Tadarius Thomas TaDarius Thomas ( February 14 , 1981 ) is an American professional wrestler previously signed to Ring Of Honor . Early life . Born in Detroit , Tadarius Thomas comes from a background very similar to other men from the Motor City , but unlike many he found his way out of the poverty - stricken neighborhood where he was bullied during most of his youth . That bullying led Thomas first to amateur wrestling where he had to travel out of Detroit , since his high school did not have wrestling available , to the Highland Park suburb in order to learn . Wrestling led Thomas to the world of Mixed Martial Arts and to the city of Montreal where he trained and eventually had his first fight at the age of only 17 . Thomas , who likes to say he is the only man in wrestling who can fight on his feet or upside down , is well versed in many martial arts including Brazilian jiu - jitsu , boxing , and submission grappling , but it is the African - Brazilian martial art called Capoeira that he claims as his favorite . It is a style that incorporates dancing , gymnastics , and a variety of kicks from any position and is the reason Tadarius says he is just as comfortable fighting up side down as he is standing on his feet . Career . Ring Of Honor ( 2011 - 2015 ) . Looking for further challenge , Thomas left MMA to pursue a career in boxing where he claimed two Eastern Michigan golden glove championship and was named Michigan ' s 2005 outstanding boxer of the year with a record of 36 - 5 - 1 and 20 consecutive knockouts . Boxing led to professional wrestling and to Truth Martini ' s House of Truth school , but following his training , Thomas says he left the HoT because of Martini ' s corrupt intentions . Now in the Ring of Honor wrestling promotion , Thomas look to have the same successes in pro wrestling that his natural athletic gifts and hard work have brought him in the world of MMA and boxing . Thomas made his debut on May 6 , 2011 as TD , during in a dark match defeating Jeff Brooks . After a pair of dark matches between the months of April and June of 2012 , he became known as Tadarius Thomas and had his first aired appearance on July 14 , 2012 at ROH Brew City Beatdown in a match won by Kyle O ' Reilly . On September 15 at ROH Death Before Dishonor X , Thomas wrestled in a Survival Of The Fittest Tournament qualifying match , where he defeated Silas Young . Seven days later on September 22 , Thomas wrestled in a second Survival Of The Fittest Qualifying match , won by Adam Cole . Thomas ' s debut ROH pay - per - view match was on October 13 at ROH Glory By Honor XI , where he scored a victory against Rhino . During the May 5 , 2013 edition of ROH on SBG , Thomas teamed with ACH to challenge for the ROH World Tag Team Championship in a Number One Contendership threeway match won by team C & C Wrestle Factory ( Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander ) against Thomas & ACH and QT Marshall & RD Evans . On February 21 , 2014 Thomas and ACH challenged for the ROH World Tag Team titles at ROH 12th Anniversary Show , where they were defeated by defending champions team reDRagon ( Bobby Fish & Kyle O ' Reilly ) . Their rematch was on March 7 at ROH Raising The Bar - Night 1 where they were again defeated by the tag team champions . At ROH Best In The World 2014 , Thomas challenged for the ROH World Television Championship in a Number One Contender Six - Way Match won by his tag team partner ACH against opponents Thomas , BJ Whitmer , Caprice Coleman , Takaaki Watanabe and Tommaso Ciampa . At , Thomas wrestled in a Number One Contendership Four Way Match for the ROH World Championship , losing to Silas Young against ACH and Matt Taven . Thomas final bid for Number One Contender came in the form of the Honor Rumble match held on September 27 at ROH on SBG , where Michael Bennett emerged the victor . On January 30 , 2015 , Thomas wrestled his final ROH match at ROH Winter Warriors Tour in defeat to Jimmy Jacobs . Afterwards , Thomas was released from ROH .