Trick Williams | |
---|---|
Birth name | Matrick Mondre Belton [1] [2] |
Born | [1] Columbia, South Carolina, U.S. [1] | May 26, 1994
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Trick Williams [3] |
Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) [3] |
Billed weight | 240 lb (109 kg) [3] |
Billed from | Columbia, South Carolina [3] |
Trained by | Combat Zone Wrestling Academy [4] WWE Performance Center [5] |
Debut | October 5, 2021 [5] |
Matrick Mondre Belton (born May 26, 1994) is an American professional wrestler and former football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Trick Williams. He is a former one-time NXT North American Champion and the winner of the 2023 Men's Iron Survivor Challenge.
Belton played college football for the Hampton Pirates in 2013 before transferring to play for the South Carolina Gamecocks from 2014 to 2016. He caught 11 passes for 121 yards during his college career, all of which came in 2015. [6] He went undrafted in 2017 and spent time as an assistant coach and student-teacher intern at Airport High School in West Columbia, South Carolina in the fall of 2017. He then played in The Spring League in 2018 and attended the Philadelphia Eagles rookie minicamp on a tryout basis in May 2018. [7]
On February 24, 2021, Belton signed a developmental contract with WWE and was assigned to the WWE Performance Center and subsequently the NXT brand. [2] Later that year, he made his first appearance on the September 14 episode of NXT under the ring name Trick Williams as an ally of Carmelo Hayes, attacking Duke Hudson before his match, establishing himself as a heel and forming the Trick Melo Gang. [8] Williams made his in-ring debut on the October 5 episode of NXT, teaming with Hayes in a fatal four-way elimination tag team match for the NXT Tag Team Championship, which was won by MSK (Nash Carter and Wes Lee). [9] In 2022, Williams feuded with Wes Lee, defeating Lee at The Great American Bash on July 5, but lost to him in a rounds match on the August 9 episode of NXT. [10] [11]
Williams and Hayes turned face on the April 4, 2023 episode of NXT after Bron Breakker turned heel by attacking them. [12] On the August 1 episode of NXT, Williams told Hayes that they needed to part ways so he could achieve his own accomplishments, amicably breaking up the Trick Melo Gang. [13] At Heatwave on August 22, Williams lost to Ilja Dragunov. [14] On the September 26 episode of NXT, Williams became the number one contender to the NXT North American Championship by defeating Axiom, Dragon Lee and Tyler Bate in a fatal four-way match. [15] Four days later at NXT No Mercy, Williams defeated "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio to win the title. [16] Two days later, Williams made his debut appearance on Raw as the new NXT North American Champion. [17] However, on the October 3 episode of NXT, Williams lost the title back to Mysterio after interference from Mysterio's Judgment Day stablemates, ending his reign at three days and marking it the shortest reign in the title's history. [18] Williams made his Main Event debut on the October 16 taping in a losing effort against Chad Gable. [19]
On the October 17 episode of NXT, Williams was slotted into the triple threat match between Hayes, Dijak and Baron Corbin to make it a fatal four-way match for a NXT Championship opportunity against Dragunov at NXT: Halloween Havoc, causing a rift between Williams and Hayes. Before the match started, Williams was found attacked backstage and taken to a hospital, then Hayes defeated Dijak and Corbin for the title opportunity. [20] At Night 2 of Halloween Havoc on October 31, Williams returned and cost Hayes his NXT Championship match. [21] On the November 14 episode of NXT, he defeated Joe Coffey to qualify for the Iron Survivor Challenge at NXT Deadline. [22] At the event on December 9, Williams won the men's Iron Survivor Challenge to earn an NXT Championship match against Dragunov at NXT: New Year's Evil on January 2, 2024. [23] That day, it was announced that Dragunov was not medically cleared to wrestle. Instead, Hayes put Williams in a match against Grayson Waller with his Iron Survivor Challenge title match on the line, which he won after interference from Kevin Owens. [24] On the January 16 episode of NXT, Dragunov returned from injury and informed Williams that their title match would take place at NXT Vengeance Day. At the same time, Williams and Hayes defeated Edris Enofé and Malik Blade in the first round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. [25] Williams made his SmackDown debut on January 26, saving Hayes from a beatdown by A-Town Down Under (Waller and Austin Theory). [26] On the January 30 episode of NXT, Williams and Hayes defeated Latino World Order's Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro to advance to the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. [27]
At NXT Vengeance Day on February 4, Williams and Hayes lost to Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker in the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Later that night, Williams failed to win the NXT Championship from Dragunov. After the match, Hayes attacked Williams with a steel chair, ending their partnership. [28] On the following episode of NXT, Hayes revealed that he was the one who attacked Williams back in October 2023. [29] At NXT: Roadblock on March 5, Williams' entrance music was used by The Family's Tony D'Angelo to distract Hayes during their match to determine the #1 contender for the NXT Championship at NXT Stand & Deliver. After D'Angelo defeated Hayes, Williams made his return and attacked Hayes. [30] The following week on NXT, Williams challenged Hayes to a match at NXT Stand & Deliver, which was made official a few days later. [31] [32] Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels later announced that the match will be the main event, making Hayes and Williams the first two black men to main event NXT Stand & Deliver and a NXT PLE, and the first two black men to main event a PLE since The Rock and Booker T at SummerSlam in 2001. [33] [34] Williams went on to defeat Hayes at the event on April 6. [35] On the following episode of NXT, Williams called out Dragunov to challenge him for the NXT Championship. Dragunov agreed to a title match at Spring Breakin' on the condition that Williams leave NXT if he lose, which Williams accepted. [36] In a NXT Stand & Deliver rematch on the April 16 episode of NXT, Williams again defeated Hayes in a steel cage match despite interference from Hayes' security team. [37]
Belton is currently in a relationship with professional wrestler Anriel Howard, who also competes in WWE as part of the NXT brand under the ring name Lash Legend.[ citation needed ]
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