Montez Ford | |
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![]() Ford in April 2018 | |
Birth name | Kenneth Crawford [1] |
Born | Chicago, Illinois, United States [1] | May 31, 1990
Spouse(s) | |
Children | 2 |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Kenneth Crawford [2] Montez Ford [3] |
Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) [3] |
Billed weight | 232 lb (105 kg) [3] |
Billed from | Chicago, Illinois [3] |
Trained by | WWE Performance Center [2] |
Debut | September 26, 2015 |
Military service | |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service | ![]() ![]() |
Years of service | 4 years |
Kenneth Crawford [4] [1] (born May 31, 1990) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand where he is one-half of the WWE Tag Team Champions and one-half of The Street Profits under the ring name Montez Ford.
Kenneth Crawford was born on May 31, 1990 in Chicago, Illinois. [1] He was raised by a single mother in Chicago's South Side, and later in Anson County, North Carolina. [5] He was an outstanding track athlete at high school Crawford excelled as track star and broke records. He then joined the United States Marine Corps and accumulated a perfect 300 score in the Marines physical fitness test. He subsequently spent four years serving in the United States Marine Corps and was working as a contractor for the United States Navy. [1]
Despite having not wrestled on the independent wrestling circuit, Crawford signed a contract with WWE in 2015. On April 13, 2015, Crawford joined WWE, began training at the WWE Performance Center. [4] Crawford made his in-ring debut during a battle royal match at a NXT house show on September 26. [6]
On the March 16, 2016 episode of NXT , he made his television debut, teaming with Angelo Dawkins in a loss to The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley). [7] However the pairing was initially a one-off; Crawford continued to wrestle in tag-teams with other partners in his first year as well as venturing out into singles competition. Three weeks later Crawford made his singles debut, defeating Christopher Girard at a house show in Crystal River, FL on February 18th. His first singles loss came on March 11th when he was defeated by Tye Dillinger in Palatka, FL. [8] In May, Crawford suffered an injury that forced him to stay out of the picture for three months. [9] He returned to television on the August 31 episode of NXT, losing to Steve Cutler. [10]
The rookie was then paired with fellow NXT performer Gary Gordon. The team of Dawkins and Crawford debuted on the March 16, 2016 episode of NXT (taped on January 27), where they lost to The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley); this marked Crawford's in-ring television debut. [11] . However the pairing was initially a one-off; Crawford continued to wrestle in tag-teams with other partners in his first year as well as venturing out into singles competition. Three weeks later Crawford made his singles debut, defeating Christopher Girard at a house show in Crystal River, FL on February 18th. His first singles loss came on March 11th when he was defeated by Tye Dillinger in Palatka, FL. [12] After teaming with Patrick Clark numerous times in the spring, Crawford wrestled for his first championship on March 26, 2016, in a losing effort against NXT Tag-Team Champions The Revival in Orland, FL. That spring and summer he would face a number of opponents on the NXT house show circuit, including Noah Potjes and Steve Cutler.
On September 8, 2016 in another house show in Largo, FL he teamed again with Gordon, who had now been renamed Angelo Dawkins . This would unofficially begin the partnership that would continue onward onto the main roster. After losing to Alexander Wolfe & Sawyer Fulton at the event, the duo would go on to face numerous other teams on house shows that fall including The Authors of Pain, Heavy Machinery, and Riddick Moss & Tino Sabbatelli. At a December 16, 2016 house show in Citrus Springs, FL, Crawford was given the new ring name of Montez Ford.
