Trent Acid

Michael Verdi (November 12, 1980 - June 18, 2010) was an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name Trent Acid.
Trent has worked as a tag team wrestler for most of his career, primarily as part of The Backseat Boyz tag team with Johnny Kashmere, in several independent promotions in America, including Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Unplugged, and Combat Zone Wrestling. However, Acid has also worked a singles career with several promotions, including Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
Verdi passed away on June 18, 2010, due to an apparent overdose. He was 29 years old.
==Career==
===Combat Zone Wrestling===
Trent Acid is well known for competing in Combat Zone Wrestling. He debuted with CZW in 1999 and competed mostly in singles matches. At the first Cage of Death, he teamed with White Lotus to face the Kashmerinoes of Johnny Kashmere and Robbie Mireno. Acid wrestled many matches against Kashmere before teaming up with him to form The Backseat Boyz. The Backseat Boyz became a very successful team and won the CZW Tag Team Championship. While part of this team, Acid still wrestled in the singles division and won the CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship three times, competing against the likes of Ruckus and Justice Pain for the title. He also became the second Best of the Best winner by defeating Jody Fleisch in the final match at Best of the Best 2. In September 2003, Acid won the vacant CZW Iron Man Championship by defeating Nick Gage and Jimmy Rave in a three-way match.
Around this time, Trent Acid along with Johnny Kashmere joined the Hi-V stable and feuded with Zandig and his ultraviolent team. This feud came to an end at Cage of Death V in the Cage of Death match. However, before competing in the Cage of Death match, Acid first had to defend his Iron Man Championship against Jimmy Rave. The match went to a time limit draw with each man scoring one fall, but the match was ordered to restart and Rave won the title. Acid went on to the Cage of Death but was eliminated and his team eventually lost. The Hi-V broke up after this and The Backseat Boyz soon left CZW. Acid returned to CZW later in 2004 and feuded with Teddy Hart and Messiah. He left again shortly after.
On June 14, 2008, Acid made his return to CZW when he faced World Champion Nick Gage in a non-title match. It was the first time Acid had been seen in a CZW ring since his departure from the company in 2004.
At 'An Eye for an Eye' - 11 April 2009, Acid made what is said to be his Full Time return to CZW. It was the main event of the evening as Sami Callihan and Jon Moxley took on Brain Damage and Drake Younger - the lights went out during Sami Callihan cutting a promo & standing behind him was none other than Acid. Acid gave Callihan a Yakuza Kick to the head, he then helped Drake up onto his feet and talked to him for a moment, before shaking hands with him and letting Drake go onto the corner to get his pop. Once Drake got down and turned around, he was also nailed with a Yakuza Kick. Trent then cut a promo about how he was in jail for 10 months and said 'f**k you' to anyone who doubts him or hopes bad things happen to him. He then said that he's going after Drake and the CZW Title.
===Ring of Honor===
Trent Acid is also known from Ring of Honor. He began his ROH career in 2002, when he and Johnny Kashmere defeated Homicide and Steve Corino in an interpromotional match between ROH and CZW at the first Glory By Honor. The Backseat Boyz would go on to work for ROH permanently. They continued wrestling together and competed in many scramble matches against the likes of The SAT, The Carnage Crew and Special K. However, Acid is perhaps best known from ROH for his feud with Homicide, which featured some classic Fights Without Honor. After this feud, The Backseat Boyz won the ROH Tag Team Championship by defeating Special K in the final round of a gauntlet match for the vacant title. This made The Backseat Boyz the first team to win both the CZW and ROH Tag Team Championships. Acid and Kashmere lost the title to Special K at the next show. Later, Johnny Kashmere would later leave ROH and Acid would continue as a singles wrestler. At Testing the Limit', he challenged Samoa Joe for the ROH World Championship, but didn't win. He was also part of the Scramble Cage Melee main event in the scramble cage. Acid had his last ROH match at Final Battle 2004 against Jimmy Jacobs. After losing this match, he quit ROH.
