Zema Ion

Zema Ion
Zema Ion in 2012
Ring name(s)	Shiima Xion Michale Montecarlo Shiima Casanova Zema Ion
Billed height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Billed weight	170 lb (77 kg)
Born	October 5, 1986 (1986-10-05) Los Angeles, California
Resides	Chester, West Virginia
Billed from	Manila, Philippines
Trained by	Super Hentai Shirley Doe Taz El Ferroz Gran Apache
Debut	2004

Michael Paris (born October 5, 1986) is an Filipino American professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Shiima Xion. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he competes as Zema Ion, while also working both on the American independent circuit and in Mexico.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Michael Paris claims that his dream to become a professional wrestler began when he first saw mini Luchador Chucky on an Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) television broadcast in 2002. However, Paris has also stated in interviews that he credits watching a match with Yoshihiro Tajiri and Fantastikas his initial inspiration to become a pro wrestler.

In 2003, Paris began training to become a professional wrestler at the Coalition of Competition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania under trainers Super Hentai, Shirley Doe, and Glenn Spectre. He trained there for 14 months before debuting as Shiima Xion, the "first Filipino male supermodel of professional wrestling" on August 21, 2004 against Jason Gory in Wheeling, West Virginia. Shiima Xion competed throughout West Virginia and Ohio in the fall of 2004, since he was not old enough to compete in the state of Pennsylvania. Shortly after turning 18, however, Xion began competing regularly for the International Wrestling Cartel, as well as making appearances in Chikara, Far North Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling Unplugged.

By early 2006, the Shiima Xion character had become more of a glam rock star than a male model, as Xion began wearing make-up to the ring, and had also changed his hair color from black to red and blonde. His bizarre hair style soon became his trademark, with Shiima becoming best known for hairspraying his hair during matches.

The androgynous character eventually caught the attention of Japanese wrestling promoter Sanshiro Takagi, who invited 19-year old Shiima to tour Japan with his company, Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) in the summer of 2006. Shiima was well received during his first tour of Japan and was invited to return for a 3 month tour in the summer of 2007. Shiima had to decline the offer, however, as he was attending college at West Virginia University.

Shiima Xion was featured in the Introducing... article in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's The Wrestler, volume 19, 2008. The magazine was released on newsstands nationwide on December 4, 2007, with a two-page article spread on Shiima.

International Wrestling Cartel (2004–2008)

Shiima Xion made his IWC debut on November 6, 2004 in Munhall, Pennsylvania. Shiima lost to Jason Gory, who was also making his IWC debut that night. The two feuded for the remainder of 2004, and into 2005, culminating at IWC No Excuses on July 29, 2005. Gory won the feud, and the two would not wrestle again until IWC Super Indy V on April 15, 2006, in which Shiima defeated Gory with the Filipino Destroyer. Post-match saw the two shake hands for the first time in their near two-year long rivalry and eventually led to them forming a tag team known as BabyFace Fire (BFF).

BFF teamed for the first time on July 7, 2006, and were defeated by Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli. The team is best known for their scramble matches with the Gambino Brothers, Sexual Harassment, and the Cleveland Mafia. The second of these scrambles, which took place on December 9, 2006, saw BFF capture their first IWC Tag Team Championship. Xion & Gory held onto the belts until March 2007, in which The Gambino Brothers challenged the champions, despite both BFF members already competing in singles action earlier in the night. The challenge was accepted, and Xion was pinned by Marshall Gambino after interference from Jimmy Demarco. Later that year, after a violent feud with the Gambinos, BFF won their second IWC Tag Team Championship on December 8, 2007. They would hold onto the tag titles twice as long as their first reign, until Sexual Harassment defeated BFF for the belts in June 2008. They also lost their rematch in a huge TLC match in August 2008.

Shiima Xion has also had many notable singles matches in IWC, including battles against Homicide, A.J. Styles, Chris Sabin, Jimmy Jacobs, and Nigel McGuinness. On May 11, 2007 Xion competed in the IWC Super Indy VI tournament. He defeated Ruckus in the first round and Super Hentai in the semifinals before losing to Larry Sweeney in the finals. The next year, Xion competed in the IWC Super Indy VII tournament. In the first round, he defeated "Altar Boy" Luke Hawx. He then lost in the semifinals to the eventual winner of the tournament, Jerry Lynn. In September 2008, Xion defeated Marshall Gambino to qualify for another tournament, for the vacant IWC World Heavyweight Championship. Xion defeated Justin Idol, John McChesney, and Raymond Rowe to advance to the finals, where he defeated Jimmy DeMarco with a 630 splash to win the tournament on October 25 and 26.

At Accept No Limitations, Jimmy DeMarco declared himself promotor because Norm Connors wasn't there. He made a No-DQ match between Shiima and Ray Rowe, with Shiima winning and becoming IWC Champion for a second time.

