Paul Lloyd , Jr . Paul Lloyd Jr . ( March 3 , 1981 ) is a second - generation South Africa n professional wrestler , currently working for Lucha Underground as PJ Black . He was previously signed with WWE , under the name Justin Gabriel . He was a contestant in the first season of " WWE NXT " , where he finished third , before joining The Nexus stable on " Raw " . He has held the WWE Tag Team Championship alongside Heath Slater for three reigns . He is also a former FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion . Professional wrestling career . Early career . Lloyd made his professional wrestling debut at the age of 16 and was originally trained by his father Paul Lloyd , Sr . , a promoter and wrestler in South Africa who also went by the ring name " The Pink Panther " . His grandfather was a professional boxer and amateur wrestler . Lloyd grew up watching his father wrestle and in the early part of his training he used to practice in the backyard of his home , which had two rings positioned . Lloyd went by the ring name " PJ Black " . He formed a regular tag team with Ray Leppan ( who went by the name Presley Jackson , now known as Dameon Duke ) called Pure Juice . During Lloyd ' s final year in high school his father died and a year later he moved to the United Kingdom for five years . United Kingdom and South Africa ( 2000 – 2008 ) . Lloyd spent five years in the United Kingdom , where he trained with the FWA Academy as well as acquiring diplomas in Graphic Web Design , Personal Training , Sports Nutrition and Body Massage . He was trained by Alex Shane and Mark Sloan . In 2003 he made his FWA debut . He also made an appearance in . In 2006 , he returned to South Africa and wrestled for World Wrestling Professionals ( WWP ) , which is nationally televised on SABC 2 in South Africa and Colours TV in India with the shows " WWP Thunderstrike " and " 100 % De Dhana Dhan " , respectively . His most notable feuds during his tenure in WWP were against Tornado , Dameon Duke , Mikey Whiplash and Joe E . Legend . On November 1 , 2007 , Black became the promotion ' s inaugural World Cruiserweight Champion , by defeating The Playa in a match to determine the inaugural champion . After holding the championship for 13 days , he lost it to The Lizard on November 14 . He then declared his intentions to compete in WWP ' s heavyweight division . Lloyd challenged unsuccessfully for the WWP World Heavyweight Championship against Joe E Legend on a " WWP Thunderstrike " episode that aired on January 10 , 2009 . During the match he suffered minor burns to the face after a fireball spot did not go as originally planned and he had to be treated at a local hospital . His final match in South Africa took place on November 8 , 2008 at WWP ' s bi - annual Carnival City Casino show , where he was defeated by Terri Middoux in front of a record attendance . World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE . Florida Championship Wrestling ( 2008 – 2010 ) . In 2008 , Lloyd signed a three - year developmental deal with WWE , becoming the first South African person to do so . He was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling ( FCW ) , WWE ' s developmental territory , where he made his debut under his real name on February 5 , in a loss to Kawal . His first win in FCW came the following week , when he teamed with Caylen Croft and Trent Barreta to defeat Tyler Reks , Johnny Curtis , and DJ Gabriel in a six - man tag team match . The following month , he changed his ring name to ' Justin Angel ' . He went on to wrestle against DH Smith , Barreta , Yoshitatsu , and Lance Hoyt over the next few months . In June , he formed a tag team with Kris Logan , with the pair defeating DJ Bariel and Vic Adams in their debut match as a team . They quickly began to feud with The Dudebusters of Barreta and Croft , losing to them in several championship matches over the next month . At the July 23 , 2009 tapings of FCW ' s television show , Angel and Logan defeated Barreta and Croft to become the Florida Tag Team Champions . They lost the championship on the same night to The Rotundos ( Bo and Duke ) . Following the loss of the championship , Angel and Logan dissolved as a tag team , with Angel returning to singles competition . He went on a winning streak throughout August , defeating Alex Riley , Vance Archer , and Sheamus . Angel won the Florida Heavyweight Championship from Heath Slater in a two out of three falls match at the September 24 , 2009 television tapings . He successfully defended the championship against Drew McIntyre , Eric Escobar , Slater , and Curt Hawkins throughout late 2009 . In February 2010 , he changed his ring name to ' Justin Gabriel ' to conincide with his appearances on " NXT " . Further successful championship defenses occurred in early 2010 , against competitors including Hawkins , Barreta , and Kaval . After a near six - month reign , Gabriel lost the championship at the March 18 television tapings , when Alex Riley won a three - way match , which also included Wade Barrett . Gabriel lost a rematch to Riley on March 31 and again on May 20 . In May , he started a feud with fellow South African Leo Kruger over who was the better wrestler . On June 10 , Gabriel beat Kruger , but Kruger reversed the result in a rematch at the July 1 television tapings , which was Gabriel ' s final appearance in FCW . The Nexus and The Corre ; teaming with Heath Slater ( 2010 – 2011 ) . On February 16 , 2010 , it was announced that Angel was going to be competing on the first season of " WWE NXT " , under the name Justin Gabriel , with Matt Hardy as his storyline mentor . He made his in - ring debut on the March 2 episode of " NXT " in a tag team match with his mentor Hardy , against the team of William Regal and Skip Sheffield . Gabriel and Hardy won the match when Gabriel pinned Regal , making him the first rookie to pin a pro on the show . He went on to defeat Wade Barrett the following week , before suffering his first defeat on the March 16 episode of " NXT " , when he and Hardy were defeated by CM Punk and Darren Young . On March 30 , in the first Pros Poll , Gabriel was ranked third behind Daniel Bryan ( first ) and Wade Barrett ( second ) . Before the first elimination , Gabriel won the Rookie Challenge earning immunity from elimination in the following Pros Poll . In that Poll , Gabriel remained in third place behind Wade Barrett ( who was moved to first ) and David Otunga ( second ) . In the season finale on the June 1 episode of " NXT " , Gabriel was the first eliminated , finishing in third place overall in the competition . On the June 7 episode of " Raw " , Gabriel and the other season one " NXT " rookies turned heel by interfering in the main event match between John Cena and CM Punk , attacking both competitors , the announcing team and Justin Roberts , the ring announcer , before dismantling the ring area and surrounding equipment . On the June 14 episode of " Raw " the rookies ( excluding Daniel Bryan who had been released ) attacked General Manager Bret Hart , when he refused to give them contracts . At the Fatal 4 - Way pay - per - view , the seven rookies interfered in the WWE Championship match , as a result costing Cena the championship . The following week on " Raw " , Vince McMahon fired Hart and announced the hiring of a new General Manager , who had signed the seven season one " NXT " rookies to contracts . The following week , the group was named The Nexus . On the July 12 episode of " Raw " , The Nexus competed in their first match together , without Darren Young , a six – on – one handicap match against John Cena , which they won when Gabriel pinned Cena . The Nexus continued to feud with Cena and the Raw roster , resulting in a seven - on - seven elimination tag team match at SummerSlam . Gabriel was one of the final two Nexus members in the match , but Cena ' s team won when Cena eliminated Gabriel and then Barrett to win the match . In October 2010 , Cena was forced to join The Nexus as a result of losing to Barrett at Hell in a Cell , and at the following pay - per - view , Cena and Otunga won the WWE Tag Team Championship . On the October 25 episode of " Raw " , Barrett made a tag team match , with Gabriel and Heath Slater facing Otunga and Cena for the championship . Gabriel and Slater won when Barrett ordered Otunga to allow Slater to pin him , becoming the new Tag Team Champions . Gabriel and Slater held the championship for nearly two months , before losing it to Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov in a four - way elimination match also involving The Usos and Mark Henry and Yoshi Tatsu on the December 6 episode of " Raw " . Gabriel and Slater received a rematch for the championship at the pay - per - view on December 19 , but lost by disqualification when Nexus member Michael McGillicutty interfered . On the January 10 , 2011 , episode of " Raw " Gabriel and Slater refused to take part in new Nexus leader CM Punk ' s initiation and walked away from the group . The following day , at the tapings of the January 14 eisode of " SmackDown " , Gabriel and Slater helped their former leader Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson attack Big Show . The following week , Gabriel , Slater , Barrett , and Jackson announced they had formed the Corre , and later that night Gabriel defeated World Heavyweight Champion Edge in a non - title match , following interference from the other members of The Corre . After winning a non - title match against the champions Kozlov and Marella on the February 4 episode of " SmackDown " , Gabriel and Slater received a match for the WWE Tag Team Championship two weeks later , but lost via disqualification when the other members of The Corre interfered . They received a rematch at the Elimination Chamber pay - per - view on February 20 and defeated Marella and Kozlov to win the WWE Tag Team Championship for the second time . The following night on " Raw " , Gabriel and Slater lost the championship to John Cena and The Miz , but