Matt Bentley
| Matt Bentley | |
|---|---|
| File:Martyr.jpg | |
| Born | December 10, 1979[1] Clinton, Iowa[2][3] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Martyr Matt Bentley Maverick Matt Michael Michael Shane |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
| Billed weight | 221 lb (101 kg) |
| Billed from | San Antonio, Texas |
| Trained by | Paul Diamond, Rudy Boy Gonzales, Shawn Michaels Texas Wrestling Academy |
| Debut | 1999[3] |
Matthew James "Matt" Bentley[1] (born December 10, 1979 in Clinton, Iowa), formerly known by the ring name "Michael Shane", is an American professional wrestler. He is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as Martyr.
Career
Bentley briefly worked for ECW from October 2000 to the final show of the promotion on January 13, 2001. Bentley is also a former Ring of Honor wrestler, with his breakout match occurring against Paul London at the Unscripted event that concluded with London hitting the shooting star press off a ladder.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Bentley joined TNA in 2003. He competed in the X Division, quickly winning the TNA X Division Championship in the first ever Ultimate X match[4]. Later in 2003, Bentley formed a stable with Shane Douglas and Traci known as The New Franchise. The stable disbanded in April 2004 when Bentley turned on Douglas. Traci ended up staying with Bentley as a valet. In June, A.J. Styles returned to the X Division and won the championship from Kazarian. In an effort to eliminate Styles from the X Division, Bentley and Traci formed a tag team with Kazarian (informally known by the portmanteau of their last names, Shazarian). On July 28, 2004, Bentley and Kazarian defeated Styles in an Ultimate X match when they both pulled down the championship. Surprisingly, the duo was declared co-champions, a first for the X-Division Championship. They lost the title in a Gauntlet for the Gold match two weeks later.[5] Shazarian split up in early 2005 when Kazarian left TNA and signed with WWE.
Traci quietly left Bentley in 2005 to become an assistant for TNA Director of Authority Dusty Rhodes, and later joined with Chris Sabin. In turn, Trinity became Bentley's valet. However, at Hard Justice, in a match between Bentley & Trinity and Sabin & Traci, Bentley and Traci turned on their partners and reunited. In 2005, Bentley was forced to refrain from using the "Michael Shane" alias, which he had used for his entire career, in 2005 following threats of legal action from WWE, the employers of Mike Shane, who had trademarked his name, something which Bentley had neglected to do (Shane would make his WWE debut alongside his brother Todd as The Gymini, and not The Shane Twins.) After going simply by the name Michael, and even reverting back to Michael Shane, Bentley decided to go by his real name.
After a disappearance from television due to contract renegotiations and a few matches in the X Division, Bentley and Traci turned face, largely because of the crowd, which was doing the Bentley Bounce at the time. On a February 2006 edition of Xplosion, Bentley and his partner Lance Hoyt had some miscommunication during their tag team against the Diamonds in the Rough. After the match, Bentley snapped and attacked Hoyt, thus turning him heel. The next week on iMPACT! in an interview Bentley announced he was a "Maverick", and thus became Maverick Matt. He would then wrestle a few more matchs most being 6-man tag team matchs losing every time. Bentley did not appear on TNA television for the next four months. He returned on the July 20 edition of iMPACT!, teaming with former partner Frankie Kazarian, who had returned earlier in the week, in a loss against The Naturals. Traci did not return with Bentley, instead becoming Ms. Brooks, Robert Roode's new valet.
On the October 26 edition of iMPACT!, Bentley appeared in the "Raven's Perch" section of the iMPACT! Zone bleachers, debuting a goth look. Weeks later, Bentley and Kazarian, along with Johnny Devine, formed the stable Serotonin, with Raven as their leader. As part of the new group Bentley's name was changed to Martyr.
Wrestling Facts
- Finishing and signature moves
- Head On Collision / Sweet Shane (Chin) Music (reference to his cousin, Shawn Michaels' Finishing Move) / Maverick Crash (Superkick)
- Picture Perfect Elbow Drop/Extreme Elbow Drop (Diving elbow drop)
- Backbreaker drop
- Fisherman brainbuster
- Fisherman DDT
- Northern Lights suplex
- Arm Drag
- Inverted atomic drop
- German suplex
- Belly to belly suplex
- Half nelson choke
- Topé con Hilo
- Finishing and signature moves with Frankie Kazarian
- Modern Art (German suplex following a superkick by Bentley)
- Xtreme Domination (Legsweep / superkick combination)
- Managers
- Nicknames
- The Maverick
- Red Fern
Championships and accomplishments
- CyberSpace Wrestling Federation
- CSWF Cruiser X Championship (1 time)
- Florida Professional Wrestling Association
- FPWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Main Event Championship Wrestling
- MECW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- New Wave Championship Wrestling
- NWCW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Texas Wrestling Alliance
- TWA Television Championship (1 time)
- Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
- TNA X Division Championship (2 times) with Kazarian (1)
Personal Information
His cousin is World Wrestling Entertainment's Shawn Michaels whom he was trained by. He took the name Michael Shane as a play on that name, as Michaels real first names are Michael Shawn. Bentley also uses Shawn Michaels' trademarked Superkick manuever as his finisher.