Justin Gabriel

On February 16, 2010, it was announced that Gabriel was going to be making his WWE debut by competing on the first season of *NXT*, with Matt Hardy as his storyline mentor. He made his in-ring debut on the March 2, 2010 episode of *NXT* in a tag team match with his mentor Hardy, against the team of William Regal and Skip Sheffield. Gabriel and Hardy won the match when Gabriel pinned Regal, making him the first rookie to pin a pro on the show. He went on to defeat Wade Barrett the following week, before suffering his first defeat on the 16 March 2010 episode of *NXT,* when he and Hardy were defeated by CM Punk and Darren Young. On 30 March, in the first Pros Poll, Gabriel was ranked third behind Daniel Bryan (first) and Wade Barrett (second). Before the first elimination, Gabriel won the Rookie Challenge earning immunity from elimination in the following Pros Poll. In that Poll, Gabriel remained in third place behind Wade Barrett (who was moved to first) and David Otunga (second). In the season finale on 1 June, Gabriel was the first eliminated, finishing in third place overall in the competition.

On the 7 June 2010 episode of *Raw,* Gabriel and the other season one *NXT* rookies turned heel by interfering in the Viewer's Choice main event match between John Cena and CM Punk, attacking both competitors, the announcing team and Justin Roberts, the ring announcer before dismantling the ring area and surrounding equipment. The following week on *Raw,* the rookies (excluding Daniel Bryan who had been released) attacked General Manager Bret Hart, when he refused to give them contracts. At the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view, the seven rookies interfered in the WWE Championship match and cost Cena the championship. The following week on *Raw,* Vince McMahon fired Hart and announced the hiring of a new General Manager, who had signed the seven season one *NXT* rookies to contracts. The following week, the group was named The Nexus. On the 12 July episode of *Raw*, The Nexus competed in their first match together, without Darren Young, a six–on–one handicap match against John Cena, which they won when Gabriel pinned Cena. The Nexus continued to feud with Cena and the *Raw* roster, resulting in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match at SummerSlam. Gabriel was one of the final two Nexus members in the match, but Cena's team won when Cena eliminated Gabriel and then Barrett to win the match.

On 3 October 2010, Cena was forced to join The Nexus as a result of losing to Barrett at Hell in a Cell and at the following pay-per-view Bragging Rights, Cena and Otunga won the WWE Tag Team Championship. On the 25 October 2010 episode of *Raw,* Barrett made a tag team match, with Gabriel and Heath Slater facing Otunga and Cena for the championship. Gabriel and Slater won when Barrett ordered Otunga to allow Slater to pin him, becoming the new Tag Team Champions. Gabriel and Slater held the championship for nearly two months before losing it to Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov in a four-way elimination match, also involving The Usos and Mark Henry and Yoshi Tatsu on 6 December. Gabriel and Slater received a rematch for the championship at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on 19 December, but lost by disqualification when Nexus member Michael McGillicutty interfered.

On the 10 January 2011 episode of *Raw,* Gabriel and Slater refused to take part in new Nexus leader CM Punk's initiation and walked away from the group. The following day, at the tapings of the 14 January 2011 episode of *SmackDown,* Gabriel and Slater helped former leader Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson attack Big Show. The following week, Gabriel, Slater, Barrett, and Jackson announced they had formed The Corre, and later that night Gabriel defeated World Heavyweight Champion Edge in a non-title match, following interference from the other members of The Corre. After winning a non-title match against the champions Kozlov and Marella on 4 February episode of *SmackDown*, Gabriel and Slater received a match for the WWE Tag Team Championship two weeks later, but lost via disqualification when the other members of The Corre interfered. They received a rematch at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on 20 February and defeated Marella and Kozlov to win the WWE Tag Team Championship for the second time. The following night on *Raw*, Gabriel and Slater lost the championship to John Cena and The Miz, but won the championship back minutes later after Barrett invoked The Corre's rematch clause, and The Miz turned on Cena. During this time, The Corre had continued to feud with The Big Show, and at WrestleMania XXVII in April, the team of The Big Show, Kane, Santino Marella, and Kofi Kingston defeated The Corre. At the 19 April taping of *SmackDown*, the duo of Gabriel and Slater lost the Tag Team Championship to the team of Kane and The Big Show. In a backstage segment following the match, Gabriel was attacked by Slater, who thought Gabriel blamed him for their loss. On the 6 May episode of *SmackDown*, Gabriel, Barrett, and Slater attacked Jackson, removing him from the group. The three remaining members of The Corre feuded with Jackson until the 10 June episode of *SmackDown*, when Barrett walked out on Gabriel and Slater during a six-man tag team match against Jackson and the Usos, causing Gabriel and Slater to proclaim the end of The Corre. Gabriel continued to ally himself with Slater despite the dissolution of The Corre, and the duo began a feud with The Usos. On the 17 June episode of *SmackDown*, Gabriel and Slater were defeated by The Usos, but defeated them in a rematch the following week. They were again defeated by The Usos on the 8 July episode of *SmackDown*, resulting in the pair arguing in the ring. The following week, their team was ended when they faced off in a match won by Gabriel, and Gabriel transitioned to a face.

