Oliver Grey Joel Pettyfer ( February 21 , 1987 ) is an English professional wrestler , better known by his former ring name Joel Redman . He is best known for his time in WWE , where he works in the developmental territory NXT Wrestling as Oliver Grey . Pettyfer ' s work on the independent circuit in the United Kingdom is also worthy of note . He is a former Unified British Tag Team Champion alongside Mark Haskins in / Real Quality Wrestling and was a regular competitor in the Frontier Wrestling Alliance . Professional wrestling career . Early career . Pettyfer started wrestling with Devon Junior Wrestling Alliance , where he wrestled under his own name , before going to Revolution British Wrestling and other UK indie promotions . His first appearance in the newly named Varsity Pro Wrestling ( formerly RBW ' s southwest branch ) was in Crediton , Devon where he would wrestle as Joel Redman in a match where he would be defeated by American wrestler Spiro from San Antonio , Texas on January 26 , 2006 . On a later VPW show , Redman attacked Aviv Maayan after Maayan ' s match . " The Twisted Genius " Dean Ayass then made his way to the ring and introduced Redman as his new protégé . On VPW ' s first Charity Show , Maayan got his chance to face Redman which Maayan won . However , this would not end their feud as once again after Mayaan lost a match to Jorge Castano , Redman and Ayass would once again come to the ring and attack Mayaan . After this attack Ayass would grab the microphone and tell the fans that on the next show back in Horndean , Joel Redman would face Aviv Mayaan once again . Redman ' s feud with Aviv Mayaan would not just be contained to VPW . After becoming an alumnus of the training school , Redman went on to train in the FWA Academy where he would face off with Mayaan once again , touring a Title tournament this time coming on the losing end of the match . After dominating several opponents throughout the end of 2006 in FWA : A , Redman would team up with FWA : A Champion LT Summers to defeat Mark Sloan and Ollie Burns for the FWA : A Tag Team Championships . Premier Promotions ( 2006 - 2012 ) . Over the year , Redman has become a regular for Premier Promotions and made his debut in 2006 teaming with Kris Kay to defeat Chris Andrews and Sam Andrews . In late 2007 , Redman participated in a one night tournament losing to Danny Collins in the semi finals . In early 2008 , the PWF Mid - Heavyweight Championship was vacated by Doug Williams and to find a champion there was a round robin tournament which Redman was involved in , however , he would lose all his matches and was eliminated . Throughout 2008 , Redman had made an impression on Premier Promtoions with his technical prowess and spirit to never give up , this culminated on September 4 when Redman defeated Marty Scurll in the finals of the Ian Dowland Trophy . With this win he took on Ricky Knight for the PWF Mid - Heavyweight Championship but lost via count out . Towards the end of 2009 , a year Redman spent away from Premier Promotions , he returned to take part in the Ken Joyce Trophy 2009 but would lose to legendary British wrestler , Robbie Brookside , in the semi final . In March 2010 , he won a one night tournament and would win another in April . Redman would once again become a regular for Premier Promotions and towards the end of the year defeated Justin Starr to win the Ken Joyce Trophy 2010 . Following this win , on February 27 , 2011 , he defeated UK Dominator in a British rules match for the vacant PWF International Championship . As the reigning champion , Redman entered the Worthing Trophy 2011 and reached the final where he was defeated by Danny Garnell . Redman teamed up with Jonny Storm to take on Kris Kay and UK Dominator in a British rules match for the vacant PWF Tag Team Championship which they lost . Redman would vacate the PWF International Championship when he was signed by World Wrestling Entertainment and moved to their developmental system NXT Wrestling . The Thrillers ( 2007 – 2009 ) . Redman formed a team with Mark Haskins known as The Thrillers , on their debut match together they lost to The South Coast Rock ' n ' Roll Express ( Ian Logan and Jake McCluskey ) on July 14 , 2007 which involved a special guest referee . The team would go on a losing streak for the next few months and even lost to The Kartel ( Sha Samuels and Terry Frazier ) in a match for the IPW : UK Tag Team Championship . The Thrillers won their first match as a tag team in a dark match by defeating JP Monroe and Jules Lambrini on January 27 , 2008 . The team debuted for Real Quality Wrestling on February 16 , 2008 and defeated the Maximum Head ( Dan Head & Max Voltage ) and would next month beat The Lost Boys ( Danny Darko and Jo FX ) . After their two successful matches they challenged The Damned Nation ( Cameron Kraze and Dragon Aisu ) on April 26 for the RQW Tag Team Championship which they won . The Thrillers returned to IPW : UK on May 4 triumphant with tag team gold in the form of RQW Tag Team Championship only to lose the championship The Kartel ( Sha Samuels & Terry Frazier ) in a championship unification match which also involved IPW : UK Tag Team Championship . The team debuted for One Pro Wrestling losing to BritRage ( Mark Sloan & Wade Fitzgerald ) . However they would beat The Kartel on September 28 for the Unified British Tag Team Championship . The Thrillers would then