===Pro Wrestling Unplugged===
Trent Acid joined Pro Wrestling Unplugged at its inception in 2004, eventually feuding with Homicide, 2 Cold Scorpio, and Devon Moore over the PWU World Heavyweight Title. Acid made the title a world title when he defended the belt in Mexico.
In 2005, Trent feuded with his old friend and new rival, Hellter Skelter. The feud lasted a few months, starting with Hellter claiming that Trent turned his back on their friendship and made him the evil person he is today. After months of feuding, Acid defeated Skelter in a "Philadelphia Street Fight" match on August 20, 2005. The feud continued in 2007, with Hellter wanting a rematch, and recording disturbing promos on PWU Surge TV, calling out Acid and claiming he would "carve [Acid's] flesh". Finally on November 23, 2007, Acid accepted the rematch and lost to Skelter, who had outside help from former WWE diva Sunny.
Acid made his return to PWU, following knee surgery, on March 16, 2008, at the event Haunted, wrestling Television Champion ZBarr to a time-limit draw. Since the departure of Tod Gordon, and subsequent handoff of sole ownership to tag-team partner Johnny Kashmere, Acid has been named co-owner of the company.
===Juggalo Championship Wrestling===
In 2007, he appeared in Juggalo Championship Wrestling for Season 1 of SlamTV!. There he competed under the name "Holy" Trent Acid (self-proclaimed "Savior of JCW"), and took the role as one of the main heels. Trent won the JCW World Heavyweight title from Corporal Robinson at West Side Wars, but lost it to Robinson at East Side Wars inside a steel cage in Philly.
===Pro Wrestling Syndicate===
Trent worked for the new promotion Pro Wrestling Syndicate where he has had matches with Alex Shelley, Human Tornado, Danny Doring, Justin Credible and Sabu.
== Death ==
Verdi was found dead June 18, 2010 at home by his mother. He had a history of heroin use. He was 29 years old.
==In wrestling==
*Finishing moves
:*Acid Bomb (Inverted crucifix powerbomb)
:*Acid Drop/Shovel Driver (Lifting falling inverted DDT or an inverted brainbuster)
:*Acid Trip (Corkscrew plancha)
:*Running arched big boot
*Signature moves
:*Acid Lock (Full nelson camel clutch)
:*Acid Burn (Sitout powerbomb)
:*Hurricanrana
:*Discus elbow smash
:*Diving leg lariat
:*Full nelson slam
:*Reverse frankensteiner
:*Rope hung guillotine leg drop
:*Spin-out powerbomb
:*Lifting DDT
:*Springboard into either a back elbow or a tornado DDT
==Championships and accomplishments==
*Assault Championship Wrestling
**ACW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Johnny Kashmere
*Big Japan Pro Wrestling
**BJW Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*Combat Zone Wrestling
**CZW Iron Man Championship (1 time)
**CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
**CZW Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Johnny Kashmere
**Best of the Best (2002)
**CZW Hall of Fame (2019)
*East Coast Wrestling Association
**ECWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Johnny Kashmere
*Hardway Wrestling
**HW Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Johnny Kashmere
*Jersey All Pro Wrestling
**JAPW Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Johnny Kashmere (2) and Billy Reil (1)
*Juggalo Championship Wrestling
**JCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*National Championship Wrestling
**NCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Johnny Kashmere
*New Midwest Wrestling
**NMW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Billy Reil
*Phoenix Championship Wrestling
**PCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Johnny Kashmere
*Pro Wrestling Unplugged
**PWU Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*Ring of Honor
**ROH Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Johnny Kashmere
*United States Xtreme Wrestling
**UXW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**UXW Xtreme Championship (1 time)
**UXW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Mike Tobin
*Urban Wrestling Alliance
**UWA Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
**UWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Billy Reil
*Other titles
**GWA Lightweight Championship (1 time)
==External links==
*Trent Acid Profile on CAGEMATCH
*Trent Acid Profile on Online World of Wrestling
Category:American wrestlers
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