Giovanni Vinci
Vinci in April 2018
Birth nameFabian Aichner
Born (1990-07-21) 21 July 1990
South Tyrol, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Adrian Severe
Fabian Aichner
Giovanni Vinci
Billed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1][2]
Billed weight220 lb (100 kg)[1][2]
Billed fromSouth Tyrol, Italy[1]
Trained byAlex Wright
Debut2011

Fabian Aichner[3] (born 21 July 1990) is an Italian professional wrestler. He is currently signed with WWE, where he performs on Raw brand under the ring name Giovanni Vinci. He is a member of Imperium. Aichner previously worked on the American independent circuit, including promotions such as Evolve, where he is a former Evolve Champion, as well as the European independent circuit under the ring name Adrian Severe.[4]

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2011–2017)

Aichner made his professional wrestling debut on 12 December 2011 for New European Championship Wrestling (NEW). In 2012, Aichner competed in the finals of the NEW World Heavyweight Championship tournament but ultimately did not win the tournament nor the championship. In 2013, he once again reached in the finals of a NEW tournament, this time competing in the Deadline tournament but he once again would not win the tournament; the same would happen in the Deadline tournament in 2014. After his return to the independent circuit following the Cruiserweight Classic, Aichner would win the NEW World Tag Team Title Tournament with Mexx.[5]

In 2014, Aichner defeated Chaos in the finals of the King of the North Tournament.[6] At the end of this year Cagematch ranked him No. 5 for the Euro-Match des Jahres Cagematch Year End Awards.[7]

In 2017, Aichner competed for the German Wrestling Federation (GWF) and the Belgian Flemish Wrestling Force (FWF).[8][9]

WWE (2016–present)

In June 2016, WWE announced Aichner as one of the 32 participants in the Cruiserweight Classic tournament.[10][11] He was selected to represent Italy during the tournament.[12][13] In the first round of the tournament, Aichner was eliminated by Gentleman Jack Gallagher.[14]

On 5 June 2017, it was announced that Aichner had signed a contract with WWE.[15] On June 22, Aichner performed at an NXT live event in a losing effort against Adrian Jaoude. It was later revealed that Aichner had gained almost 30 pounds of muscle since his appearance in the Cruiserweight Classic. He made his television debut on the September 27 episode of NXT, losing to Kassius Ohno. While being under contract with WWE, he made an appearance at Evolve 115 (which has WWE partnership), winning the Evolve Championship from Shane Strickland. At Evolve 116, he successfully defended the title against Kassius Ohno. However, he lost the title against Austin Theory at Evolve 117.

Late in December, Aichner would form a team with Marcel Barthel, where they would compete on both the NXT and NXT UK brands. They would later align themselves with Walter and Alexander Wolfe, forming the stable Imperium. On May 13, 2020, Barthel and Aichner defeated Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher (a substitute for Pete Dunne) to win the NXT Tag team Championship.[16] They would go on to successfully defend the titles against teams such as Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch, Breezango, and The Undisputed Era. On the August 26 episode of NXT, Imperium dropped the titles to Breezango ending their reign at 105 days.[17] They failed to regain the titles from them in a rematch on the September 16 episode of NXT. On the special October 26, 2021 edition of NXT, Halloween Havoc, Barthel and Aichner would defeat MSK for the titles, signaling their second tag title victory. They would successfully defend their titles on the December 5 WarGames show against Kyle O'Reilly and Von Wagner.

On April 2, 2022 at NXT Stand & Deliver, Aichner and Barthel would lose the titles back to MSK in a triple threat tag team match also involving The Creed Brothers, ending their reign at 158 days. Aichner's final appearance as a member of Imperium was on the April 5 episode of NXT, when he and Barthel faced The Creed brothers in a losing effort. Aichner walked out on Barthel, signaling the break up of the tag team. This was later proven true, as Imperium would debut on SmackDown without Aichner. On the May 24 episode of NXT, vignettes aired promoting the debut of Aichner repackaged as Giovanni Vinci.[18] He re-debuted on June 14 episode of NXT defeating Guru Raaj.[19] On the August 16 NXT Heatwave special, Vinci unsuccessfully challenged Carmelo Hayes for the NXT North American Championship.

On September 3, at Clash at the Castle 2022, Vinci appeared alongside Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser, with Kaiser announcing the reformation of Imperium.[20] Vinci and his Imperium teammates Gunther and Kaiser were drafted to Raw in the 2023 WWE Draft.[21][22]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Fabian Aichner". WWE.
  2. 1 2 "Fabian Aichner". CageMatch.
  3. ↑ "Fabian Aichner: Profile & Match Listing – Internet Wrestling Database (IWD)". www.profightdb.com.
  4. ↑ "WorldOfWrestling.it – Intervista a Fabian Aichner(aka Adrian Severe)". www.worldofwrestling.it. Archived from the original on 2017-03-16. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  5. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "NEW World Tag Team Title Tournament « Tournaments Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  6. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "King Of The North Tournament « Tournaments Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  7. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Awards « Adrian Severe « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2017-04-06.
  8. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Career « Adrian Severe « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  9. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Matches « Adrian Severe « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  10. ↑ "Wie wird ein Pfalzner Bursche zum Wrestling-Star, Fabian Aichner?". www.sportnews.bz. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  11. ↑ "Fabian Aichner – VoxCatch". VoxCatch. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  12. ↑ "Fabian Aichner: Profile & Match Listing – Internet Wrestling Database (IWD)". www.profightdb.com. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  13. ↑ "WWE Cruiserweight Classic 2016, intervista esclusiva a Fabian Aichner: un italiano sul ring dei wrestler – UrbanPost". UrbanPost (in Italian). 2016-07-11. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  14. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Fabian Aichner vs. Jack Gallagher « Matchguide « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  15. ↑ "Thea Trinidad, Gunner, More Reportedly Sign With WWE". www.411Mania.com. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
  16. ↑ "Wwe Nxt Report: Tag Title Match, Takeover Is Coming In June, The Garganos Invite You To Join Them At Dinner, The Tournament Continues, And More". PWInsider.com. 2020-05-13. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  17. ↑ Moore, John (August 26, 2020). "8/26 NXT TV results: Moore's review of new NXT Champion Karrion Kross and Scarlett, Tommaso Ciampa returns, Santos Escobar vs. Isaiah "Swerve" Scott for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel vs. Tyler Breeze and Fandango for the NXT Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Identity of New NXT Character Revealed". 5 June 2022.
  19. ↑ "The Former Fabian Aichner Debuts as Giovanni Vinci on WWE NXT, Vinci on What He's Bringing to NXT, More". 15 June 2022.
  20. ↑ "WWE Clash at the Castle Results – 9/3/22 (Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre)". WrestleView. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  21. ↑ Barnett, Jake (28 April 2023). "4/28 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Barnett's review of the WWE Draft night one, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs. Jimmy and Jey Uso for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles, Zelina Vega vs. Sonya Deville". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  22. ↑ Bath, Dave (April 28, 2023). "WWE SmackDown live results: The WWE Draft begins". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
  23. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "cOw Interstate Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  24. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Tournaments « Dansk Pro Wrestling (DPW) « Promotions Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  25. ↑ "EVOLVE 114 Results (10/28/18): NXT Reigns Supreme, JD Drake Wins WWN Championship, Dan Matha Appears". FIGHTFUL. 2018-10-28. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
  26. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "NEW Hardcore Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  27. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "NEW World Heavyweight Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  28. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "NEW World Tag Team Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  29. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "POW Tag Team Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  30. ↑ "NXT Tag Team Championship". WWE. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
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