leaving Choisnet to team with Cesar Hernandez against the Samoans. When Rousseau returned to action, he and Choisnet faced the Samoans again, but after Choisnet accidentally hit Rousseau, his partner abandoned him and then accepted Cooper’s offer to join The Lion’s Den.

Before the trio could gain any momentum, the Korogun Corportation bought a stake in AWA and released all the members of The Lion’s Den at the end of 2016, wanting to focus on younger talent. Cooper, however, would return to the AWA in September of 2017, revealing that he intended to bring in a new, younger talent – later revealed to be “The Big Man on Campus” Trey Carson.

Cooper has now turned his attentions to managing full-time, and while his attentions are currently focused on Carson, he hasn’t ruled out other clients.

1. He's very good at submission wrestling and knows how to work over a body part.
2. He's tough and can take a lot of punishment.
3. He remains very focused on the task at hand and seldom loses concentration.

1. He's an aging veteran so he might not be able to "keep up" with younger guys.
2. Despite his toughness, he can't go the distance and longer matches don't favor him.
3. His bitterness toward the AWA these days means he's pretty suspicious of referees and how they'll treat him.

A mix of Dean Malenko, Arn Anderson and Steve Austin.

["The Professional" by Leon plays over the PA system and the man known as "The Professional," Dave Cooper, walks out from the back and down the rampway. Cooper wears black wrestling trunks, black kneepads, white wrestling boots, and a brown vest with the words "The Professional" on the back in white lettering.

Cooper's eyes are hardened and reveal no emotion as he walks down the rampway, paying no attention to the fans. He steps between the ropes, removing his vest, a cold look forming in his eyes.]

Heel