Curtis Axel Joseph Curtis " Joe " Hennig ( October 1 , 1979 ) is an American professional wrestler and actor currently signed to WWE , where he performs on the " Raw " brand under the ring name Curtis Axel . Hennig debuted in WWE in 2010 , joining The Nexus under the ring name Michael McGillicutty . He had previously wrestled at their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling ( FCW ) and was part of the second season of " NXT " . In 2011 , Hennig won the WWE Tag Team Championship with David Otunga as a member of The New Nexus . In May 2013 , Hennig reignited his career under his current ring name , paying tribute to his father " Mr . Perfect " Curt Hennig and his grandfather Larry " The Axe " Hennig and won the Intercontinental Championship . Professional wrestling career . World League Wrestling ( 2007 – 2008 ) . Hennig made his professional debut on July 13 , 2007 in Waterloo , Iowa for World League Wrestling ( WLW ) , teaming with Ted DiBiase , Jr . to defeat Dinn T . Moore and Branden Tatum by disqualification . Hennig later went on an nine - month winning streak in WLW before suffering his first singles loss to " Wild " Wade Chism . World Wrestling Entertainment ( 2008 – present ) . Florida Championship Wrestling . On March 31 , 2007 , Hennig along with his mother , siblings , and his grandfather represented his father " Mr . Perfect " Curt Hennig at the 2007 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony by accepting the award on his behalf . On the October 26 , 2007 episode of " SmackDown " , Hennig teamed with Steve Fender in a loss to Jesse and Festus . Hennig signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and was assigned to its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling ( FCW ) . On September 11 , 2008 , Hennig and Sebastian Slater defeated Nic Nemeth and Gavin Spears to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship . On October 30 , Hennig and Slater lost the Tag Team Championship to The New Hart Foundation ( DH Smith and TJ Wilson ) . On November 20 , Hennig challenged Sheamus O ' Shaunessy for the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship but it ended in a double disqualification . A rematch was made , but Hennig was again disqualified . Hennig had another chance to win the title on December 11 when he participated in a fatal four - way match for the championship , but Eric Escobar won the match , and the title . Hennig defeated Escobar on February 26 at a TV taping and won the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship . On the April 5 , 2009 episode of FCW it was announced that Hennig had suffered a serious injury and therefore he had surrendered the Florida Heavyweight Championship . After recovering , Hennig made his return to FCW in late June . Soon afterwards , he formed a tag team with Brett DiBiase known as The Fortunate Sons . On January 14 , 2010 , The Sons won the Florida Tag Team Championship by defeating The Dudebusters . NXT . On June 1 , 2010 , it was announced that Hennig would take part in the second season of " NXT " , using the ring name Michael McGillicutty , with Kofi Kingston as his pro . He made his " NXT " debut on the June 8 episode , but did not compete in a match . He made his in - ring debut on the following edition of " NXT " , teaming with Kingston in a tag team match , where they defeated Mark Henry and Lucky Cannon . On the June 22 edition of " NXT " , McGillicutty defeated Titus O ' Neil to improve his record to 2 - 0 . In the first poll on June 29 , McGillicutty was ranked third , behind Kaval and Percy Watson . On the July 20 episode of " NXT " , McGillicutty earned immunity from elimination in the next poll by completing an obstacle course in the fastest time . On the following episode of " NXT " , he moved up to first place in the second poll . After six consecutive victories , McGillicutty suffered his first loss on the August 3 episode of " NXT " , when he was defeated by pro The Miz . On August 9 the rookies appeared in a six - man tag team match on " Raw " , in which McGillicutty teamed with Husky Harris and Alex Riley to defeat Lucky Cannon , Kaval and Percy Watson . The following night on " NXT " , his team lost a rematch when McGillicutty was pinned by Kaval . In the next poll later that night , McGillicutty relinquished the first - place ranking back to Kaval , slipping to second place . In the season finale on August 31 , McGillicutty ended the competition in second place , being beaten by Kaval . At the end of the show , McGillicutty turned heel by attacking Kaval with the other eliminated rookies . Raw and The Nexus . In October 2010 , at Hell in a Cell , McGillicutty and Husky Harris disguised themselves as fans and interfered during the match between John Cena and Wade Barrett . This allowed Barrett to pin Cena and win the match , forcing Cena to join The Nexus per the pre - match stipulation . McGillicutty ' s and Harris ' identities were revealed on