Tyson Blade

PRODIGY

**Sebastian Tyson** (born May 13th, 1983), better known by his ring name **Tyson Blade**, is a British retired professional wrestler known for his time in American professional wrestling promotion Saturday Night Precision, where he is a former World Heavyweight Champion and the third Hall of Fame member in the promotion's history.

Blade currently holds the promotion's record as the longest-reigning World Heavyweight Champion to date, having won the title at Wrestlemania having cashed in his Gauntlet of Champions world title shot for the opportunity to fight for the title before beating Jay Andersen for the championship. Blade would hold the title until 2016, when his reign came to an end by the hand of Danny Jacobs.

Tyson Blade retired from wrestling on September 7th, 2017 at Precision's Wrestle Dynasty II PPV, when he was defeated in his retirement match by Jack Rogue by pinfall.

## Early Life

Sebastian Tyson was born on May 13th, 1983 in Chester, England. Throughout his childhood, Tyson's family were constantly moving from flat-to-flat, mainly due to the fact they didn't have much money so they would usually be evicted before they could get properly settled somewhere.

Due to this, Tyson was forced by his parents to get a job at the age of 16, which was when he left high school. Sebastian had two jobs, one was the morning paper round in his local neighborhood and the other was working in an old worn-down wrestling gym, where he would clean the building once a week.

This is where Sebastian became interested in becoming a wrestler, seeing it as a fun hobby and an escape from reality. He loved the idea of being able to play the character of someone that he is not so he decided to enroll in the wrestling school, using the money he made from cleaning the place to pay to be taught how to wrestle. This angered Tyson's parents resulting in them cutting him off from their lives. It resulted in Sebastian's trainer who was a former world champion widely-known as Jonathon Blade, letting Tyson stay in a hidden room in the gym, providing him a place to sleep and live.

## Professional Wrestling Career

### **Chester Pro Wrestling (2005-2007)**

After about six months of training, Jonathon decided that Sebastian was finally ready to have his first match. Making a call to a local promotor, Sebastian began to wrestle for a company known as CPW (Chester Pro Wrestling) under his real name. After his first match, Tyson was elated with the thrill of being in the ring and in front of a live crowd as it was something he had never quite experienced before. For the next few months, he would wrestle sporadically for the promotion while also still learning how to become a better wrestle at his training school.

Seeing the amount of hard work he was putting in, CPW finally decided that Sebastian should become one of the top faces of the company. This saw a sizeable push for Sebastian as well as several marquee matches against such performers as Lloyd Olson, Sylvester Phelps, and even the then-current CPW World Champion, Cedric Wilkerson. Finally pulling the trigger on his career, Tyson was put into the main event feud with Wilkerson. The two put on some fantastic matches and even heated their rivalry up to the next level by having their final match under the stipulation that the loser would leave the company if they could not retrieve the world title (the match was also a ladder match). In this match, Sebastian was seriously injured. After taking a bump where would be thrown off the top of the ladder onto another ladder positioned in the ring, Tyson broke two vertebrae in the middle of his back, resulting in the match being called off and Sebastian being stretchered out of the arena and sent in an ambulance to go the hospital.

Doctor's advised Tyson that he would have to use a walking frame to be able to move around and that he wouldn't be able to wrestle again. This mentally broke him, wrestling was all he had and without it, he was just a crippled man with nowhere to go. He had to watch others train the gym while he was barely able to stand, however, this motivated him to try and do all he could to get back to how he was before.

### **First Retirement and Recovery from Injury (2007-2013)**

During this time, Sebastian underwent physical therapy to get stronger, hoping that it would, in fact, increase his chances to walk properly and wrestle again. This was very difficult for him, several times throughout this part of his life, he wanted to give up. He was struggling to do the most basic of exercises, let alone try and walk. However, all this did was make him want it more. A breakthrough finally occurred in 2011 when Sebastian was finally able to walk with some assistance. This was a big confidence boost for him and made him realize that he could actually do this. After more physical therapy, Tyson stunned medical personnel as he could fully walk on his own, basically the same as he could before the injury.

Mid-way through 2012, Sebastian had a big decision to make, did he go back to wrestle or not? He loved everything about it, but the injury from his last match still haunted him. Discussing with his trainer on what to do, Jonathon told him to do whatever was best for him, to follow his heart. After this talk, Sebastian decided that he wanted to go back to wrestling and complete everything that he was unable to before his final match. Taking on extensive training to get himself back into shape, Sebastian relearnt the basics and some of the more advanced wrestling techniques that he never got the chance to learn before. CPW called both Jonathon and Sebastian saying that they would love to have Tyson back in their promotion as he never got the proper run he deserved. Sebastian decided that he would go back to perform for them, although, he requested he came back under a different name and different gimmick.