debuted for Westside Xtreme Wrestling at the beginning of 2009 and won a wXw Tag Team Championship Contendership match defeating Adam Polak and Lazio Fe . With that win , they challenged Doug Williams and Martin Stone for the wXw Tag Team Championship the following month , but were unable to win the title . Upon their return to IPW : UK , The Thrillers lost the Unified British Tag Team Championship to The Leaders of The New School ( Marty Scurll and Zack Sabre , Jr . ) . The Thrillers tried to regain the championship on two separate occasions , the first ending in DQ and the second where they were defeated clean in a tables , ladder and chairs match . Irish Whip Wrestling ( 2008 - 2009 ) . Redman made his debut for Irish Whip Wrestling on July 5 , 2008 in a four corners match for the IWW International Heavyweight Championship which Mandrake won , the match also involved Doug Basham and Vic Viper . After competing only a few matches in 2008 , the next year he became a regular at the promotion . He took on LA Warren for the IWW Zero Gravity Championship and Mandrake for the IWW International Heavyweight Championship on multiple occasions but would also come up short . In mid 2009 , Redman had formed a partner ship with Captain Rooney which for their short time together worked , winning all their matches , however Rooney would turn on Redman and joined up with Bingo Ballance . The Redman and Ballance feud culminated with Ballance coming out on top . Redman ' s last match for IWW was against Mandrake for the IWW International Heavyweight Championship , once again losing . World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE . Developmental territories ( 2012 - 2014 ) . Following two tryout matches , Pettyfer signed a contract with WWE . In a March 2012 interview , Pettyfer stated he was waiting for his visa before he could travel to Florida to begin working for the developmental promotion . Pettyfer made his debut under the Joel Redman name at a FCW live event on June 20 , 2012 teaming with Conor O ' Brian against Garrett Dylan and Rick Victor in a losing effort . On the June 28 , 2012 FCW live event , Pettyfer competed under his real name teaming with C . J Parker in a losing effort against Big E . Langston and Lincoln Broderick . Pettyfer would make his singles debut at the June 29 , 2012 FCW live event against Mason Ryan in a losing effort . On September 19 , 2012 Pettyfer made his NXT TV debut now under the name Oliver Grey in a losing effort against Kassius Ohno in a Sparring match . At the November 1 , 2012 NXT live event Grey defeated Knuckles Madsen in his first victory in a winning effort . Grey would then start teaming with Adrian Neville as both would team at the December 13 , 2012 NXT live event against Axl Keegan and Dante Dash in a winning effort . Grey formed a team with Adrian Neville to defeat 3MB ( Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre ) in the first round of the NXT Tag Team Championship tournament on the January 23 episode of NXT . On January 26 , 2013 at Royal Rumble fan fest , Grey competed in a 8 - man tournament to determine who would gain entry into the Royal Rumble match as he would compete in the fourth round in a losing effort against Conor O ' Brian . Grey then suffered a torn ligament anterior cruciate ligament . and was written off television in March after an attack by the Wyatt Family . Whilst Grey was injured he was replaced as tag champion by Bo Dallas , with whom Neville lost the title to the Wyatt Family on 2 May . Following a nine - month hiatus , Oliver Grey returned to NXT on 3 January 2014 . On April 30 , 2014 he was released by WWE . United Kingdom Independent Circuit ( 2014 - Present ) . Following his release from the WWE , Pettyfer returned to working under the name Joel Redman , although he still also wrestles as Oliver Grey . He appeared in matches for Varsity Pro Wrestling , All Star Wrestling and Revolution Pro Wrestling . In RPW , Redman joined forces with his fellow WWE alumni Martin Stone , forming a tag team called England ' s Calling . Together , they won the RPW Tag Team Championship at " RPW Summer Sizzler 2014 " on June 15 . On July 19 though , in Future Pro Wrestling , he went against Martin Stone during the " Summertine Brawl IV " event , and won by disqualification when the London Riots interfered , with Martin Stone joining in . The Alpha Males saved Redman soon enough . His next match in Future Pro Wrestling will be a 6 - man tag ( joining forces with The Alpha Males ) against Martin Stone who joined forces with The London Riots , after they were banned from competing against the Swords Of Essex for the tag titles . Between January – February 2015 , Martin Stone returned to the states for another company , which left Joel Redman on his own in Rev Pro UK . At ' No Escape ' , he won in two matches against the UK Hooligans ( who stole the RPW tag titles ) , the first defeating Zak Knight by pinfall , and the second defeating Roy Knight by disqualification , due to an interference by Zak . At ' High Stakes ' , he had to choose a replacement partner for Stone to defend the titles , in which he chose Mark Haskins , reuniting The Thrillers once again . They successfully defended the titles . Personal life . From an early age , Pettyfer played rugby and participated in judo . He attended East Devon College . While wrestling in England , Pettyfer simultaneously worked as a forester .