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Drake Wuertz

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Drake Younger
Younger in 2012
Born (1984-09-10) September 10, 1984 (age 40)[1]
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Drake Younger
Drake Wuertz
Billed height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Billed weight210 lb (95 kg)[2]
Billed fromIndianapolis, Indiana by way of the R.A.A.G.E Dojo[2]
Trained byAmerican Kickboxer
Ian Rotten
Chris Hero
Low Ki
DebutFebruary 7, 2003

Drake Wuertz (born September 10, 1984) is an American professional wrestler and referee who is currently signed to WWE under his real name. He has worked for a number of major independent promotions under the ring name Drake Younger, including Combat Zone Wrestling, IWA Mid-South, EVOLVE, Dragon Gate USA, Chikara, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). He is known for his deathmatch wrestling.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Drake became a fan of wrestling at an early age, attending WrestleMania VIII and became a fan of Hulk Hogan, before discovering wrestlers such as Sabu and Cactus Jack, both of whom would become major influences. Drake tried his hand at wrestling joining Crazy Ass Wrestling, a backyard wrestling group run by Diehard Dustin Lee. A few years later, Drake, along with fellow Indianapolis natives Scotty Vortekz, Cliff Crunk, xOMGx, & Diehard joined the R.A.A.G.E Dojo, training under American Kickboxer, after already debuting for Insanity Pro Wrestling in Indianapolis. In 2002 Drake disappeared from wrestling for over a year citing personal issues. During this hiatus, Drake was in a car accident which gave him the gash on his shoulder.

Insanity Pro Wrestling (2006–2009)

In March 2006, Drake returned to Insanity Pro Wrestling in a losing effort "Diehard" Dustin Lee. In June 2006 Drake and Dustin Lee went at it once again but this time at IWA Mid-South's King of the Deathmatch tournament. He defeated Dustin Lee in the 1st round in a cage match, but lost in round 2 against JC Bailey in a barefoot thumbtack deathmatch. On January 5, 2008, Drake defeated Carlton Kaz for the IPW Grand Heavyweight Championship (which Younger made into the IPW World Heavyweight Championship, by defending the Grand Title in Germany), making him a two time champion by also winning the Jr. Heavyweight Championship a few years back.[3] On January 3, 2009, Younger lost his IPW World Heavyweight Championship to Jon Moxley at Animosity 09 in a Dog Collar Match.[3]

Combat Zone Wrestling (2006–2014)

Drake debuted for Combat Zone Wrestling in July 2006 in the fifth annual Tournament of Death. Drake lasted to the finals but was eliminated by Nick Gage. The following year, he made it to the finals again and defeated Brain Damage to become the TOD 6 Champion. On July 12, 2008, Younger defeated Nick Gage in a "Tangled Web" Deathmatch for the CZW World Heavyweight Championship, making him a dual champion as he also held the CZW Ultraviolent Underground Championship.[4] On September 27, 2008, Younger defeated Sami Callihan and Claudio Castagnoli in the finals of the 2008 Ted Petty Invitational, to become the first wrestler to win both a technical wrestling and a deathmatch wrestling tournament.

On October 11, 2008, Younger gave his CZW Ultraviolent Underground Championship to Danny Havoc at Decision'08.[4]

On January 30, 2010 Drake Younger would lose his CZW World Heavyweight Title belt to B-Boy at High Stakes 4 - Sky's The Limit.[5] On February 13, 2010 at the CZW 11th Anniversary Show Fan Appreciation Deadly Doubleheader Younger would win the afternoon show defeating Drew Blood but would go on to losing at the night show to J.C. Bailey.[5] On April 10, 2010 at Swinging For The Fences,[5] Drake Younger teamed with Eddie Kingston to win the CZW World Tag Team Champions by defeating The Best Around.

On July 10, 2010, Younger and Kingston were stripped of the CZW World Tag Team Championship, after Kingston quit the company. On September 9, 2010 at CZW's "It's Always Bloody In Philadelphia" Drake Younger turned heel when he turned on the Suicide Kings and his friend Scotty Vortekz.[6]

On April 12, 2014, after signing with WWE, Younger made his farewell appearance for CZW, winning the Best of the Best XIII. He is the only competitor to ever win both the Best Of The Best Tournament and the Tournament Of Death.[7]

IWA: Mid-South (2007–2011)

Younger at IWA Mid-South's 500th show in 2008.

In February 2007, Younger defeated Ian Rotten, Mad Man Pondo, 2 Tuff Tony, Mickie Knuckles and "Diehard" Dustin Lee in a Hardcore Rumble to become the new IWA Mid-South Deathmatch Champion.[8]

On December 1, 2007, Drake Younger competed in the third IWA Deep-South Carnage Cup where he wrestled a Three Way Deathmatch against Viking and WHACKS. In the match WHACKS dropped himself from the ceiling on Drake Younger who lay on a table with light tubes on top of him. The shattering of the light tubes caused a big tear in Drake's left ear due to which he could not finish the tournament. The injury caused him to wear ear protection for the next couple months.