On the July 12, 2017 episode of NXT, Crawford, now renamed Montez Ford, and Angelo Dawkins started appearing in weekly vignettes as The Street Profits. [13] [14] On the August 9 episode of NXT, they made their return by defeating The Metro Brothers. [15] The Street Profits would go on a winning streak, defeating the likes of The Ealy Brothers, Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli, and local competitors. [16] [17] On the January 17, 2018 episode of NXT, The Street Profits suffered their first loss by The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) to become number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championship. [18] [19] Later on, they entered the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, where they would defeat Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic and Tucker Knight) in the first round, but was eliminated by The Authors of Pain in the semifinals. [20] [21] The Street Profits once again entered the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic in 2019, but were defeated by Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) in the first round. [22]
On the May 1, 2019 episode of NXT, The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) vacated the NXT Tag Team Championship and were challenged by The Street Profits, but the match ended in disqualification after The Forgotten Sons (Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler), and Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch got involved. [23] A four-way tag team ladder match for the NXT Tag Team Championship was later scheduled for NXT TakeOver: XXV, where they won the NXT Tag Team Championship for the first time. [24] [25] [26] They retained their title against The Forgotten Sons on the June 26 episode of NXT and against Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch on the July 10 episode of NXT, and against The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) at NXT TakeOver: Toronto. [27] [28] On the August 28 episode of NXT, they lost their title to The Undisputed Era, ending their reign at 88 days. [29] On the October 2 episode of NXT, they failed to regain the championship from The Undisputed Era. [30]
Starting on July 1 episode of Raw , The Street Profits started appearing on the show and doing various backstage segments, a move that was said to be done in order to appeal to younger audiences. [31] As part of the WWE draft, The Street Profits were drafted to the Raw brand, officially bringing them to main roster. [32] On the October 21 episode of Raw, The Street Profits defeated The O.C. (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) in their debut match. [33] At Survivor Series, The Street Profits competed in a 10-team Interbrand Tag Team Battle Royal, where they were the last team eliminated by the eventual winners Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. [34] At Starrcade, with Ric Flair in their corner, The Street Profits would defeat Gallows and Anderson. [35]
On the February 17, 2020 episode of Raw, after Kevin Owens and The Viking Raiders defeated Murphy and AOP via disqualification due to Seth Rollins' interference, The Street Profits came out and aided Owens and The Viking Raiders by attacking Murphy and AOP while Rollins retreated. [36] Later, The Street Profits were scheduled to challenge Rollins and Murphy for the Raw Tag Team Championship at Super ShowDown, [37] where they would be unsuccessful. [38] On the March 2 episode of Raw, The Street Profits were given a Last Chance match, where, with the help of Owens, they would go on to win the Raw Tag Team Championship. [39] They successfully retained their title against Rollins and Murphy at Elimination Chamber [40] and against Angel Garza and Austin Theory at WrestleMania 36. [41] At Backlash, The Street Profits were set to face The Viking Raiders, but the match did not start due to them brawling outside the building, being accosted by Akira Tozawa and a group of ninjas, and ending up in a dumpster. [42] On the June 22 episode of Raw, The Street Profits successfully defended their titles against The Viking Raiders. [43]
As part of the 2020 Draft in October, Dawkins and Ford were drafted to the SmackDown brand. [44] They would then trade the Raw Tag Team Championship to The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) - who had just been drafted to the Raw brand - in exchange for the latter team's SmackDown Tag Team Championship. [45] This would make the Street Profits the second team to acquire the WWE Tag Team Triple Crown. [46] [47]
Upon moving to SmackDown, they began a feud with the team of Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. On the December 18 episode of SmackDown, the Street Profits successfully defended the titles against Roode and Ziggler. On the January 8, 2021 episode of SmackDown, Ziggler and Roode defeated the Street Profits to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, ending their reign at a recorded 88 days. On the April 1 episode of SmackDown, they failed to regain the titles in a fatal four-way match also involving The Mysterios and Chad Gable and Otis. On the June 11 episode of SmackDown, Ford suffered a partial rib fracture from Otis; the injury put Ford out of action for months. In September, The Street Profits began a feud with SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos, leading to a match between the two teams at Extreme Rules on September 26, in which The Usos retained their titles. On the October 15 episode of SmackDown, The Street Profits failed to win the titles against the Usos in a Street Fight.
During the 2021 WWE Draft Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins as The Street Profits we're traded back to Raw.
