Tyler Reks Gabriel Allan Tuft ( November 1 , 1978 ) is a retired American professional wrestler . He is best known for his tenure with WWE under the ring name Tyler Reks He also competed in WWE ' s developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling , where he held the Florida Tag Team Championship once with Johnny Curtis and held the Florida Heavyweight Championship once . World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE ( 2007 – 2012 ) . Florida Championship Wrestling ( 2007 - 2009 ) . After making his professional debut in February 2007 for WWE , Tuft was signed to a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) in February 2009 and was assigned to the Florida Championship Wrestling ( FCW ) territory as Tyler Reks . On December 11 , 2008 , Tuft and Johnny Curtis defeated The New Hart Foundation ( DH Smith and TJ Wilson ) to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship in Tampa , Florida . On June 11 , 2009 , he captured the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship by defeating Drew McIntyre . After the match , Joe Hennig congratulated him . He lost the championship to Heath Slater at the FCW television tapings on August 13 . ECW ( 2009 - 2010 ) . He made his main roster debut on " ECW on Sci Fi " on the June 30 , 2009 episode , with a surfer in - ring persona , in a backstage promo with Zack Ryder . Reks had suffered a knee injury just prior to his debut , but was able to work through it and made his in - ring debut on the July 2 , 2009 episode of " WWE Superstars " , losing to Ryder . On the July 21 episode of " ECW " , Reks gained his first win after defeating Paul Burchill , and then beat him again the following week . Reks participated in a 10 - man battle royal on the September 15 edition of " ECW " for an ECW Championship opportunity against Christian , but the match would go on to be won by Zack Ryder . Tuft would begin a brief hiatus from television starting in November 2009 and began mainly working dark matches . Reks was one of the participants in the 26 man pre - show battle royal at " WrestleMania XXVI " . SmackDown , and feud with Chris Masters ( 2010 - 2011 ) . In late April 2010 , Reks joined the SmackDown roster . After months of only working dark matches , Reks made his " SmackDown " television debut as a heel on the October 15 edition of the program , with an unshaved look , wild hair and chest hair and without making reference to his time on ECW , when he challenged Kaval in a match to gain a spot in the SmackDown Bragging Rights team . Reks went on to win the match . At Bragging Rights , Reks was able to eliminate Santino Marella but was himself eliminated by Sheamus . However , the Team SmackDown was successful in winning the Bragging Rights for the second consecutive time . He would become apart of Alberto Del Rio ' s Survivor Series team . He was eliminated by Kofi Kingston and his team would go on to lose . He then began a feud with Chris Masters , defeating him once on " SmackDown " and twice on WWE Superstars . He defeated JTG and Trent Barreta on Superstars as well . Reks made his first Royal Rumble appearance in the 2011 Royal Rumble as the sixteenth entrant where he was eliminated by Nexus . On the February 3 , 2011 edition of WWE Superstars Reks teamed with Curt Hawkins and defeated Trent Barreta & JTG . After the match Reks attacked Hawkins with his finisher The Burning Hammer . Reks would then lose consecutive matches to Masters before attacking him after Masters ' match against Hawkins . Teaming with Curt Hawkins ( 2011 – 2012 ) . On April 26 , Reks was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2011 Supplemental Draft . After wrestling dark matches for a few months , Reks made his " Raw " debut in a backstage segment with Curt Hawkins , Wade Barrett and Alberto Del Rio On the September 8 edition of " Superstars " , Reks made his in - ring return as he teamed with Hawkins to defeat Titus O ' Neil and Percy Watson . On the September 27 episode of WWE NXT , after the Usos beat JTG and Darren Young , Reks and Hawkins attacked them from behind . Over the next two weeks on NXT , Reks and Hawkins faced the Usos in tag team matches , with Reks and Hawkins winning the first match and the Usos winning the second match . Reks made his singles return on [ [ October 16 ] ] losing to Yoshi Tatsu . Reks participated in a World Heavyweight Championship number 1 contender 41 man battle royal and the " All I Want For Christmas Battle Royal " and was eliminated in both . Hawkins and Reks would feud with the duo of Trent Barreta and Yoshi Tatsu from December 2011 . Both teams would play pranks on each other , with Tatsu being locked in a closet and Reks ' hands being superglued onto an [ Xbox controller . Hawkins and Reks would beat Barreta and Tatsu on the January 18 , 2012 episode of " NXT " . Hawkins and Reks would then settle into the role of NXT ' s troublemakers , tormenting NXT host Matt Striker on his lacklustre career and how they should be main - eventing NXT , even once going to the extent of assaulting him after a match . This forced Striker to appoint William Regal as NXT ' s prime authority figure on the February 29 episode of " NXT " . Regal would employ harsh measures to keep Hawkins and Reks in line , including threatening suspensions for bad behaviour and condemning them to janitorial duty , this caused them much frustration . On the March 21 episode of " NXT Redemption " , Striker was knocked out with chloroform by Johnny Curtis and Maxine , and then Striker was kidnapped by unknown persons , later revealed to be Hawkins and Reks , who intended to blackmail Maxine into using her charms to get Regal to leave them alone . Unfortunately for Hawkins and Reks , Striker was rescued by Derrick Bateman and Kaitlyn . On the April 18 episode of " NXT " , the freed Striker confronted Hawkins and Reks about the kidnapping , and Hawkins admitted the crime . As punishment , Regal put Hawkins and Reks in a match against each other with Striker as referee and the loser of the match would be fired . Even though Reks won to supposedly save his job at the expense of Hawkins ' , Regal decided to fire Reks as well , sending the two troublemakers away from NXT . A few weeks later on the May 9 episode of NXT , Hawkins and Reks were appointed as security by Raw and Smackdown general manager John Laurinaitis to protect the NXT locker room after a series of attacks backstage , much to the dismay of William Regal and Matt Stiker . Since being rehired by Laurinaitis Reks and Hawkins have been great supporters of " People Power " and would continue to play the role of Laurinaitis ' lackeys , confiscating anti - Laurinaitis signs at Over the Limit and attacking John Cena on the May 21 episode of " Raw " . On June 4 , 2012 Reks and Hawkins had their first in - ring match on Raw together and were beaten by Kofi Kingston and R - Truth . On July 3 , 2012 a LIVE episode of SmackDown , Tyler Reks and Curt Hawkins flipped a coin to find out which one of them would face Ryback . Hawkins won and would go on to face Ryback and lose . During a backstage interview Reks explained that they were both not done with Ryback . The next week on ZackDown , Reks would face Ryback and lose after putting up a good fight . At Money in the Bank , both Hawkins and Reks would face Ryback in a handicap match , but would be unsuccessful in winning the match . On Smackdown , August 10 , Hawkins and Reks would try to gain a spot on Smackdown by talking to general manager Booker T . After being told to " step it up " , a week later , Hawkins and Reks would debut a whole new look , acting like male strippers . On August 20 , Reks asked for his release in order to spend time with his family . He was granted his release on August 22 and officially announced his retirement . Personal life . When asked on Twitter why he chose the name ' Tyler Reks ' , Tuft ' s response was : " Tyler is my wife and my first choice for the name of our first son - when we have kids . Reks is just a sick last name ! And If I win a World Championship , people can chant " Reks Wrecks " . " He also has a friend called Priscilla Tuft ( aka P - Reks ) who gives nutritional advice on his blog . She claims the initialisms LSN / CPT , a license from the National Academy of Sports Medicine , and certifications from NASN and NASM . External links . Profiles : Personals : On Twitter profile claims to be owner of " Local Marketing 2 . 0 . " :