On September 17, 2011 Drake was crowned IWA Mid South's "King of the Deathmatches". He is the only competitor to ever win both the Ted Petty Invitational and King of the Deathmatches tournaments.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2012-2013)

Younger made his Pro Wrestling Guerrilla debut on July 21, 2012, at Threemendous III, PWG's nine-year anniversary event. He wrestled and lost against long-time associate B-Boy. Younger returned to PWG in September to compete in his first Battle of Los Angeles tournament, the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles. He was eliminated in the opening round by Roderick Strong on September 1. The next evening, Younger teamed with B-Boy and Willie Mack to defeat Kyle O'Reilly, Davey Richards, and Joey Ryan. On December 1 at Mystery Vortex, Younger wrestled Sami Callihan in a losing effort. After the match, it was announced that Younger and Callihan would participate in a best of three match series to determine a number one contender for the PWG World Championship. At the 2013 Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament, which took place on January 12, 2013, Younger fought Callihan in a non-tournament knockout or submission-only match. Younger won the bout by knockout, tying the score. On March 22, 2013, Younger defeated Callihan in the third match, a Guerrilla Warfare match, to win the series and become the number one contender to the PWG World Championship.[9] He received his title shot the following day, but was defeated by the defending champion, Adam Cole.[10] In late August, Younger made it to the semifinals of the 2013 Battle of Los Angeles, before losing to eventual tournament winner Kyle O'Reilly.[11]

WWE (2013–present)

On the August 16, 2013 edition of SmackDown, Younger appeared in a backstage segment where he was bullied and pushed through a table by Ryback. On December 14, he posted on his Facebook page that he had been for a tryout at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.[12] On March 4, 2014, it was announced that he had signed a contract with WWE.[13] It was later reported that he would be working there as a referee.[14]

In wrestling

  • Nicknames
    • "Polarias"
    • "The Junior Shooter"
    • "The Psycho Shooter"[2]
    • "The Naptown Dragon"
    • "The (Ultraviolent) Golden Boy"

Championships and accomplishments

  • Absolute Intense Wrestling
    • AIW Absolute Championship (1 time)
  • Coliseum Championship Wrestling
    • CCW Tag Team Championship – with JC Bailey
    • CCW Tag Team Championship – Diehard Dustin Lee
  • Full Throttle Wrestling
    • FTW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Diehard Dustin Lee [19]
  • Insanity Pro Wrestling
    • IPW Grand Championship (1 time)[21]
    • IPW Jr. Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
    • IPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[22]
  • Mad Pro Wrestling
    • MPW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[23]
  • Pro Wrestling Bushido
    • Pro Wrestling Bushido TV Championship (1 time, current)[24]
  • Supreme Pro Wrestling
    • SPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[26]

References

  1. ^ a b "Profile". Retrieved 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e "CZW Roster". Combat Zone Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
  3. ^ a b "Insanity Pro Wrestling". Retrieved May 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ^ a b "Combat Zone Wrestling (2008)". Retrieved 2008-11-12.
  5. ^ a b c http://czwrestling.com/archives/index.html
  6. ^ "A Look at the CZW Tag Team Title Tournament". Combat Zone Wrestling. 2010-07-21. Retrieved 2010-08-15.
  7. ^ a b Namako, Jason (2014-04-13). "4/12 CZW Results: Voorhees, NJ (Drake Younger wins BOTB)". Wrestleview. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  8. ^ "2007 IWA Mid-South Results". www.iwamidsouthwrestling.com. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  9. ^ Massingham, Matt (2013-03-23). "Show Results - 3/22 PWG All-Star Weekend Night 1: Guerrilla Warfare main event, Trent Baretta debuts, Gargano, London vs. Steen, Future Shock, more stars". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
  10. ^ Massingham, Matt (2013-03-24). "Show results - 3/23 PWG All-Star Weekend Night 2: PWG Title & Tag Titles defended, Generico referenced, Lethal, Barreta, London, Gargano, more stars". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2013-05-31.
  11. ^ Gee Schoon Tong, Chris (2013-09-01). "Show results - 8/31 PWG BOLA Night 2: WWE wrestler/scout attends, who won the Battle of Los Angeles tourney?". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2013-09-01.
  12. ^ http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=82201
  13. ^ http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/WWE_News_3/article_76780.shtml
  14. ^ http://www.f4wonline.com/more/more-top-stories/118-daily-updates/36941-sat-update-tons-of-shows-tonight-ppv-ippv-tv-specials-mayweather-plus-bellator-show-bryan-gets-major-sports-pub-observer-convention-ross-show-ufc-star-goes-to-see-liger-foley-rogers-vs-thesz-gagnes-retirements-
  15. ^ http://www.cagematch.de/?id=1&nr=98065
  16. ^ "CZW Ultraviolent Underground Title History". solie.org. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  17. ^ "Combat Zone Wrestling (2007)". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  18. ^ "CZW title history". CZWrestling.com. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
  19. ^ "Independent Wrestling Results - November 2006". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  20. ^ "IWA Mid-South Deathmatch Title History". solie.org. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  21. ^ "Insanity Pro Wrestling". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  22. ^ "Insanity Pro Wrestling Champions". insanityprowrestling.com. Archived from the original on 2008-02-24. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  23. ^ "Mark Pro Wrestling Championship History". madwrestling.com. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  24. ^ Rude, Thomas (2013-11-19). "Lots of independent wrestling results". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  25. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2013". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2013-08-22.
  26. ^ http://www.cagematch.net/?id=5&nr=2162

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