Adam Pearce Adam Pearce ( June 24 , 1978 ) is a retired American professional wrestler currently working as a trainer for WWE at the WWE Performance Center . He is a former four - time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and a one - time PWG and NWA British Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion . He also perviously served as the head booker for Ring of Honor from 2008 to 2010 . Early life and training . Pearce lettered in both football and baseball in high school . Between his junior and senior years , Pearce suffered from Acute Muscular Compartment Syndrome in both of his lower legs and underwent surgery . As a result , he had " pretty much learn how to walk all over again " and he stopped playing sports . During his convalescence , he met professional wrestling trainers Sonny Rogers and Randy Ricci , and began training with them in November 1995 . Early career . Pearce had his debut match on May 16 , 1996 , a few weeks before he graduated from high school . Pearce quickly began wrestling for independent professional wrestling promotions , especially in Milwaukee and Wisconsin . At this time , he also began traveling throughout Michigan with Dave Prazak , and he began working for Dan Curtis ' Northern States Wrestling Alliance ( NSWA ) . He was part of the " East Coast Invasion " angle where he had an early breakout match near Thanksgiving 1997 against Reckless Youth . Pearce sided with the local Michigan babyfaces charged with fighting off Youth , Don Montoya , Lance Diamond , and Twiggy Ramirez . A rematch between Pearce and Youth took place in Ian Rotten ' s Independent Wrestling Association Mid - South ( IWA - Mid South ) company , where Pearce had captured their IWA Mid - South Light Heavyweight Championship by defeating Cash Flo . He began wrestling for most notably for Carmine DiSpirito ' s Mid American Wrestling promotion , and through DiSpirito was booked on a tour of Europe in 1998 . Upon his return to the United States , he underwent further training at the Steel Domain Training Center , where he was the first student , under Ace Steel and Danny Dominion . Together Steel , Dominion , and Pearce became regulars in Minnesota , working under the St . Paul Championship Wrestling ( later Steel Domain Wrestling ) banner . Once again , Pearce ' s feud with Eaton grabbed headlines as they engaged in a Garbage Can Match . It was one of the first " ECW " style matches in the area . He went on to feud with Danny Dominion over the Northern States TV Title , which was showcased on ex - AWA announcer Mick Karch ' s weekly TV show , " Slick Mick ' s Bodyslam Revue " . Later , future Domain trainees CM Punk and Colt Cabana debuted in Minnesota and begin their careers under the guidance of Steel , Dominion , and Pearce . Later on , Pearce became a member of the Gold Bond Mafia with CM Punk , Colt Cabana , Dave Prazak , and Chuck E . Smooth . At the same time , Pearce began working in All - Star Championship Wrestling based in Green Bay , Wisconsin , as the promotion ' s top babyface and later , top heel . His matches against Dino Bambino were viewed as being among the area ' s best , and their 1999 Cage Match in Green Bay was voted the 1999 Upper Midwest Match of the Year . Pearce captured the ACW Heavyweight Title by defeating longtime rival Adrian Lynch in Green Bay , and held it until losing to Rob Norwood in a 3 - Way - Dance months later . During this time , Pearce also made appearances in Nashville , Tennessee for Bert Prentice ' s Music City Wrestling and in Pittsburgh for Norm Connors ' Steel City Wrestling . Pearce made several World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) appearances as a jobber , where he was noticed by Terry Taylor . When Taylor moved to World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) Pearce was contacted by Paul Orndorff . After attending the WCW Power Plant , Pearce was offered a WCW developmental contract but he declined , as he did not feel that relocating to Atlanta was a viable option for him . After a stint in the short - lived WXO promotion in early 2000 , Pearce had another tryout with WCW , but described WCW as being " disorganized and chaotic " . Pearce felt " burnt out " and decided to take time off from professional wrestling . Californian Independent Circuit . After eight months , Pearce returned to wrestling at the urging of both Christopher Daniels and Kevin Kelly . Through Kelly , he met Rick Bassman and began working for Bassman ' s Ultimate Pro Wrestling ( UPW ) promotion . In UPW , he was teamed with Aaron Aguilera in a tag team called " Hardkore Inc " . Pearce has worked several UPW events , most notably against Diamond Dallas Page at UPW ' s biggest event , Overload , held in Las Vegas . He also wrestled Chris Masters in Masters ' last independent match before being signed by WWF ( now WWE ) . He also was signed to be a part of the King of Indies 2001 Tournament , promoted by Roland Alexander ' s All Pro Wrestling ( APW ) . He faced and was defeated in the opening round by Doug Williams . Pearce also competed in IWA - Mid South ' s 2001 Sweet Science Sixteen , defeating Chris Hero and B . J . Whitmer before losing to Ace Steel . Pearce was generally