### **Return to Chester Pro Wrestling (2013-2014)**

In February 2013, Sebastian returned to the promotion under a mask and the new ring name of **PRODIGY**. Sebastian cites this time in his promotion as very important to him as he managed to learn how to adapt and be more diverse in the wrestling business. This time being pushed from the start of his run, he became an instant fan favorite for his innovative moves and the fact that someone of his size could move so fast. After a few months, he found himself once again facing off for the world title, this time against the current world champion, Edgar Vasquez. Unsuccessful in trying to capture the elusive title he'd always wanted, Tyson's time with the promotion was cut short because of the death of his trainer, Jonathon Blade.

### **Sony Storm (2014-2016)**

After a few weeks went by, Tyson got a call from an American-based promotion known as 'Sony Storm'. They claimed that they were big fans of his work over in Britain and wanted to sign him to a multi-year deal. Sebastian thought about this decision long and hard, finally accepting the offer realizing this could provide a future for him. In September 2014, Sebastian reported to the company and began training for his Sony Storm debut.

Tyson began his journey with the company on November of 2014, the company had several plans for him but weren't sure where they wanted to go with them. There were talks that he would join Harrison Payne and Jordan Bull has the third member of the stable Project X, however, creative decided against it as they didn't see Tyson has a big enough name. Eventually, they decided on him being a member of the XSA (Xtreme Sporting Alliance) with current World Heavyweight Champion, Cornelius Matthews and former daredevil turned professional wrestler, Dominic Clinton. Sebastian debuted on Sony Storm under the ring name Tyson Blade, where he was tested by Matthews to see if he was, in fact, the real deal. During this match, Tyson came close to ending the champions undefeated streak, however, he fractured ankle during the match requiring him to take some time off.

### **The Hardcore Championship and Rise to Stardom (2015)**

Returning to the company in April 2015, being placed in random matches over a couple of weeks to wear off the ring rust and he had collected during his time injured and to get him ready for what they had planned for him which was to chase the newly-revealed Hardcore Championship. At Bad Blood, Tyson faced off against Jerod Bowden to become the inaugural Hardcore Champion. Blade won the match after hitting Bowden with the Blade Bomb to become the first Hardcore Champion. Over the next few weeks, Tyson would defend his title on television against random opponents. At SummerSlam, The Psycho was chosen as Blade's opponent for the title. Tyson lost the title to Psycho at SummerSlam, however, this was seen as very controversial due to the finish of the match and the stipulation being somewhat altered from the normal hardcore rules. Throughout The Psycho's reign. many still claimed he was a fraud and that Blade was the true champion.

After SummerSlam, Blade began to impress officials and higher-ups because of his ethic, in-ring work, and most importantly his microphone skills. Blade was regarded as the best talker in the company and one of the more exciting talents to watch in the ring and that is why creative decided to push Tyson closer to the main event scene. For the next couple of weeks, he got the chance to work with some of the more popular performers such as Jack Rogue, The Blade, and Mike Thunder. His match with Thunder was regarded as one of the best in the company's history as both men worked a high-flying but hard-hitting style and put on a classic, the match was later nominated for a Match of the Year Award at that year's Sony Storm Awards.

At Backlash, Tyson's work was rewarded with him being placed in a number one contenders match against a returning Brian Edwards. Both men tried their best, but it was in fact Brian who came out on top and would be the man to go on to face Jay Anderson for the world title at that year's WrestleMania.

### **World Heavyweight Champion (2015-2016)**

With Blade's dream of becoming world champion slowly dwindling with time going by, he decided there was only one thing left that he could do to become the champion and that was to enter the Gauntlet of Champions. At WrestleMania, Tyson did just that and ran the gauntlet, defeating several members of the roster. The final match would be Tyson vs Jerry with Tyson getting the pinfall and becoming the first ever holder of the GoC briefcase meaning he could cash it in for a world title match, anytime, anywhere. In the main event of WrestleMania, Jay Anderson defeated Brian Edwards to become the World Heavyweight Champion, however, his celebration was short-lived because Tyson cashed in his GoC briefcase and defeated Anderson to become the world champion. The show ended with Tyson lifting the title up in the air.

Over the next few months, Tyson entered a feud with Jordan Bull who claimed Blade had been ducking him and was scared to face him. The following two Pay-Per-View events were headlined by Jordan Bull vs Tyson Blade. Both matches had the same result with Tyson defeating Bull, meaning Tyson would stay as the champion as Sony Storm headed into its annual three-month break.

## Championships and Accomplishments

**Saturday Night Precision**

* World Heavyweight Champion (one time)
* Longest-reigning World Heavyweight Champion