won the championship back minutes later after Barrett invoked The Corre ' s rematch clause , and The Miz turned on Cena . During this time , The Corre had continued to feud with The Big Show , and at WrestleMania XXVII in April the team of The Big Show , Kane , Santino Marella , and Kofi Kingston defeated The Corre . At the April 19 taping of " SmackDown " , the duo of Gabriel and Slater lost the Tag Team Championship to the team of Kane and The Big Show . In a backstage segment following the match , Gabriel was attacked by Slater , who thought Gabriel blamed him for their loss . On the May 6 episode of " SmackDown " , Gabriel , Barrett , and Slater attacked Jackson , removing him from the group . On the June 10th edition of SmackDown , when Barrett walked out on Gabriel and Slater in a 6 - man tag team match against Jackson and The Usos , Gabriel and Slater told Barrett later backstage that The Corre was over . They would start a feud with The Usos . On the June 17th edition of SmackDown , Gabriel and Slater , with new music , were defeated by The Usos , later defeating them in a rematch on the June 24th edition . The next day he together with Slater were announced for the Smackdown Money in the Bank match in Chicago , Illinois . They were again defeated by The Usos on the July 8th edition , having a visible disagreement and argument in the ring following the match . Singles competition ( 2011 – 2015 ) . The following week , Slater accused Gabriel of dropping the ball , thus ending the their team and Gabriel turning face . Gabriel ended up winning the match against Slater . At Money in the Bank , he participated in the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match , but was unsuccessful . The match was won by Daniel Bryan . Gabriel cemented his face status on the July 21 , 2011 episode of WWE Superstars , when he faced Tyson Kidd in a one on one match in a winning effort after performing a 450° splash on Kidd , despite his ( Kidd ' s ) super hurricanrana . Gabriel would then go on a winning streak in either singles or tag team competition as the weeks go on , but his winning streak ended when Wade Barrett pinned Gabriel after a " Wasteland " . After his match against Barrett , Gabriel would be pushed as " " The Superstar always looking for an adreneline rush " " with Garbriel getting several wins over Tyson Kidd , Heath Slater and a win over Jinder Mahal . Gabriel would continue a winning streak on WWE Superstars and house shows defeating NXT Rookies , and he got his first high - profile win defeating Dolph Ziggler . On January 24 , 2015 , it was reported that Justin Gabriel quit WWE the day before the Royal Rumble pay - per - view . International Airstrike ( 2012 ) . For a time , Gabriel teamed with Tyson Kidd as a tag team until breaking up around 2013 . Independent circuit ( 2015 – present ) . On 25 January 2015 , it was announced that Lloyd would be making his first post - WWE appearance for Pro Wrestling Syndicate ( PWS ) on 31 January while resuming his PJ Black ring name . At the EVOLVE 38 iPPV event held on 8 March 2015 , PJ defeated Caleb Konley following a springboard 450 splash . On March 26 , Black unsuccessfully challenged Drew Galloway for the Evolve World Championship . Global Force Wrestling ( 2015 – present ) . On 6 May 2015 , Global Force Wrestling ( GFW ) announced PJ Black as part of their roster < He would compete the GFW NEX * GEN Championship Tournament . On October 23 , 2015 , he won the tournament to become the first ever NEX * GEN Champion . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( 2015 ) . On July 27 , 2015 , Black defeated Lashley , Chris Mordetzky , Eric Young and Robbie E in a King of the Mountain match to win the vacant TNA King of the Mountain Championship . That same day , Black faced TNA World Heavyweight Champion Ethan Carter III in a losing effort . On the September 2 episode of Impact , Black lost the King of the Mountain Championship to Bobby Roode . Lucha Underground ( 2015 – present ) . On November 14 , 2015 , at the first set of Lucha Underground tapings for their second season , Black made his lucha debut for the organization and lost his first match against The Mack . Monster Truck Racing . On January 27 , 2012 at the Cumberland County Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville NC , Lloyd and 7 other wrestlers were signing up for a 16 - truck event , with 8 wrestlers spliting the field in half . This event would be the wrestlers that signed up ' s only event . Lloyd would finish 13th due to his 2001 Cadillac LMP flipping within the first 45 seconds . Personal life . Lloyd has competed in numerous modeling contests as well . He placed first in the Male Fitness Model Search held by FAME SA , sixth in the 2008 Mr Body Classic contest held by Mr & Ms Body Beautiful SA , eighth in the 2007 Men ' s Model Search held by Mr & Ms Fitness SA , and reached the top five in the Mr Physique Division in the 2008 Men ' s Model Search . He is currently in a relationship with WWE Diva Kelly Kelly .