inactive in a national sense , making sporadic appearances on California independent shows put on by Millennium Pro Wrestling and AWS ( both based in Los Angeles ) and WCWA ( based in San Diego ) . He also made a few appearances for Mid American Wrestling ( based in Milwaukee ) . This would change when Gary Yap contacted Pearce about the soon - to - be - debuting EPIC promotion . He then signed on to wrestle in EPIC promotion , and after it failed he moved to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla ( PWG ) . He was an early fixture of the promotion , and feuded with Joey Ryan , Aaron Aguilera , and Frankie Kazarian among others . He became the second ever PWG Champion when he defeated Kazarian on February 22 , 2004 at Taste the Radness . He was the promotion ' s first heel champion feuding with Aguilera and Babi Slymm until he lost the title on July 10 , 2004 back to Kazarian at PWG ' s One Year Anniversary Show Reason for the Season in a Steel Cage " Loser Leaves PWG " match . Pearce was then very active in Southern California , working for Bart Kapitzke ' s Alternative Wrestling Show , as both wrestler and matchmaker . Many in the SoCal industry credit Pearce ' s booking as the reason for a huge upswing in AWS ' s attendance despite the lack of well - known or flown - in talent . Pearce won the AWS Title under a mask as " The Masked Spymaster II " , defeating Babi Slymm ( The mask of the Masked Spymaster II was later given as a gift to Colt Cabana for his MTV Wrestling Society X character , Matt Classic ) . Pearce lost the title months later to Human Tornado in a cage match at AWS ' Halloween Slaughterhouse II . Shortly thereafter , he began a feud with former tag team partner Aaron Aguilera . The feud advanced and was tied into a huge WarGames cage match in March 2006 , where AWS drew their largest attendance to date . The feud ended in July 2006 when Aguilera defeated Pearce in a brutal strap match . Pearce was also very instrumental in early NWA Pro events in the area , serving as the booker and matchmaker . Mexico and Japan . Upon leaving PWG , Pearce almost immediately debuted in Mexico for Promociones XLUM , where he feuded with Venum Black , Extreme Tiger , Nicho el Millonario , and Rey Misterio , Sr . . XLUM ' s premiere event of 2004 entitled Jaulamania drew a sold out crowd to see El Hijo del Santo on top , while Pearce and his cohorts worked underneath , and ran in on a bloody cage match , attacking Damián 666 and Halloween . Other notable matches included a wild 8 - Man - Tag filmed by Fox Sports Español which saw Pearce and his partners ( Al Katrazz , Aaron Aguilera , and Jason Allgood ) brawl all over the famous Auditorio de Tijuana . Pearce eventually turned babyface , even cutting promos in Spanish as part of his Dusty Rhodes - esque character . Pearce left Mexico when XLUM folded in early 2005 . Pearce also became involved with the Los Angeles New Japan Dojo and trained there in addition to being a part of their short - lived television product , Toukon Fighting Spirit , which aired for 6 weeks in Los Angeles County . Pearce was involved in a storyline with New Japan Pro Wrestling ( NJPW ) talent Toru Yano , which eventually led to them tagging as " The Beer and Sake Connection . " This led to Pearce ' s Japanese debut for NJPW on May 15 , 2005 at the Tokyo Dome in a dark match against Don Frye ' s sparring partner , George Castro . Pearce was additionally offered a tour in place of Florida - based wrestler Steve Madison , but was forced to decline due to work obligations . Ring of Honor . In July 2005 , Pearce debuted for Full Impact Pro in Florida , facing Sal Rinauro and Azrieal . Pearce credits CM Punk , Cabana , Samoa Joe , Daniels and Steel with receiving a booking in FIP . From FIP , he moved into Ring of Honor ( ROH ) . Pearce appeared at ROH ' s Glory by Honor IV show in September 2005 . At that point , the storyline had him displeased with the way Commissioner Jim Cornette had been treating him , not giving him high - quality matches or title shots . This booking continued until January 2006 , when Pearce became involved in ROH ' s war with Combat Zone Wrestling ( CZW ) by challenging , and then pulling Necro Butcher over the rail at a show in Cleveland , Ohio . For this feud , Pearce put his differences with Cornette aside and became one of the main ROH wrestlers leading the fight against CZW . Because of Pearce ' s speaking and promo skills , he was appointed Lieutenant Commissioner of ROH during the storyline to voice Cornette ' s intentions on ROH events that he could not attend . During the seven month feud , Pearce was a part of many brawls with CZW ' s Chris Hero and Necro Butcher , and he was part of the match at ROH ' s 100th show , which saw CZW defeat ROH after Claudio Castagnoli betrayed ROH . Pearce suffered a severe cranial laceration early in the match which required 20 staples to close . At Death Before Dishonor IV on July 15 , 2006 , Pearce competed in and helped ROH win the 8th Cage of Death match , teaming with Samoa Joe , Ace Steel , B . J . Whitmer , and Bryan Danielson ( later replaced by Homicide ) to defeat CZW ' s Chris Hero , Claudio Castagnoli , Necro Butcher , Nate Webb , and Eddie