"Our world is about to change
In each of us burns the fury of a warrior
Enter the realm
Blood Runs Cold"
In each of us burns the fury of a warrior
Enter the realm
Blood Runs Cold"
—The promo WCW aired in spring-summer 1996 to hype Glacier's debut.
Raymond M. Lloyd (born May 13, 1964 in Brunswick, Georgia) is an American martial artist, actor and professional wrestler from Brunswick, GA best known for his time in WCW as Glacier from 1996-1998. His gimmick was based on the character Sub-Zero from the Mortal Kombat series of video games as part of an angle called Blood Runs Cold, also involving Mortis, Wrath, manager James Vandenberg, and Glacier's only ally Ernest "The Cat" Miller. The angle is considered to be a flop, and has even been labeled a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment, as it did not really fit in with everything else that was going on in WCW at the time. He started his in-ring career as "Ray Lloyd" in the late 1980s and was a TV Jobber for WCW against such opponents as The Great Muta and the Skyscrapers (Sid Vicious and Dan Spivey). He also competed in the Japanese shoot-style promotion UWFi. He has also competed for CHIKARA, Pro Wrestling ZERO1, Dusty Rhodes' Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling and for several other independents, particularly in the Florida and Georgia areas, and appeared at All Elite Wrestling's Double or Nothing show. He is a 1x NWA World Tag Team Champion
with Jason Sugarman.
Tropes Run Cold:
- Arch-Enemy: Mortis, who apparently had some past history with Glacier and hated the guy. Glacier's long-running rivalry with Mortis was the center of the "Blood Runs Cold" angle, with Wrath and Ernest Miller tagging along. Mortis stealing Glacier's sacred helmet didn't help matters too.
- The Artifact: Glacier was basically WCW's last "cartoony" wrestler who happened to have the misfortune of debuting alongside the New World Order, which steered the company to a much more grounded style of writing and booking. Had he premiered a year earlier then he would have fit right in alongside the likes of Dungeon of Doom and the other over the top characters that littered WCW's roster.
- Awesome, but Impractical: His incredible entrance cost nearly half a million dollars to put together, including $35,000 just on the faux-armor he wore to the ring.
- Badass Family: In Real Life. His father, mother and twin brother all worked in law enforcement.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Rarely spoke in WCW, potentially due to the fact that his heavy Southern accent would clash with his gimmick.
- Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The WCW/nWo angle would stop while a bunch of Mortal Kombat gimmicks who rarely interacted with the rest of the roster came out and feuded over a helmet. WCW actually took potshots against the angle afterwards, including bringing Glacier back in 2001 as a Fake Ultimate Hero, making it In-Universe.
- Big "YES!": Received one when CHIKARA's Director of Fun Leonard F. Chikarason drew his name to be Los Ice Creams' teammate at CHIKARA King of Trios 2008, Night 2, March 1, 2008, for the match against Los Luchadores de Mexico (Incognito, El Pantera and Lince Dorado.) See the Heartwarming page.
- Captain Ersatz: For Sub-Zero.
- Cool Helmet: The feud with Mortis initially centered in part around a helmet Glacier had (kayfabe) won in a martial arts tournament.
- Cool Teacher: One of his trainees is Cody Rhodes.
- Dark Is Evil: Switched to a blue and black motif instead of a blue and white one after his heel turn.
- Defeating the Undefeatable: Had a long undefeated streak in 1996-1997. His first loss was at Bash at the Beach 1997 - Glacier teamed with Ernest Miller to take on Mortis and Wrath, and Mortis pinned Glacier after hitting a Cryonic Kick of his own. His first singles loss was a six minute match to Buff Bagwell in September 1997.
- Demoted to Extra: His push fell apart after Blood Runs Cold ended in late 1997.
- Early-Bird Cameo: He made a few appearances under his own name as a jobber in WCW in 1989.
- Evil Mentor:
- As "Coach" Buzz Stern to Luther Biggs, briefly in WCW in 1999.
- His relationship with Kaz Hiyashi was a variation. Glacier claimed to be a good mentor, but he never did any actual mentoring and spent his time shaking hands with the fans while Kaz was getting beaten up in the ring.
- Finishing Move:
- The Cryonic Kick (superkick), Ice Pick (Thumb to the throat)
- A Full Nelson as Buzz Stern.
- Genius Bruiser: Has a master's degree in education.
- I Know Karate: And Judo too.
- Interchangeable Asian Cultures: in his WCW Worldwide debut, against the Gambler, the announcers describe him as a blackbelt in one of the forms and many styles of Kung Fu he learned in Japan from Japanese masters. Kungfu/kanfū, of course come from Chinese, and in both English and Japanese, the word refers specifically to Chinese martial arts.
- Jerk Jock: During his very brief (about a month long) stint as Coach Buzz Stern.
- Parts Unknown: "The Shorinji Temple, Fukuoka, Japan." While Fukuoka, Japan is a real place, there is no Shorinji Temple there.
- Ring Oldies: He wrestled up until the end of 2019, making him 56 when he retired. In 2019 he appeared at young upstart All Elite Wrestling's Double or Nothing PPV in 2019, taking part in the Casino Battle Royalenote . His final match took place in Sunray Pro Wrestling (Orlando, FL) in December 2019. He reunited with Ernest Miller and Luther Biggs, teaming with them and King Tonga to defeat some local talentnote .
- Small Name, Big Ego: In-universe: During his final WCW run, he claimed he was a hero and would smile and shake hands and congratulate other faces and do everything except actually get in the ring and wrestle.
- Token Black Friend: When Ernest Miller made his debut in WCW, he didn't have much going for him gimmick wise other than being Glacier's friend and knowing karate.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: That prized helmet of Glacier's that Mortis, Wrath and Vandenburg stole? Forgotten about halfway through the angle.
- The Worf Effect: He did the job to Goldberg in one minute on the December 29, 1997 episode of Nitro. He'd already lost a couple other singles matches at that point, but this is the one that hammered home that Blood Runs Cold was over and there was a new undefeated phenom.
