Timothy Thatcher

Timothy Thatcher
Timothy Andrew Moura (born March 17, 1983), better known by the ring name Timothy Thatcher, is an American professional wrestler currently performing for Pro-Wrestling NOAH. He was previously signed to WWE, where he performed on the NXT brand.
Thatcher is best known for his work in Evolve, where he is the longest-reigning Evolve Champion, as well as a former (and final) Open the Freedom Gate Champion and the 2014 Style Battle Tournament winner. In addition to his work for WWNLive promotions, Thatcher has worked internationally for numerous notable promotions, including Major League Wrestling (MLW), Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), Progress Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro), Preston City Wrestling (PCW), Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) and, Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW).
Thatcher is the second and final man (after Drew Galloway) to simultaneously hold the Evolve and Open The Freedom Gate Championships.
Professional wrestling career
Early years
Moura began watching professional wrestling as a child with his grandmother. He later studied journalism and wrote an article about Supreme Pro Wrestling for a publication that folded before it could be published. He continued to attend SPW shows with the intention of being involved, becoming a referee and training to wrestle. Moura made his pro wrestling debut in September 2005 for SPW in a match lost against Drake Smith. Between the names Tim Moura and Timothy Thatcher, he appeared in promotions including Supreme Pro Wrestling, All Pro Wrestling (APW), Pro Wrestling Bushido, Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (CWFH) and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) among others. Thatcher would later work for Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW) and Source Wrestling, Preston City Wrestling (PCW), Progress Wrestling (Progress), Southside Wrestling Entertainment (SWE), and Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), where he is a former Unified World Wrestling Champion and World Tag Team Champion with Walter. Thatcher became a Triple Crown Champion in Supreme Pro Wrestling, winning the SPW Extreme Championship, Heavyweight Championship and Tag Team Championship. While in All Pro Wrestling, Thatcher became a two-time APW Universal Heavyweight Champion and a two-time APW Worldwide Internet Champion.
Westside Xtreme Wrestling (2013–2019)
Thatcher debuted in 2013 during Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw)'s Ambition 4 tournament, in a quarter final match lost against Heddi Karaoui. The following night, he also competed in wXw's Back To The Roots XII event, losing in a singles match against Axel Dieter Jr. During his tenure in wXw, Thatcher became a one-time wXw World Tag Team Champion with Walter, and a one-time wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion.
Evolve (2014–2019)
Thatcher made his Evolve debut at Evolve 31 in a Round Robin Challenge, losing to Drew Gulak. At Evolve 45, Thatcher became a double-champion, winning both the Open the Freedom Gate Championship and the Evolve Championship. Thatcher was the longest reigning Evolve Champion in history until he lost to Zack Sabre Jr. on February 25, 2017, at Evolve 79, ending his reign at 596 days.
WWE (2020–2022)
On February 2, 2020, it was reported Thatcher signed a developmental contract with WWE. On the April 15 edition of NXT, Thatcher was revealed as Matt Riddle's tag team partner, replacing Pete Dunne (who was unable to travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Thatcher and Riddle defended the NXT Tag Team Championships against Undisputed Era. However, on the May 13 edition of NXT, Thatcher and Riddle lost the titles to Imperium when Thatcher walked out on Riddle during the match, turning heel in the process. Thatcher would then face Riddle later on in the evening, with Riddle picking up the win. Following the match, Thatcher would attack Riddle and lock him in his Fujiwara armbar submission. Their storyline would end the following week in a Fight Pit match with Kurt Angle as the special guest referee, where Thatcher won after Riddle passed out to a rear naked choke. On the June 17 episode of NXT, he debuted a new gimmick of a submission specialist who teaches new students his "Thatch-as-Thatch-Can" style of training. On the September 16 episode of NXT, Thatcher had his first singles championship match in WWE when he faced Damian Priest for the NXT North American Championship where he was unsuccessful. At NXT TakeOver XXX, he had his first Takeover match where he lost to Finn Bálor. Shortly after, he began a feud with Tommaso Ciampa which led to a match at NXT TakeOver War Games where Ciampa won. On the January 20, 2021, episode of NXT, Thatcher fought Ciampa in the Fight Pit where he came out victorious. After the match, Thatcher and Ciampa showed respect to one another and Ciampa asked Thatcher to be his partner for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic which Thatcher accepted, turning face in the process. They defeated Ariya Daivari and Tony Nese in the first round, The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole and Roderick Strong), in the quarter-finals, before being defeated by the Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson) in the semi-finals. On the June 15 episode of NXT, Ciampa and Thatcher defeated the Grizzled Young Veterans in a tornado tag match to earn a future NXT Tag Team Championship match. They faced the champions, MSK (Wes Lee and Nash Carter) on July 6 at The Great American Bash but were defeated. On the August 24 episode of NXT, Thatcher faced Ridge Holland in a losing effort and after the match would be brutally attacked by Holland, writing him off television. This would mark his final appearance on television as he would transition to a coaching role at the WWE Performance Center. On January 5, 2022, Thatcher was released from his WWE contract.
