Tony D'Angelo

Last updated
Tony D'Angelo
Birth nameJoseph Ariola
Born (1995-06-09) June 9, 1995 (age 28)
Oak Park, Illinois, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Tony D'Angelo
Joey Ariola [1]
Billed height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Billed weight250 lb (110 kg)
Billed from Chicago, Illinois
Trained by WWE Performance Center
Debut2019 [2] [3]

Joseph Ariola (born June 9, 1995) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Tony D'Angelo. Performing with a mafia gimmick, he is the leader of The D'Angelo Family stable as "The Don of NXT". He is a former two-time NXT Tag Team Champion.

Contents

Early life and education

Before becoming a professional wrestler, Ariola was a collegiate wrestler for the University of Buffalo, from which he graduated in 2018.

Professional wrestling career

WWE (2021–present)

On the October 5, 2021 episode of NXT, Ariola made his WWE debut under the ring name Tony D'Angelo, with the heel gimmick of an Italian-American mobster, defeating Malik Blade in a few minutes. [4] On December 5, at NXT WarGames, Team 2.0 (D'Angelo, Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes and Grayson Waller) defeated Team Black & Gold (Johnny Gargano, LA Knight, Pete Dunne and Tommaso Ciampa) in a WarGames match. [5]

After a series of victories against Ru Feng, Dexter Lumis and Andre Chase, D'Angelo suffered his first loss against Dunne on the December 21 episode of NXT 2.0, then brutally attacked Dunne with a crowbar. As a result of the feud that ensued, D'Angelo defeated Dunne in a Crowbar On a Pole match at the January 11, 2022 episode of NXT 2.0. On the January 25 episode of NXT 2.0, D'Angelo lost to Cameron Grimes due to interference from Dunne, failing to challenge him for the NXT North American Championship. On the February 15 episode of NXT Vengeance Day, D'Angelo lost to Dunne in a Weaponized Steel Cage match. [6] On April 2, at NXT Stand & Deliver, D'Angelo defeated Tommaso Ciampa in the latter's final match in NXT. [7] After his victory over Ciampa, D'Angelo called himself "The Don of NXT".

On June 4, at NXT In Your House, D'Angelo and his henchmen Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and Troy "Two Dimes" Donovan defeated Legado del Fantasma and, as per the stipulation, this stable had to join The D'Angelo Family. [8] On the June 21 episode of NXT 2.0, D'Angelo was defeated by Carmelo Hayes, missing out on an opportunity to capture the NXT North American Championship, due to Santos Escobar interfering. [9] On the August 2 episode of NXT 2.0, D'Angelo and Lorenzo faced The Creed Brothers for the NXT Tag Team Championship but were defeated due to Escobar's interference. [10] On the August 16 special episode NXT Heatwave, D'Angelo defeated Escobar in a Street Fight and, as per the stipulation, Legado del Fantasma had to remain linked to The D'Angelo Family, while Escobar had to leave NXT (kayfabe). [11]

On the September 27 episode of NXT, D'Angelo faced Wes Lee to qualify for a ladder match for the vacant NXT North American Championship at NXT Halloween Havoc but was defeated via referee decision. [12] On the December 27 episode of NXT, D'Angelo then faced Lee for the NXT North American Championship but, due to interference from Dijak, he lost the match. [13] On January 10, 2023, D'Angelo turned face and challenged Dijak to a match at NXT: New Year's Evil, where he would lose, [14] but would defeat him at Roadblock in a Jailhouse Street Fight. At NXT Stand & Deliver, D'Angelo and Stacks failed to win the NXT Tag Team Championship in a triple threat match. The D'Angelo Family had a brief feud with Pretty Deadly where they lost to them on the April 4 episode of NXT but defeated them three weeks later at NXT Spring Breakin' in a trunk match. At NXT: The Great American Bash, D'Angelo and Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo defeated Gallus to win the NXT Tag Team Championship. This marks the first championship in his wrestling career. At NXT: Halloween Havoc, D'Angelo and Stacks lost the titles to Chase University (Andre Chase and Duke Hudson), ending their first reign at 86 days, [15] but would later defeat Chase and Hudson in a rematch on the November 14 edition of NXT to become two-time NXT Tag Team Champions. [16] On the February 13, 2024 episode of NXT, D'Angelo and Stacks lost the titles to the 2024 men's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic winners Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin, ending their second reign at 91 days. [17]

On the February 27 episode of NXT , D'Angelo interrupted the contract signing between Carmelo Hayes and NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov. D'Angelo said that he is tired that the NXT Championship is being centered around Dragunov, Hayes and Williams, and that he was willing to earn a title shot at the NXT Championship. Dragunov accepted D'Angelo's proposal and NXT General Manager Ava set a match between Hayes and D'Angelo at NXT: Roadblock to determine the #1 contender to face Dragunov for the NXT Championship at NXT Stand & Deliver. [18] At NXT: Roadblock, D'Angelo introduced Luca Crusifino as the "consigliere" of The D'Angelo Family and went on to defeat Hayes after using Williams' entrance music to distract Hayes. [19] At the event on April 6 Stand & Deliver, D'Angelo failed to defeat Dragunov for the title. [20]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

