Raymond M. Lloyd (born May 13, 1964) is an American martial artist, professional wrestler, and actor. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling from 1996 to 1999 under the ring name Glacier.
Early life
Lloyd was born into a law-enforcement family in Brunswick, Georgia. His father, Harold, served as a commander with the Georgia State Patrol for 28 years; his mother, Lois, worked with the Georgia Driver's License Division prior to her retirement in 1999; and his fraternal twin brother, Ron, is a retired state trooper. A lifelong professional wrestling fan, Lloyd and his brother attended shows at the Jacksonville Coliseum. He graduated from Brunswick High School in 1982, and played offensive tackle for the school football team all four years, becoming its first All-State player in his senior year. He additionally competed for the track and field team, in the shot put and discus.
A skilled martial artist, Lloyd took up Hung Ga at fourteen, later adding other disciplines. His school was owned and taught by a former government agent and a U.S. Marshal, before it closed to the public in 1982. In 1983, he began competing for the World Karate Association in full-contact tournaments, eventually winning the United States Southeastern Super Heavyweight title. During his WKA stint, he was never knocked out or even knocked down; his only loss came on a disqualification. However, when the WKA changed its rules in 1985 to allow kicks from the knee up (they were previously only from the waist up), Lloyd opted to retire from competition in order not to jeopardize his football scholarship by risking injury. He played center for Valdosta State University (the same alma mater as former WCW announcer Scott Hudson), under coach Mike Cavan, and was a teammate of former Atlanta Falcons linebacker Jessie Tuggle during his collegiate career. Lloyd graduated in 1989 with a master's degree in education.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1987–1996) Lloyd began his wrestling career shortly after graduation. He was trained by Georgia grappler Fred Avery in a makeshift ring set up in Avery's backyard, and then cut his teeth on the Georgia independent circuit for two years, during which he was given the ring name "Sugar Ray" Lloyd by Tommy Rich. Lloyd joined World Championship Wrestling (then the NWA) for their 1989 Great American Bash tour, in which his debut match was a loss to Butch Reed in Albany, Georgia. He recalled in a March 2001 interview with WCW Magazine, "To be in the same ring with a man that big who could move like that was intimidating."
Lloyd worked as an assistant high school football coach at Lassiter High in Marietta, and at Valdosta Junior High School, once organizing a one-time pro wrestling event in the Valdosta High school gymnasium in which he participated. During weekends he worked Southern Championship Wrestling shows while receiving further training from Mr. Wrestling II and Bob Armstrong. He moved to Atlanta in 1990, and again as "Sugar Ray" Lloyd, tag teamed with Swain as "The Blazers," named such after the Valdosta State athletic mascot. In 1991, Pro Wrestling Illustrated held a contest for readers to come up with a ring name for Swain. Lloyd additionally competed in the North Georgia Wrestling Alliance, alongside future WCW stars Scotty Riggs, Buff Bagwell, and Disco Inferno.
Lloyd's second stint in WCW was when he was booked to be defeated by The Great Muta at a house show in Atlanta. Following that match, at Muta's request, Lloyd joined Muta on a string of WCW house shows before he moved to Japan in 1993. He joined the UWFI as a guest of shootfighter Nobuhiko Takada, and competed against Japanese and American fighters. Lloyd returned to the United States after UWFI folded in 1996, and during a conversation with friend Diamond Dallas Page, he mentioned that he was planning to integrate martial arts into his wrestling, which he had been unable to do during the early days of his career. At Page's request, WCW president Eric Bischoff, a martial arts practitioner himself, met with Lloyd for three hours and signed him to a contract.
World Championship Wrestling
Blood Runs Cold (1996–1998)