Tony D'Angelo | |
---|---|
Birth name | Joseph Ariola |
Born | Oak Park, Illinois, U.S. | June 9, 1995
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Tony D'Angelo Joey Ariola [1] |
Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
Billed weight | 250 lb (110 kg) |
Billed from | Chicago, Illinois |
Trained by | WWE Performance Center |
Debut | 2019 [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.
Before becoming a professional wrestler, Ariola was a collegiate wrestler for the University of Buffalo, from which he graduated in 2018.
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". He went on to form The D'Angelo Family with Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and Troy "Two Dimes" Donovan as new members.
On June 4 at NXT In Your House, The D'Angelo Family defeated Legado del Fantasma. As per the stipulation, Legado del Fantasma had to join The D'Angelo Family. [8] On June 11, Two Dimes was released by WWE. [9] 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. [10] On the August 2 episode of NXT 2.0, D'Angelo and Stacks faced The Creed Brothers for the NXT Tag Team Championship but were defeated due to Escobar's interference. [11] 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 (kayfabe) leave NXT. [12]
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. [13] 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. [14] On January 10, 2023, D'Angelo turned face and challenged Dijak to a match at NXT: New Year's Evil, where he would lose, [15] but would defeat him at NXT: 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 Spring Breakin' in a trunk match. At NXT: The Great American Bash, D'Angelo and Stacks 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, [16] 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. [17] 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. [18]
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. [19] 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. [20] At NXT Stand & Deliver on April 6, D'Angelo failed to defeat Dragunov for the title. [21] On the April 16 episode of NXT, D'Angelo revealed that his Family were hired by No Quarter Catch Crew (NQCC; Charlie Dempsey, Damon Kemp, and Myles Borne) to (kayfabe) eliminate their leader Drew Gulak. D'Angelo demanded payment for the job but NQCC refused, causing a brawl between the two factions [22] and resulting in a six-man tag team match between the two factions at Week 1 of Spring Breakin' , which was won by The D'Angelo Family. [23]
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Dave Meltzer is reporting that Donovan was released from the company yesterday due to a policy issue. "Troy 'Two Dimes' Donovan of the D'Angelo family was let go yesterday [June 11]," Meltzer reports. "This wasn't a budget or creative decision, but a policy issue and he was told he may be brought back in a year."