Kipp Christianson

Kipp W. Christianson (born September 30, 1974) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and working in their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) as Eli Cottonwood.

Before getting into pro wrestling, Kipp Christianson attended St. John's University from 1993 — 1997, while there he graduated with a B.A. in Psychology. He also was a two time all conference basketball player and scored over 1000 points in his St. John's University career. After college, he continued to play basketball professionally overseas for teams in first division China, Lithuania, Slovakia, Turkey, and even signing two NBA contracts with the Milwaukee Bucks (1999) and the Dallas Mavericks (2002). He later coached the sport for the Yakama Sun Kings (CBA) in [[Yakima, Washington], as well as Tampa Bay Christian Academy Tampa, Florida, and at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, WI. While in Tampa, Christianson became of interest to Florida Championship Wrestling due to his immense size & athletic ability.

Career

Kipp Christianson began competing in Florida Championship Wrestling in 2009 under his real name (Kip Christianson). However in August of 2009, his name was tweaked to Eli Cottonwood, and he was packaged with a gimmick that he was recently reintroduced to society from the Kelloggs Sanitarium.

Background and Personal

Kipp Christianson grew up in River Falls, WI where he was an active athlete. Beyond his basketball accomplishments, Kipp was a two time high school all conference golfer and was named Big Rivers conference player of the year. Additionally, he won PGA Junior tournaments in the wisconsin and minnesota sections. Eventhough Kipp never played high school football, he did win the Knights of Columbus Wisconsin State Punt, Pass, and Kick competition for the entire state of wisconsin. Kipp is married to former television host and actress Tabatha Cocilova http://tabathacocilova.exploretalent.com/. Together they have a daughter, Clover and Tabatha has a son Anthony.