Trick Williams
Birth nameMatrick Mondre Belton[1][2]
Born (1994-05-26) May 26, 1994[1]
Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Trick Williams[3]
Billed height6 ft 4 in (193 cm)[3]
Billed weight240 lb (109 kg)[3]
Billed fromColumbia, South Carolina[3]
Trained byCombat Zone Wrestling Academy[4]
WWE Performance Center[4]
DebutOctober 5, 2021[4]

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.

Football career

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.[5] 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.[6]

Professional wrestling career

WWE (2021–present)

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 where he and Hayes attacked Duke Hudson before his match, establishing himself as a heel and forming the Trick Melo Gang.[7] 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, where they lost to MSK (Nash Carter and Wes Lee).[8]

When Hayes turned face in April 2023, this effectively turned Williams face as well.[9] On the August 1, 2023, 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.[10] 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[11] and went on to defeat "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio for the title at NXT No Mercy.[12] Two days later, Williams made his debut appearance on Raw as the new NXT North American Champion.[13] However, on the October 3 episode of NXT, Williams lost the title back to Mysterio after interference from Mysterio's The Judgment Day stablemates, ending his reign at three days and marking it the shortest reign in the title's history.[14]

Williams made his Main Event debut on the October 16 taping in a match against Chad Gable, which he lost.[15] 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 Ilja Dragunov at NXT: Halloween Havoc. This announcement caused a rift between Williams and Hayes. Before the match started, Williams was found attacked backstage and had to be taken to a hospital. Hayes went on to defeat Dijak and Corbin for the title opportunity.[16] At NXT: Halloween Havoc Night 2, Williams returned during the NXT Championship match and cost Hayes the title. Williams then stared Hayes down after the match.[17] On the November 14 episode of NXT, Williams defeated Joe Coffey to qualify for the Iron Survivor Challenge at NXT Deadline.[18] At NXT Deadline 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.[19][20] At NXT: New Year's Evil on January 2, 2024, it was announced that Dragunov was not medically cleared to wrestle. Williams instead was put in a match to face Grayson Waller with his Iron Survivor Challenge title match on the line by Hayes. Williams went on to defeat Waller after interference from Kevin Owens.[21] On the January 16 episode of NXT, Dragunov returned from his injury and informed Williams that their title match will 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.[22]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Matrick Belton - University of South Carolina Athletics". WWE. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Largest recruit class in history reports to WWE Performance Center". WWE. February 24, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Trick Williams, WWE.com". WWE. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "Trick Williams, cagematch.net". cagematch.net. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Matrick Belton". Footballdb.com. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  6. ↑ Kendall, Josh (May 3, 2018). "Matrick Belton and his NFL tryout: 'Sit down, this is kind of a wild story'". The State. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
  7. ↑ Moore, John (September 14, 2021). "9/14 NXT TV results: Moore's review of the NXT 2.0 premiere with Tommaso Ciampa vs. Kyle O'Reilly vs. LA Knight vs. Pete Dunne for the vacant NXT Championship, Indi Hartwell and Dexter Lumis wedding, Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro vs. Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne, B-Fab's in-ring debut". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  8. ↑ "NXT 2.0 Quick Results and Highlights – 10/5/21 (Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Title Match)". wrestleview.com. October 6, 2021.
  9. ↑ Tessier, Colin (December 11, 2023). "Bron Breakker Turns On Carmelo Hayes On 4/4 WWE NXT". Fightful. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  10. ↑ Tessier, Colin (2023-08-02). "Trick Williams Tells Carmelo Hayes He Needs To Be His Own Man On 8/1 WWE NXT". Wrestle Zone via Yahoo! Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2023-08-05. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  11. ↑ Moore, John (September 26, 2023). "NXT TV results (9/26): Moore's review of Butch vs. Joe Coffey in the Global Heritage Invitational final, Dijak vs. Eddy Thorpe in a strap match, Gigi Dolin vs. Blair Davenport, Joe Gacy vs. Trick Williams, the final push for NXT No Mercy". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  12. ↑ Moore, John (September 30, 2023). "NXT No Mercy results: Moore's live review of Carmelo Hayes vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Title, Becky Lynch vs. Tiffany Stratton in an Extreme Rules match for the NXT Women's Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  13. ↑ Tessier, Colin (October 2, 2023). "Trick Williams Appears On 10/2 WWE Raw, Gets Confronted By Dominik Mysterio | Fightful News". www.fightful.com. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  14. ↑ Moore, John (October 3, 2023). "NXT TV results (10/3): Moore's review of Trick Williams vs. Dominik Mysterio for the NXT North American Title, Gigi Dolin vs. Blair Davenport, Tyler Bate and Butch vs. Mark Coffey and Wolfgang". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  15. ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (October 22, 2023). "WWE Main Event Results (10/19): Trick Williams Faces Chad Gable | Fightful News". www.fightful.com. Retrieved 2023-11-02.
  16. ↑ Mrosko, Geno (2023-10-17). "Plot to take out Trick Williams succeeds, and Carmelo Hayes benefits". Cageside Seats. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  17. ↑ Mrosko, Geno (2023-10-31). "Trick Williams' return keeps Carmelo Hayes from winning NXT championship at Halloween Havoc". Cageside Seats. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  18. ↑ Benjamin, Marcus (2023-11-15). "NXT recap & reactions: A plot unfit for a king". Cageside Seats. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  19. ↑ "The Mad Dragon reigns supreme at NXT Deadline". WWE. 2023-12-09. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  20. ↑ Brennan, Corey; Lambert, Jeremy (2023-12-09). "Ilja Dragunov Retains NXT Championship At NXT Deadline | Fightful News". Fightful. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  21. ↑ Powell, Jason (January 2, 2024). "NXT TV results (1/2): Moore's review of New Year's Evil with Ilja Dragunov vs. Trick Williams for the NXT Championship, Lyra Valkyria vs. Blair Davenport for the NXT Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  22. ↑ Berge, Kevin (January 16, 2024). "WWE NXT Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights from Jan. 16". Bleacher Report. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  23. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2023". cagematch.net. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  24. ↑ "NXT North American Championship". WWE. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
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