At Money in the Bank, Gabriel participated in the *SmackDown* Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by Daniel Bryan. For the rest of 2011, Gabriel scored many wins on *Superstars* over wrestlers like Tyson Kidd, JTG and Jinder Mahal, but was not as successful on other shows. On *Raw*, he failed to win a battle royal for the WWE Intercontinental Championship on 26 September 2011; while on *SmackDown*, he lost singles matches to Wade Barrett, Hunico and Cody Rhodes.

In January 2012, Gabriel began an alliance of sorts with Hornswoggle, saving him from Slater and Cody Rhodes, leading to matches with both which he won and lost respectively. At Elimination Chamber, Gabriel unsuccessfully challenged Jack Swagger for the WWE United States Championship.

Following a series of matches in early 2012, Gabriel and Tyson Kidd showed mutual respect for each other, and decided to team up and form a tag team to challenge Primo & Epico for the WWE Tag Team Championship. In a dark match at WrestleMania XXVIII on 1 April, also involving the Usos, they attempted to win the championship but were unsuccessful. During the match, Gabriel suffered a hyper-extended and twisted elbow, rendering him inactive for several weeks. He returned on the 30 May episode of *NXT*, scoring the win for himself, Derrick Bateman and Percy Watson over the team of JTG, Johnny Curtis and Michael McGillicutty.

Gabriel reunited with Kidd on 6 June, when they defeated Johnny Curtis and Heath Slater on *NXT Redemption*. At the No Way Out pay-per-view, Gabriel and Kidd were defeated by The Prime Time Players (Titus O'Neil and Darren Young) in a number one contender four-way tag team match, also involving Primo and Epico and The Usos. When *NXT* turned into WWE's developmental territory in August, Gabriel participated in a tournament to determine the inaugural NXT Champion, but was eliminated by Michael McGillicutty. On the 31 August episode of *SmackDown*, Kidd and Gabriel suffered their first loss as a team against the Prime Time Players.

On the debut episode of *Main Event* on 3 October, the pair, now unofficially called International Airstrike, lost to Santino Marella and Zack Ryder in the quarter-finals of a tournament to decide the number one contenders. The following month, they were named part of a team for Survivor Series, and were on the winning side of a precursor match on 12 November when they, Rey Mysterio, and Sin Cara defeated the Prime Time Players, Primo, and Epico with Gabriel pinning Young. At Survivor Series, Gabriel and Kidd were part of the victorious team in a five-on-five elimination tag team match, alongside Mysterio, Sin Cara, and Brodus Clay. In January 2013, Kidd had suffered a torn knee meniscus, placing their partnership on hold. On the 17 April 2013 episode of *Main Event*, Gabriel won a battle royal to earn a recognition for the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship. His match against former ally Wade Barrett was later that night, but Gabriel was unsuccessful as Barrett pinned Gabriel after a devastating bull hammer elbow the finishing move of Barrett.

Gabriel did not perform on pay-per-view for 2013; from May, he largely wrestled singles matches on *Main Event* and *Superstars*, with wins over Curt Hawkins and Darren Young, but lost to other wrestlers including Antonio Cesaro, Big E Langston, Damien Sandow, and Fandango. He was involved in a storyline in September; after weeks of authority figure Triple H emasculating the WWE roster, Gabriel and several other babyfaces finally saved Daniel Bryan from a beatdown by the Shield and Randy Orton on the 16 September episode of *Raw*. In response, Triple H arranged for Gabriel and Zack Ryder to face Luke Harper and Erick Rowan of The Wyatt Family on the next *SmackDown*, where Gabriel's team lost. On the next episode of *Raw*, Bryan, Gabriel and the other babyfaces faced the Shield in an 11-on-3 handicap elimination match; Gabriel was eliminated by Roman Reigns, but his team eventually won the match last eliminating Seth Rollins.

He wrestled one match on pay-per-view for 2014, that being the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX, which Gabriel failed to win. In mid-2014, Gabriel began competing more on *NXT*, but even there, Gabriel lost all of his televised singles matches, including to Adrian Neville, Tyler Breeze and Hideo Itami. After losing to Sami Zayn on the 3 July 2014 episode of *NXT*, Gabriel turned heel for the second time since 2011 by joining his former partner Tyson Kidd in a post-match assault on Zayn. The following week on *NXT*, Gabriel and Kidd's reunion was initially successful as they defeated Neville and Zayn in a tag match, but Zayn got revenge when he and Adam Rose eliminated Gabriel and Kidd in a tournament to determine the number one contenders to the NXT Tag Team Championship on the 7 August episode of *NXT*. Gabriel's last televised victory was on the 11 September 2014 episode of *Superstars* against Sin Cara. His last title opportunity came on the 28 November 2014 episode of *SmackDown*, when he was the first eliminated from a battle royal for the United States Championship.

Toward the end of his run, Gabriel was primarily used as a jobber. His last televised match was a loss to Rusev on the 14 January 2015 episode of *Main Event.* Gabriel was released on 25 January 2015.