Kingston . Post - match Pearce and J . J . Dillon attacked and handcuffed Homicide to the ring post to allow Cornette to administer a beating . This action elevated Pearce into a main event level feud with Homicide , which began with Pearce turning on former friend and partner , BJ Whitmer , and siding with a returning Steve Corino . This was pivotal in the Corino versus Homicide feud which saw Homicide team with Samoa Joe to defeat Pearce and Corino at Suffocation . Pearce at this point named ROH School Graduate , Shane Hagadorn , his " man - servant " and the two began working as a tag team . Pearce ' s highest level ROH match since Cage of Death also came in a cage against Homicide at The Chicago Spectacular : Night 2 , which Pearce lost . Pearce had originally challenged Homicide to the first strap match in ROH history , only to have Homicide rebuke it and throw out the cage challenge . Pearce went on to attack and seemingly cost Homicide his chance at the ROH World Title at Final Battle 2006 in Homicide ' s match against Bryan Danielson . ROH Senior Officials would have nothing of it and restarted the match , which Homicide eventually won . The feud with Homicide seemingly went to the wayside , as Pearce started interaction with Pelle Primeau and Delirious . Pearce then formed a stable known as " The Hangmen Three " , with BJ Whitmer , Brent Albright , and Shane Hagadorn . In April 2008 " Sweet N ' Sour " Larry Sweeney purchased the contracts of The Hangmen and merged them into Sweet N ' Sour Inc . Whitmer balked and was quickly beaten down and kicked out of the group while Albright quit on May 10 , 2008 . On June 7 , 2008 , Pearce teamed with Hero and Eddie Edwards in a loss to Brent Albright , Delirious , and Pelle Primeau taped for ROH ' s Respect is Earned II pay - per - view event . After the match he revealed the NWA World Title to be the item he had been mysteriously carrying in a briefcase and struck Albright in the head with it . This marked the first time ROH recognized Pearce as NWA Champion since he had won the title in September 2007 . On June 27 , 2008 in Dayton , Ohio , Pearce defeated ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness via disqualification in a Title vs . Title match . Originally McGuinness had pinned Pearce to win his NWA World Title but the decision was reversed when the NWA ' s Over The Top Rule was enforced and since Pearce had been thrown over the top rope , McGuinness was disqualified and both men retained their championships . Pearce ' s feud with Albright picked up steam , as on June 28 , 2008 Pearce and newest Sweet N ' Sour Inc . member Go Shiozaki lost to Brent Albright and FIP World Champion Roderick Strong when the referee stopped the match after Albright landed repeated knee strikes to the head of Pearce . Post - match , Pearce threw a fireball into the face of Albright , resulting in Pearce being suspended for 30 days while Albright was out of action to convalesce and recover from the burns . On August 2 , 2008 , the feud took another turn when Brent Albright defeated Pearce via submission with the crowbar to win the NWA World Championship . This came after NWA Officials presented Pearce with a replica NWA " Red " title belt , repeating history as Jack Brisco defeated Harley Race for the NWA Red Belt after Race was presented with it by Sam Muchnick in 1973 . On September 20 , 2008 , Pearce continued his year - long feud with Albright , defeating him at Glory by Honor VII to begins his second reign as champion . On September 25 , 2008 , it was announced Pearce had departed Ring of Honor due to company cost - cutting measures . On October 26 , 2008 , Ring of Honor announced that Adam Pearce would become the new Head Booker of the company , replacing Gabe Sapolsky . Despite his backstage role , Pearce made occasional wrestling appearances in ROH , notably during Caged Collision pay - per - view in Chicago on January 31 , 2009 , taking the pin in the Steel Cage main event . He also appeared at the " 7th Anniversary Show " in New York , NY on March 21 , 2009 , losing to Bobby Dempsey in 30 seconds , and at " Eye of the Storm 2 " on December 18 , 2009 in Manassas , VA , where he teamed with Matt Classic in a loss to The Set . On August 15 , 2010 , Pearce was replaced as the head booker of Ring of Honor due to what he described as " a difference of ideology " . National Wrestling Alliance . Outside of ROH , Pearce has also been feuding with Sean Waltman over the NWA Heritage Title on NWA Pro events throughout the US on their " Wrestling Summit " arena events , notably at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas , among other arena venues . Waltman took the title in El Paso , Texas on April 21 , 2007 , only to lose it back to Pearce in Laredo , Texas on April 29 . Pearce faced Brent Albright in the finals of the Reclaiming the Glory tournament to crown a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion . He had lost in the semi - finals to Bryan Danielson , but Danielson pulled out due to injury and Pearce replaced him . Pearce defeated Albright in Puerto Rico at an International Wrestling Association event to become the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion , the first champion since the belt was stripped from TNA . On October 13 , 2007 , he defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in Irving , Texas against Sicodelico , Jr . . The match ended in a 30 - minute draw with Pearce retaining the belt . On October 27 , 2007 , he was one of the six participants in a WarGames cage match , teaming Karl Anderson and C . Edward Vander Pyle against Los Luchas and Sicodelico Jr . He and his team lost the match and were all busted open . On May 10 , 2008 , he defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in King and Queen County , Virginia against Damien Wayne . The match went the full 60 minute time limit with Pearce retaining the title . Pearce was managed in the contest by Baby Doll , the former valet for Tully Blanchard . On August 2 , 2008 , Brent Albright defeated Pearce via submission with the crowbar to win the NWA World Championship . On August 30 , 2008 , Pearce challenged and was defeated by Albright in Mexico City in a rematch for the NWA World Title . This match was part of the debut of NWA Mexico , promoted by Blue Demon , Jr . . Pearce pulled a pair of Brass Knuckles to presumably use on Albright , but Albright knocked them loose and hit Pearce for the pinfall . Post match , Pearce got into a slapping match with Blue Demon , Jr . over the decision . On September 20 , 2008 , Pearce continued his year - long feud with Brent Albright , defeating him at Glory by Honor VII to begin his second reign as champion . On October 25 , 2008 , in Mexico City , Mexico , Blue Demon , Jr . defeated Pearce to win the NWA Championship . Pearce defeated Dru Onyx on January 23 , 2010 , in Quebec City , Quebec , for the NWA British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship . Pearce defeated Blue Demon Jr , then holder of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship , and Phil Shatter in a three way match to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for a third time on March 14 , 2010 at NWA New Beginnings . Then at the NWA Legends Fanfest on August 7 , 2010 , Pearce successfully defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Bryan Danielson . Pearce ' s third title reign ended on March 6 , 2011 , when he was defeated for the title by Colt Cabana at the NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood television tapings . After leaving Ring of Honor , Pearce began working as head booker for NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood until stepping down due to ' family obligations ' . Pearce ' s resignation allowed Joey Ryan to take over the book . Pearce continues to perform on the television show and acts as a producer for the series ( credited as A . J . Pearce ) . On July 31 , 2011 , Pearce won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for the fourth time by defeating Chance Prophet , Jimmy Rave and Shaun Tempers in a four - way match to win the vacant title . He would lose the title to Colt Cabana on April 8 , 2012 . On July 21 , Pearce regained the title from Cabana by defeating him in a Two Out of Three Falls match . On October 27 , Pearce vacated the title , after the NWA refused to allow him to defend the title against Colt Cabana in a deciding match in the Best of Seven Series . After losing the series against Cabana , Pearce left the NWA . Pearce ' s NWA hiatus lasted only three months before NWA Smoky Mountain announced him as a participant in the Smoky Mountain Cup on April 26 , 2013 . Acting . Adam pursued his acting career when he accepted a small role in the 2011 film She Wants Me . WFX Wrestling . Adam Pearce made his WFX Wrestling debut at ' Conflict of Interest to the Extreme 2010 ' . He defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against the first nation sensation Wavell Starr , and later in the event attacked Shane Douglas with the NWA Title belt , avenging Douglas ' casting aside of the same title in 1994 . Juggalo Championship Wrestling . On July 20 , 2011 , Pearce debuted as U . S . Marshal Adam J . Pearce at Juggalo Championship Wrestling ' s event Above The Law . There he aligned himself with Officer Colt Cabana , whom he later helped win the JCW World Heavyweight Champion . Professional Championship Wrestling Australia . On November 3 , 2012 , Pearce went 1 on 1 in a No Disqualification Match with Daniel Swagger for the PCW National Championship . It was Legend vs Champion . The match was very hard hitting that involved Ladders , Trashcans and Tables . Eventually it took 2 Super Kicks for Swagger to put Pearce away for the 3 count . After that match ended , both competitors stood to their feet . Pearce rose the hand of Swagger and then Swagger returned the favor by raising Pearce ' s hand . The two proceeded to hug while Passionate PCW fans crowded around them inside the ring in celebration to conclude the show . . . On 16 February 2013 , Daniel Swagger was to face Enforcer for the PCWe National Championship . Swagger had defeated Enforcer however it was stated that in the contract that Pearce was actually the person who was supposed to face Daniel Swagger . After Swagger was worn out from his match with Enforcer , Adam Pearce was able to pick up the victory and become PCWe National Champion .