the following day ' s episode of " Raw " , though Barrett claimed he had not asked for their help and refused to make them full - time members of The Nexus . The following week , McGillicutty and Harris interfered in a match between Cena and The Miz , costing Cena the match and prompting Barrett to give them the opportunity to win membership in The Nexus . On the October 18 episode of " Raw " , McGillicutty and Harris were unable to earn a place in The Nexus when they lost to Cena and Randy Orton in a tag team match . Despite this , Barrett confirmed both he and Harris were members on the October 25 episode of " Raw " . New Nexus . After CM Punk took control of Nexus and kicked out Wade , he put the members through a series of trials . Gabriel and Slater revolted and left with Barrett to join Corre . Punk would bring in Mason Ryan to bolster the ranks . In a tag team match against the reigning champions Big Show and Kane , Punk and Ryan interfered to allow teammates Michael McGillicutty and David Otunga to win the championships . Tag team championship . MM and Otunga reigned as champions for a while , and continued on after Ryan left due to injury and Punk left due to an expired contract after winning the title . The pair would later lose their titles to the new team Air Boom , and also lost the rematch . Paul Heyman Guy ; Intercontinental Champion ( 2013 ) . On the May 20 , 2013 episode of " Raw " , Hennig returned under the new gimmick Curtis Axel . He debuted under the management of Paul Heyman , where he was immediately challenged by Triple H . During the weeks after their initial confrontation , Axel embarked on a series of notable matches against Triple H and John Cena , gaining controversial victories over both men . On June 10 , during the opening hour of Monday Night Raw Axel faced Triple H in a supposed singles match before Vince McMahon ordered the immediate cancellation of the matches . After a series of back - and - forth power - plays between McMahon and Triple H , Axel was awarded " two " victories according to McMahon ' s score card . Later that night Heyman , who was making the announcement of behalf of Vickie Guerrero , said that Axel was added to the Intercontinental Championship match at WWE Payback 2013 where he will face Wade Barrett and The Miz . At " Payback " , Axel won the Intercontinental title after pinning a downed Barrett , captalizing on The Miz ' s finishing moves . Axel was originally scheduled to defend the title on the following night on " Raw " against Barrett until Vickie Guerrero chose Christian to face Barrett in an impromptu match . During that same week on the June 21st episode of " Friday Night Smackdown " Axel faced Barrett in a title rematch successfully retaining his championship . On the July 8 episode of Monday Night Raw , Axel wrestled and loss his first match to Chris Jericho due to interference by The Miz , who was at ringside for commentary . During that same week on " Smackdown " , Axel would face Jericho in a rematch , losing once again to Jericho via count - out . Six days later at the Money in the Bank pay - per - view , Axel defeated The Miz to retain the Intercontinental Championship . Axel made another title defense on the following episode of SmackDown , defeating Chris Jericho . Axel then feuded with CM Punk alongside Paul Heyman . Axel was set to team with Heyman in an elimination handicap match against Punk at Night of Champions . During the pay - per - view , Heyman begged Triple H to cancel the match , but Triple H refused , not only confirming the match , but making Axel defend his Intercontinental Championship against Kofi Kingston , who had beaten him twice . Axel would defeat Kingston and retain the title , but he would be eliminated by Punk later in the night , leaving Heyman alone to fight Punk by himself . Ryback would then later interfere in the match by slamming Punk through a table . On the September 30 episode of Raw he was defeated by R - Truth in a non - title match , which gave him a title match at Battleground . On October 6 at Battleground he would defeat R - Truth and successfully retained the Intercontinental Championship . The next night on Raw Axel teamed up with Ryback to face R - Truth and CM Punk . R - Truth picked up the victory for his team , pinning Axel . On the October 11 SmackDown Axel once again retained the Intercontinental Championship against R - Truth . At Hell in a Cell , Axel was scheduled to defend his title against Big E . Langston , however the match was cancelled due to Curtis ' legitimate hip injury . [ 86 ] Axel lost the title to Langston on the November 18 Raw . Axel failed again to regain the Intercontinental Championship in a rematch at Survivor Series against Big E Langston . RybAxel ( 2013 - 2014 ) . Axel and Ryback won a non title match against Cody Rhodes & Goldust , putting them in line for a future WWE Tag Team Championship shot , but they lost their opportunity . On the Elimination