Dramatic Dream Team (2006, 2009)

Shiima Xion made his Japanese debut in a losing effort, as Xion and the MAC were defeated by CMLL/KO-D Tag Team Champions, Dick Togo and Nobutaka Moribe, on June 22, 2006 in Shinjuku, Japan. Xion also appeared in the Takayuki Mikami-produced Cruiser's Game fourth Special, teaming with Kudo and Susumu against Kagetora, Yuko Miyamoto, and Mannjimaru. Xion's only win on the tour was on July 2, 2006, in which Xion, Kudo, and Mikami defeated Harashima, Toru Owashi, and Yusuke Inokuma in Shimane, Japan. Xion returned to Japan on August 9, 2009, competing in a six-man tag team match on a joint show with Macky Puroresu Shop and Big Japan Wrestling. Xion won the match for his team.

Desastre Total Ultraviolento (2008–2009)

Shiima Xion made his Desastre Total Ultraviolento debut on May 3, 2008 in Mexico City, Mexico in a tag match with Joe Lider against El Generico and Crazy Boy. Xion lost the match after a top rope brainbuster from El Generico. Xion returned to DTU on July 11, 2009 in Tulancingo, Mexico in a 3-way light tube deathmatch with Crazy Boy and Extreme Tiger. Xion lost after a Swanton Bomb from Extreme Tiger. Xion also competed in DTU`s "Fashion" event on on July 26, 2009 in Mexico City, where Xion challenged for the DTU championship in a 3-way match with Aero Boy and Ragde. Aero Boy became the new DTU champion after pinning Xion.

AAA (2009–present)

Shiima joined the AAA roster in Summer of 2009.

Combat Zone Wrestling (2009–present)

Shiima joined Combat Zone Wrestling in mid-2009 competing in the Best of the Best tournament.^{[citation needed]}

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2011–present)

On June 23, 2011, Paris made an appearance on Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's Impact Wrestling television show, working under the ring name Zema Ion, defeating Dakota Darsow and Federico Palacios in a three–way X Division match to advance to the tournament finals at Destination X, where a contract with the promotion would be at stake. At the pay-per-view, Ion competed in a four-way match against Jack Evans, Low Ki and the eventual winner of the match, Austin Aries. On July 24 it was reported that Paris had signed a contract with TNA. Zema Ion made his return to TNA on the August 11 edition of Impact Wrestling, appearing in a backstage segment, where Eric Bischoff introduced new rules to the X Division. The following week, Ion took part in a gauntlet match to determine the X Division rankings. After eliminating Mark Haskins from the match, Ion was himself eliminated by Jesse Sorensen, placing him fifth in the rankings. Ion returned on the September 28 edition of Impact Wrestling, working in a five man ladder match, which was won by Brian Kendrick. On the December 15 edition of Impact Wrestling, Ion started Best of Three Series with Anthony Nese to determine the third and final challenger for the X Division Championship at Genesis. Ion, now wrestling as a heel, won the first match of the series. Two weeks later, Ion defeated Nese in a Contract on a Pole match to win the series 2-1 and advance to the pay-per-view. On January 8, 2012, at Genesis, Ion was the second man eliminated from the X Division Championship match, which also included Austin Aries, Jesse Sorensen and Kid Kash. Ion then helped Aries defeat Sorensen and retain his title. On February 12 at Against All Odds, Ion defeated Sorensen in an X Division number one contender's match, after Sorensen was unable to continue after suffering a legitimate injury and was counted out.

Personal life

Paris is a journalism major at West Virginia University. He is also half Filipino, half French.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • 450° splash – TNA
  • Bible Black (Running double knees to a seated opponent into a rana pin)
  • Filipino Destroyer (Inverted snapmare driver)
  • From Lust to Dust (Snapmare driver)

• Signature moves
  • 630° senton
  • Baseball slide
  • Bicycle kick
  • Crossface
  • Crucifix driver
  • Crystal Pistol (Slingshot mushroom stomp, followed into a sliding dropkick on the grounded opponent)
  • Hostile Makeover (Back suplex flipped into a lifted knee strike)
  • Mary Lou Retton Splash (Corkscrew somersault splash)
  • Missile dropkick
  • One Night Stand (Running reverse DDT)
  • Springboard tornado DDT
  • Superkick

• Nicknames
  • "The Virgin Slayer"

Championships and accomplishments

• Absolute Intense Wrestling

• AIW Absolute Championship (1 time, current)
• AIW Intense Championship (1 time)
• AIW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Shawn Blaze
• Battle Bowl (2011)
  
• Todd Pettengill Invitational (2011)

• Championship Wrestling Experience

• CWE Undisputed Championship (1 time)

• Far North Wrestling

• FNW Cruiserweight Championship (2 times)

• Independent Wrestling Association East Coast

• IWA East Coast Zero-G Crown (2008)

• International Wrestling Cartel

• IWC Super Indy IX Tournament (2010)
• IWC Super Indy Championship (2 times)
• IWC Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Jason Gory
• IWC World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

• International Pro Wrestling

• IPW Texas Heavyweight Championship (3 times, current)

• New Era Pro Wrestling

• NEPW United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jason Gory

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #395 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011

External links

• TNA Wrestling profile
• Zema Ion on Twitter
• Profile at OWW.com