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Joshua Aaron Woods (born March 20, 1990) is an American professional wrestler, where he performs under his real name (stylized as Josh Woods). He is signed to Ring of Honor (ROH) and All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Premier Athletes.
 |
| Josh Woods | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Joshua Aaron Woods |
| Born | March 20, 1990 Dallas, Texas, U.S.[1] |
| Alma mater | University of Central Florida |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Josh Woods[2] Preston Cunningham Jr.[2] |
| Billed weight | 233 lb (106 kg)[1] |
| Trained by | Silas Young WWE Performance Center Ring of Honor[1] [3] |
| Debut | August 25, 2015[4] |
Woods was a collegiate amateur wrestler at the University of Central Florida, where, in 2011, he won the NCWA National Championship. He was also a two time NCWA All American and National Runner-up. He also runs camps for Ultimate Fighting Championship athletes such as Alex Nicholson, Seth Petruzelli, Mike Perry and Tom Lawlor.[5]
WWE
NXT (2014–2016)
Woods signed a contract with WWE at the end of 2014 and started to train at the WWE Performance Center.[6] His first match with NXT was on April 25, where he competed in a battle royal.[4][7] On July 30 and September 26, he competed in two more battle royals to determine the number one contender to the NXT Championship, which were won by Tyler Breeze and Baron Corbin, respectively.[8][9] His first win was at Venice, Florida during a house show on January 30, 2016, against Gzim Selmani.[10] On June 9, he competed against No Way Jose in a losing effort.[11] His final match in NXT was at a house show on July 23, where he lost to Mojo Rawley.[12] WWE released him days later.[13]
Ring of Honor (2016–present)
Woods' debut in Ring of Honor was in a dark match on October 22, 2016, in a six-man tag team match alongside Brandon Groom and Kennedy Kendrick, defeating Chuckles, Joey Osbourne and Victor Andrews. He entered the 2017 ROH Top Prospect Tournament, defeating Chris LeRusso, Brian Milonas, and John Skyler to win the tournament. He formed a tag team with Silas Young called Two Guys & One Tag. On March 26, 2021, on ROH 19th Anniversary Show, Young turned on Woods splitting up the team.[14][15][16] At Death Before Dishonor XVIII, Woods defeated ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham to win the title.
With the acquisition of Ring of Honor by Tony Khan, it was announced that Woods would defend the Pure Championship against Wheeler Yuta at Supercard of Honor XV on April 1, 2022.[17] Woods lost the title to Yuta at the event.
Independent circuit (2017)
On July 14, 2017, he entered the MCW Shane Shamrock Memorial XVII tournament, where he fought Anthony Henry to a time limit draw.[18]
All Elite Wrestling (2021–present)
On December 12, 2021, Woods made his debut for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on AEW Dark, where he was defeated by Shawn Spears. After racking up some victories on Dark programming, Woods began appearing on Dynamite and Rampage in 2022. In the summer, Woods formed a tag team with Tony Nese, and the duo would acquire the services of Mark Sterling as their manager and on-screen attorney. On the August 5 edition of Rampage, Woods & Nese unsuccessfully challenged Swerve in our Glory (Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland) for the AEW World Tag Team Championship.[19] On the October 7 edition of Rampage, Woods & Nese defeated The Varsity Blonds (Brian Pillman Jr. & Griff Garrison), and after the match, Sterling revealed he had "trademarked" the term Varsity as it relates to professional wrestling, and that Woods & Nese would be known as The Varsity Athletes going forward.[20]
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Amateur wrestling
Professional wrestling
- Platinum Pro Wrestling
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ring of Honor
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