Ricky Jelani

Ricky Jelani at a house show event in the Virgin Islands

### Trainer(s)

RHWC (Red Hook Wrestling Connections Performance Center)/ WGW Performance Center

## Professional Wrestling Career

### Signature Move(s)

You can't stop me (Discus Big Boot)Suplex Variations, sometimes in multiples

Diving Crossbody

Headbutt

Around the world and back (Spinning rebound powerslam)

### Finishing Move(s)

Mighty Bomb (High-Impact Samoan Driver)Hooked (Fireman's Carry Facebuster)

### Accomplishments

Finalist in the MME for UIW with Kristen PageFirst call up in WGW Season 4 with Jeff SevernMost eliminations in the Men’s UIW High Stakes Battle Royal (6)Most time spent in High Stakes Battle Royal:43 minutes 10 seconds

**Richard Babatunde Jelani** was born on December 31st 1994 to Larry E. Jelani and Monifa Jelani. Richard is the youngest of 5 with his 2 sisters (Tina and Becky Jelani) and his 3 brothers (Thomas, Steven, and Billy Jelani). Richard was an avid wrestling fan (both pro and amature). He took up the sport in 7th grade after wanting to defend himself from bullies for being short and fat. Richard worked as a chef while he was in high school to help pay his families bills and to help fuel his mass collection of video games. He graduated from David Yulee High School, the only reason he passed was because he attended night school where he got his grades to barely passing, in his own words "I'm not the brightest bulb in the box".

Richard got into wrestling after his other job closed down after the owner passed away. His size was too much for the promoter to treat him as enhancement talent so he became a heel who was dominate in the promotion known as Red Hook Wrestling Connections. He turned face after going through a 35 minute match and getting a scar on his side in the process. Richard moved to America where he got scouted for the promotion known as WGW.

## WGW

Richard wasn't comfortable playing the heel like he was in RHWC so he adopted the ring name of Ricky Jelani and based this character off of him in real life. Richard started out on the Showcase brand. His first two matches were with Kaden where he won both and squashed him in the second match. He then faced Nico Demas in a losing effort. He faced Yari Gianfranco for #1 contendership of the Regional Championship in a losing effort. During this time, a showcase new comer himself Jeff Severn took a liking to Jelani and they formed a team know as The Oddballs. They went on a giant losing streak and didn't win a single match. Both were victorious in their respective matches with MLH Jr. and Phoenix Dawn, Richard facing the latter of the two. Jeff Severn also confessed his feelings for Ricky as well, Ricky decided to just stay friends.

Ricky went into his second season in WGW with a win over Adam Rage in one of the Matches Of The Night. Ricky and Jeff made their main roster debuts as they faced off against former Undisputed Tag Team Champions known as The Wicked (Chris Dallas and Dreyken Carter), getting a win over the team by disqualification, making that their first win as a team. Ricky and Jeff went on to more success as they got into a feud with the world champion at the time, Christian Gerald and his team known as The Syndicate. Ricky suffered a loss to Adam White of The Syndicate. The Syndicate defeated The Oddballs in a #1 contendership match but The Oddballs getting their win back at the next PPV. Around that time, Richard made friends with a female talent at the time known as Kelly Ann Sky and they are still friends to this day.

Ricky and Jeff were called up to the main roster of WGW, debuting on the Meltdown brand in a losing effort to EAG (RTB and Mr. Incredible). They would lose their next match to Empire (Brad Bishop and Crain). Ricky got a singles match in a losing effort to see who would become #1 contenders for the All-American Championship. Ricky would score a pinfall victory over Brad Bishop a few weeks later and Ricky found himself as #1 contender for the All-American Championship against Paul Crenton when he defeated Samuel Saint and Jack Rudi in a triple threat match.

## EWWF

Not much is known about Ricky's time in EWWF. A few things of prominence he did were Losing his King of The Ring Spot to Tora Troy, Becoming #1 contender for the EWWF United States Championship and losing the title match, and being in the final 3 of a world championship 5 pack challenge.

## UIW

Ricky Jelani debuted in UIW in a fatal 4 way in a losing effort after he wasn't pinned. The next match he was in was a fatal 4 way where he won and was attacked by a man named "Bearclaw" after the match. Ricky scored another win over Takeshi Matsumoto. It was announced that Ricky was in the UIW Mixed Match Extravaganza with his partner being the debuting Kristen Page. He was shown in promos with her being very nervous and cheerful at the same time. They made it to the finals of the MME after defeating Boso and AKIRA and Jaden Shadow and Ally Cage. In the finals, Ricky was knocked out for 20 minutes at the hands of George King, his team went on to lose the match after he couldn't save Kristen from the pinfall. Ricky tried to make amends with Kristen but he gets hit with a knee instead. Ricky suffered a concussion but was still scheduled to wrestle in a 5 way for a match against the #1 contender for the UIW World Championship that happened to be George King, he lost that match by not taking the pin. Ricky become #1 contender for the UIW Television Championship after he won a fatal 4 way. Ricky went into the UIW High Stakes battle Royal lasting the longest time and eliminating 6 people including UIW General Manager Xander Slate. UIW is on hiatus at this moment so we will see if Ricky can pick up his first ever championship.

## Personal Life

Richard is an avid Video Game fan. He is a fan of the game known as Overwatch and mains Widowmaker on the game.

Richard is also a big fan of Legos and Funko Pops.

Richard has an obsession with female wrestler Priscilla Kelly and has a shrine and body pillow of her. He hopes to meet her one day.

Richard has been asked on interview about his sexuality after rumors of him being gay or bisexual started to circulate. He responded with "If you're gay, that's ok. If you're Bisexual, that's ok as well. I don't have a problem with anyone from LGBTQIA+, but I am straight."

Richard also has expressed his hatred for female wrestler Ashley Rayne, stating that she "Is the fakest and most rude person I have ever met. It's all a front, don't believe that crap."

Richard also had a girlfriend by the name of Elise Kelly, he stated they broke up after he "went too far". No one knows the reason except his close friend Kelly Ann Sky who refuses to tell anyone. Richard dealt with suicidal thoughts after that happened and nearly ended his life but was saved after he saw a picture of his family and didn't want to put them through pain.

Richard is a big fan of shows like Adventure Time, Regular Show, Ed Edd N' Eddy, and ECT.