While back on Raw during year 2023 after winning a Elimination Chamber qualifying match Montez got an opportunity to compete in a 6-man Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE United States Championship at the 2023 Elimination Chamber [48] pay-per-view, but was not successful. [49] [50]
During the 2023 Elimination Chamber Pay-per-view U.S. Championship match Montez Ford became injured and after the match it was announced that Montez Ford suffered an injury. [51]
On the second night of WrestleMania 38, on April 3, they once again failed to win the titles in a triple threat match also involving Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis). [52] At Money in the Bank on July 2, The Street Profits failed to win the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship from The Usos, [53] as well as in a rematch at SummerSlam on July 30 with Jeff Jarrett as the special guest referee. [54] At Clash at the Castle on September 3, The Street Profits teamed with Madcap Moss to defeat Alpha Academy and Austin Theory during the pre-show. [55]
The Street Profits made their on-air return to the Smackdown brand on April 28, 2023, defeating Braun Strowman & Ricochet as well as the LWO (Cruz del Toro) & Joaquin Wilde in a triple threat match. They followed this a week later with a victory over Imperium (Giovanni Vinci & Ludwig Kaiser), then defeated LA Knight & Rick Boogs on May 19th. On June 2, 2023 Ford wrestled LA Knight in a Money in the Bank qualifying match on Smackdown but was defeated. [56]
On the July 14 episode of SmackDown, a returning Bobby Lashley appeared in a backstage segment with The Street Profits to recruit them to form an alliance. [57] On the August 4 episode of SmackDown, The Street Profits interrupted a tag team match between Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson and The Brawling Brutes' Butch and Ridge Holland by taking out the participants in the match, turning heel for the first time on the main roster. [58] The Street Profits then stood on the ramp with Lashley to celebrate the beatdown. [59] [60] The Street Profits and Lashley teamed up for a match for the first time to face the Latino World Order (LWO) in a six-man tag team match at Fastlane. A day before the event on SmackDown, the trio took out the LWO's Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde to leave the LWO a man short for the match. At the event, a returning Carlito teamed up with Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar for the LWO to win the match. [61] [62] On the November 24 episode of SmackDown, The Street Profits failed to win the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship from The Judgment Day (Finn Bálor and Damian Priest) after interference from Rhea Ripley, turning face once again. [63] The Street Profits, Lashley and B-Fab would call themselves as The Pride. At SmackDown: New Year's Revolution, The Street Profits as part of The Pride cemented their face turn after Lashley was attacked by The Final Testament (Karrion Kross and the returning Authors of Pain), and starting a feud in the process. [64]
On Night 2 of WrestleMania XL on April 7, The Pride defeated The Final Testament in a Philadelphia Street Fight, thus ending the feud. [65] On the April 19 episode of SmackDown, Street Profits won a fatal-four way tag team match to face A-Town Down Under (Austin Theory and Grayson Waller) for the newly renamed WWE Tag Team Championship but they failed to win the titles two weeks later. [66] [67] Lashley was inserted into the King of the Ring tournament but was later pulled out due to injury and was replaced by Dawkins. On the May 10 episode of SmackDown, Dawkins lost the first round qualifiers to The Bloodline's Tama Tonga. [68] On August 16, The Pride quietly disbanded due to Lashley leaving WWE, although Street Profits and B-Fab would continue their alliance without any mention of The Pride as a stable. [69]
On the November 15 episode of SmackDown, Street Profits challenged Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but the match ended in a no contest after #DIY's Tommaso Ciampa attacked both teams, after the match, Angelo Dawkins attacked Alex Shelly leaving alongside Montez Ford, both of them teasing a heel turn in the process. [70] Over the next few weeks, Motor City Machine Guns entered into a feud with #DIY (Ciampa and Johnny Gargano), and at the Royal Rumble in February, the Street Profits (without B-Fab) cost Motor City Machine Guns their opportunity at regaining the titles by attacking them and allowing #DIY to retain the titles, turning heel in the process. They also attacked DIY during their celebration after the match. [71] On the February 7, 2025 episode of SmackDown, during an interview, The Street Profits made a statement explaining their actions at the Royal Rumble and putting the entire SmackDown Tag Team division on notice saying that they are after gold. [72] On the February 21, 2025 episode of SmackDown! The Street Profits interfered with a WWE Tag Team Title match between #DIY and Pretty Deadly having it end in a no contest, The Motor City Machine Guns also came down to prevent the attack but to no avail as they were also dominated by The Street Profits. [73]
On the March 14 episode of SmackDown, they defeated #DIY to win the WWE Tag Team Championship for the second time. [74] [75]
On October 28, 2018, The Street Profits made their first appearance at Evolve 114, winning the Evolve Tag Team Championship by defeating The Doom Patrol. [76] [77] They would successfully defend the titles against the likes of The WorkHorsemen, [78] AR Fox and Leon Ruff, [79] Austin Theory and Harlem Bravado, [80] and The Skulk. [81] At Evolve 123, they lost the titles to The Unwanted. [82] At Evolve 124, on March 16, 2019, they made their final Evolve appearance, teaming with Velveteen Dream to defeat The Unwanted in a six-man tag team match. [83]
On February 2, 2024 Montez Ford dropped his first Music Album by the name of God is Good with Top Dolla being featured on one track of the album. The album also made ITunes as well. [84] [85]
Also on February 22, 2022 his first mixtape "LMTYO" after releasing his first single "Jingle it Babe" [86] [87] and it was rumored that he was gonna drop his first album "SYAD" in March of 2023 but the album somehow never released. [88]
On June 9, 2017, it was announced that he had gotten engaged to Bianca Blair, also a professional wrestler. [96] The couple married on June 23, 2018. [97] He also has 2 children from his previous relationships. [5]
Television | |||
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Year | Title | Role | Notes |
2024–present | Love & WWE: Bianca & Montez | Himself | Main cast |
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