Chamber kick off , Rybaxel were accompanied to the ring by Larry Hennig . On the March 28 episode of SmackDown , Rybaxel along with other tag teams attacked The Shield under orders from Kane and were rewarded with a WWE Tag Team Championship shot on the WrestleMania XXX pre - show which they lost . On the April 14 episode of Raw , along with nine other superstars , they attacked The Shield again under orders from Triple H . After Rybaxel began a winning streak , they earned a tag titles shot on 28 April on Raw , but lost to The Usos again . at Payback , RybAxel defeated Cody Rhodes and Goldust , at Money in the Bank , RybAxel faced Goldust and Stardust in a losing effort , at Battleground , Axel competed in a 19 - man battle royal for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship which was won by The Miz . With Ryback injured and later to return as a fan favorite again , solo , RybAxel seemingly broke up . AxelMania ( 2015 ) . At the Royal Rumble , Axel was set to enter the Rumble match at # 6 , but was attacked by Erick Rowan on the entrance ramp , rendering him unable to compete . Axel then began an angle where he began referring to himself as " the true winner of the Royal Rumble " , claiming that he still hadn ' t been eliminated from the match and that he deserved a shot at Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31 for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship as a result . This involved Axel interrupting segments involving the likes of Dean Ambrose , John Cena and Rusev to protest his cause , and also led to Axel starting his own hashtag , # AxelMania . On the May 11 episode of " Raw " , Axel turned face when he shook hands with Damien Sandow ( dressed as " Macho Mandow " ) , similar to the handshake of The Mega Powers when they formed a tag team . After this , Axel began impersonating Hulk Hogan while teaming with Sandow . The two were dubbed The Meta Powers . The Meta Powers were defeated by the Ascension at Payback kickoff . The Meta Powers interrupted The Miz ' s Miz TV with Daniel Bryan , at the Elimination Chamber kickoff show . Axel and Sandow ceased their AxelMania and Macho Mandow imitations on July 24 , after WWE fired Hulk Hogan and severed all ties with him . On the August 21 edition of " Superstars " , Axel returned to singles competition , defeating Adam Rose . On the September 30 episode of " Main Event " , Axel was defeated by newcomer Braun Strowman . On the Special New Year ' s Eve episode of " Smackdown " , Axel announced his entry into the 2016 Royal Rumble . The Social Outcasts ( 2016 ) . On the January 4 , 2016 episode of " Raw " , Axel turned heel when he , along with Heath Slater , Adam Rose and Bo Dallas , debuted a new stable and went on to assist Slater in defeating Dolph Ziggler , calling themselves " social outcasts " . On the January 11 episode of " Raw " , now billed as " The Social Outcasts " , the group would face The Wyatt Family in a losing effort . Axel would enter the Royal Rumble match at the # 5 spot lasting one minute and eleven seconds before being eliminated by the debuting AJ Styles . On the January 28 episode of " SmackDown " , Axel would face Styles in a losing effort . On the January 19 episode of " Main Event " , Axel and Heath Slater defeated The Dudley Boyz in a tag team match . On February 21 , at Fastlane , Axel defeated R - Truth in a singles match . On the March 17 , 2016 episode of " SmackDown " , The Social Outcasts announced they will be participants in 3rd annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 32 , which was won by Baron Corbin . In May , The Social Outcasts began filming , taking them out of action . The Social Outcasts returned on the June 27 episode of " Raw " , confronting Enzo Amore and Big Cass . The following week on " Raw " , The Social Outcasts faced Enzo Amore and Big Cass in a losing effort . Return to singles competition ( 2016 – present ) . As a result of the 2016 WWE draft on July 19 , Axel was drafted to the " Raw " brand , being the last pick for the brand . The week after on " Raw " , Axel was nicknamed " Mr . Irrelevant " due to being the last draft pick for " Raw " . Axel then stated that they " saved the best for last " , before he was defeated by a returning Neville . Personal life . Hennig is a third generation professional wrestler ; his grandfather Larry " The Axe " Hennig and his father Curt Hennig were both professional wrestlers . His sister Amy is also a professional wrestler . He has two other siblings who are not wrestlers . Hennig and his wife had a son , Brock , in June 2009 . In a WWE network original series episode of ' Table for 3 ' , he admits that he has three sons . He enjoys ice fishing and fantasy football . He won WWE Magazine ' s Fantasy Football League for the 2011 NFL season . Hennig graduated from North Hennepin Community College with an Associates of Science degree in business computer systems and management . In wrestling . Finishing moves