Pro Wrestling Noah (2022–present)
On June 7, 2022, Thatcher made his debut in Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah) teaming with Sugiura-gun members El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Hideki Suzuki, Rene Dupree and Takashi Sugiura, subsequently becoming the newest member of the stable. The next day, he defeated Shuhei Taniguchi in his first singles match for Noah. On July 16, Thatcher won the vacant GHC Tag Team Championship with Suzuki, defeating Masa Kitamiya and Yoshiki Inamura. They would lose their titles to Takashi Sugiura and Satoshi Kojima on September 25, ending their reign at 71 days. On October 11, He would face Kaito Kiyomiya for the GHC Heavyweight Championship, in a losing effort.
On April 16, 2023, at Green Journey in Sendai, Thatcher and Saxon Huxley began teaming with each other, and the two developed a good chemistry with one another. Later that night, Hideki Suzuki on the behalf of Thatcher and Huxley challenged Shuhei Taniguchi and Takashi Sugiura to a title match for the GHC Tag Team Championship. After the relationship between Sugiura-gun members had just fizzled out over the previous months, Suzuki stated that Sugiura-gun wasn't working and was over, leading Sugiura to confirm that the stable had disbanded. On April 22, their stable was named "Real". On May 4 at Majestic, Thatcher and Huxley defeated Sugiura and Taniguchi to win the GHC Tag Team Championship. In August, Thatcher took part in the 2023 N-1 Victory, finishing the tournament with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. On September 24 at Grand Ship In Nagoya, Thatcher and Huxley lost the GHC Tag Team Championship to Good Looking Guys (Jack Morris and Anthony Greene).
All Elite Wrestling (2023)
Thatcher made his All Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut on February 1, 2023, facing off against Bryan Danielson on AEW Dynamite after being (kayfabe) contracted by MJF, where he was unsuccessful.
Ring of Honor (2023)
Timothy Thatcher would make his Ring of Honor (ROH) debut February 18 edition of ROH on HonorClub, where he would confront the ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta. The following week, they would face off for the Pure title, where Thatcher would lose.
Major League Wrestling (2023–present)
On June 8, 2023, it was announced by Major League Wrestling that Timothy Thatcher will be making his MLW debut against Tracy Williams on July 8 at Never Say Never.
Personal life
Moura is known for being very quiet about his personal life. He has no social media profiles and prefers to maintain a low profile.
Other media
Thatcher made his video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K22.
Championships and accomplishments
All Pro Wrestling
APW Universal Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
APW Worldwide Internet Championship (2 times)
Championship Wrestling from Hollywood
CWFH Heritage Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Drew Gulak
UWN Tag Team Championship (1 time, inaugural) – with Drew Gulak
DDT Pro-Wrestling
Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 time)
Evolve
Evolve Championship (1 time)
Open the Freedom Gate Championship (1 time)
Style Battle Tournament (2014)
Pacific Northwest Wrestling
Pacific Northwest Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Bushido
PWB Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Ranked No. 71 of the best 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016
Pro Wrestling Noah
GHC Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Hideki Suzuki (1) and Saxon Huxley (1)
Supreme Pro Wrestling
SPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
SPW Extreme Championship (1 time)
SPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Drake Frost
Westside Xtreme Wrestling
wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship (1 time)
wXw World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Walter
Ambition 9 (2018)
Road to 16 Carat Gold Tournament (2016)
World Tag Team League (2017) – with Walter
Shortcut to the Top (2019)
References
External links
1983 births
Living people
21st-century professional wrestlers
American male professional wrestlers
Professional wrestlers from California
Sportspeople from Sacramento, California
Sportspeople from Alameda County, California
American people of Portuguese descent
American people of English descent
GHC Tag Team Champions
Ironman Heavymetalweight Champions
Open the Freedom Gate Champions