  1. ↑ "Joey Ariola" . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Joey Ariola" . Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Joey Ariola First Match". cagematch. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  4. ↑ Zak, Brad (5 October 2021). "WWE NXT results: Oct. 5, 2021".
  5. ↑ Moore, John (December 5, 2021). "NXT WarGames results: Moore's live review of two WarGames matches, Roderick Strong vs. Joe Gacy for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel vs. Kyle O'Reilly and Von Wagner for the NXT Tag Titles, Cameron Grimes vs. Duke Hudson in a hair vs. hair match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  6. ↑ Moore, John (February 15, 2022). "2/15 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Bron Breakker vs. Santos Escobar for the NXT Title, Carmelo Hayes vs. Cameron Grimes for the NXT North American Title, Gigi Dolan and Jacy Jayne vs. Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta for the NXT Women's Tag Titles, MSK vs. The Creeds in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals, Pete Dunne vs. Tony D'Angelo in a weaponized cage match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  7. ↑ Moore, John (April 2, 2022). "NXT Stand & Deliver results: Moore's live review of Dolph Ziggler vs. Bron Breakker for the NXT Title, Mandy Rose vs. Cora Jade vs. Io Shirai vs. Kay Lee Ray for the NXT Women's Title, Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel vs. MSK vs. The Creed Brothers for the NXT Tag Titles, the NXT North American Title ladder match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  8. ↑ Moore, John (June 4, 2022). "NXT In Your House results: Moore's live review of Bron Breakker vs. Joe Gacy for the NXT Title, Mandy Rose vs. Wendy Choo for the NXT Women's Title, Pretty Deadly vs. The Creed Brothers for the NXT Tag Titles, Cameron Grimes vs. Carmelo Hayes for the NXT North American Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  9. ↑ Powell, Jason (June 21, 2022). "6/21 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Carmelo Hayes vs. Tony D'Angelo for the NXT North American Championship, Grayson Waller vs. Solo Sikoa, Von Wagner vs. Brooks Jensen with their allies barred from ringside, Alba Fyre vs. Lash Legend, Roderick Strong and Damon Kemp in action". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  10. ↑ Wells, Kelly (August 2, 2022). "7/12 NXT 2.0 REPORT: Wells's report on Creeds vs. D'Angelo & Stacks, Four-Way for Vacant Women's Tag Titles, Sikoa vs. Wagner in a Falls Count Anywhere match, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  11. ↑ Moore, John (August 16, 2022). "8/16 NXT 2.0 Heatwave results: Moore's review of Bron Breakker vs. JD McDonagh for the NXT Title, Mandy Rose vs. Zoey Stark for the NXT Women's Title, Carmelo Hayes vs. Giovanni Vinci for the NXT North American Title, Tony D'Angelo vs Santos Escobar in a Street Fight, Cora Jade vs. Roxanne Perez". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Full NXT Halloween Havoc 2022 results: Oct. 22, 2022". WWE . Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  13. ↑ "NXT Results, November 22 2022". 27 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  14. ↑ Hazelwood, Bruce Lee (January 10, 2023). "1/10 NXT NEW YEAR'S EVIL REPORT: Hazelwood's live report on Breakker vs. Waller for title, #1 contender's battle royal, Pretty Deadly in the gauntlet, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  15. ↑ Moore, John (October 24, 2023). "NXT TV results (10/24): Moore's review of Becky Lynch vs. Lyra Valkyria for the NXT Women's Title, Tony D'Angelo and Stacks vs. Andre Chase and Duke Hudson for the NXT Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  16. ↑ Elizabeth, Claire (November 14, 2023). "Iron Survivor Qualifiers, Alpha Academy". Cageside Seats. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  17. ↑ Moore, John (February 13, 2024). "NXT TV results (2/13): Moore's review of Tony D'Angelo and Channing Lorenzo vs. Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin for the NXT Tag Titles, Von Wagner and Mr. Stone vs. Noam Dar and Oro Mensah". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
  18. ↑ Moore, John (February 27, 2024). "NXT TV results (2/27): Moore's review of Ilja Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes meeting, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade, Von Wagner vs. Lexis King, Kiana James vs. Kelani Jordan". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  19. ↑ Powell, Jason (March 5, 2024). "NXT TV results (3/5): Moore's review of NXT Roadblock with Carmelo Hayes vs. Tony D'Angelo for a shot at the NXT Title, Kabuki Warriors vs. Lyra Valkyria and Tatum Paxley for the WWE Women's Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  20. ↑ Powell, Jason (April 6, 2024). "NXT Stand & Deliver results: Moore's live review of Trick Williams vs. Carmelo Hayes, Ilja Dragunov vs. Tony D'Angelo for the NXT Title, Lyra Valkyria vs. Roxanne Perez for the NXT Women's Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Joey Ariola". cagematch. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  22. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2022". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  23. ↑ Ross, Patrick (September 14, 2015). "Full 2022 PWI 500 list revealed". AIPT Comics. Archived from the original on September 15, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
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