Daniel "Dan" Louis Matha (June 8, 1988) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment where he appears on NXT.
Early life
Matha was born in Erie, Pennsylvania to Dale Matha and Julianna Ward. His father later remarried and Matha became a stepson to his father's wife Melissa, and stepbrother to her son. Matha graduated from Erie McDowell High School where he played football as an offensive tackle. Matha was was named first team Associated Press Pennsylvania Class AAAA All-State each of his final two seasons. Matha lettered in wrestling, yet continued to play football as an offensive lineman while studying at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, majoring in administration of justice. Matha later found worked as a sales consultant at Dave Hallman Chevrolet.
Standing 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) and weighing 315 lbs (143 kg), Matha earned a tryout with the Cincinnati Bengals in May 2013. After not making it onto the team, Matha signed with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League in January 2014. After not finishing the end of the season, the Alouettes cut Matha the following May.
Quoted as saying "It was like...this chapter of your life is done.", Matha turned his attention elsewhere, devising a new plan for his life and career. His next move was to plan how to begin a career in professional wrestling.
Professional wrestling career
Matha first trained at Ohio Valley Wrestling.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2015 – present)
Sometime in September of 2015, Matha signed a contract with WWE and reported to its training program NXT.
NXT (2016 – present)
Matha's first match was on March 5, during Day 1 of NXT Live! at the Arnold Classic tour. He was defeated by Kishan Raftar. On March 6, Day 2 of the NXT Live! at the Arnold Classic tour, Matha wrestled two matches, including a losing singles match against Aiden English; before he teamed with Dylan Miley in a winning tag team match against Aiden English & Simon Gotch. On March 16 at NXT, Matha won his first singles match, defeating Alexander Wolfe. The following month on April 8, Matha won his second NXT singles match, defeating Christopher Girard. From April 30 until May 12, Matha suffered a string of defeats against competitors including Patrick Clark, Josh Woods and Angelo Dawkins. Matha continued through the months of April, May, June and July of 2016 in singles matches, facing other NXT rookies including Steve Cutler, Oney Lorcan, and Bronson Matthews.
Personal life
In addition to his collegiate background and football tenure, Matha also competed in physique contests.
In wrestling
- Finishers and Signature Moves
- Nicknames
- Tag Teams and Stables
- Entrance themes
