Heath slater

**Heath Miller** (born July 15, 1983)[1] is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE as **Heath Slater**.

Miller trained at WWA4 wrestling school in Atlanta,Georgia. After
signing a developmental contract with WWE in 2006, Slater was a
contestant in the first season of *WWE NXT* in 2010, where he finished fourth. He is a former three-time WWE Tag Team Champion. All three of his tag title reigns have been with his Nexus and Corre ally, Justin Gabriel.

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From 2012 until 2014, Slater was primarily featured in WWE programming

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as the leader of the Three Man Band faction that was until Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal were released from their contracts in 2014.

## Professional wrestling career

### Atlanta World Wrestling Alliance (2004-2006)

Miller was initially trained at WWA4 Wrestling School and began to
wrestle in WWA4 Events and also in Georgia based Wrestling Federations.

### World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE

#### Developmental territories and NXT (2006–2010)

In December 2006, Miller signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, and was assigned to Deep South Wrestling (DSW), a WWE developmental territory.
 When the WWE ended its relationship with DSW in the spring of 2007,
Miller was one of over twenty developmental wrestlers to be sent for
further training at the new Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) territory. At a June 2007 FCW show, Miller appeared as the manager of fellow developmental talent Shawn McGrath
 under the name "Heath Wallace Miller Esq." However, Miller reverted to
using his real name and resumed his singles career while continuing to
manage McGrath.

Miller as the FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion in August 2009.

In 2007, Miller was given a talk show called the "Happy Hour" during some FCW shows.[5] During one segment, Billy Kidman was the guest; Miller claimed to idolize Kidman but then commented that Kidman's career was declining. This created a feud and led to a series of matches between the two.[5] In January 2008, Miller started defending the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship on behalf of the champion Ted DiBiase, Jr., who was injured.[6] DiBiase soon forfeited the belt and Miller was declared the champion.[7]

Miller and his tag team partner Steve Lewington lost to John Morrison and The Miz for the WWE Tag Team Championship on February 15, 2008 at an FCW show. Miller and Lewington then advanced to the finals of a tournament for the inaugural Florida Tag Team Championship in February 2008. Miller and Lewington defeated Brandon Groom and Greg Jackson and The Thoroughbreds (Johnny Curtis and Kevin Kiley) to reach the finals.[8][*unreliable source?*][9][*unreliable source?*] On February 23, 2008, Miller and Lewington lost to The Puerto Rican Nightmares (Eddie Colón and Eric Perez) in the finals.[6] On September 11, teaming with Joe Hennig, he won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship.[10] As champion, he changed his ring name to Sebastian Slater. On October 30, 2008, Slater and Hennig lost the title to The New Hart Foundation (Harry Smith and TJ Wilson) in Tampa, Florida.[10] He returned from injury in the 26 episode of FCW where he defeated Justin Angel. On August 13, 2009, at the 50th FCW TV taping, Miller defeated Tyler Reks to become FCW Heavyweight Champion.[10][11] Slater lost the FCW Heavyweight Championship to Justin Gabriel in a two out of three falls match at the September 24, 2009 TV taping.[10][12][*unreliable source?*]

On February 16, 2010, Miller, now using the ring name Heath Slater,
was announced as one of eight FCW wrestlers to compete on the first
season of the new *WWE NXT* show, with Christian as his storyline mentor. On the inaugural episode of *NXT*,

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Slater won his debut match as he and Christian defeated Carlito and

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Michael Tarver in a tag team match. Two weeks later, Slater defeated
Carlito, becoming the first NXT rookie to beat a WWE pro in a singles
match. On the March 30 episode of *NXT* he came fourth out of eight

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rookies in the first Pros' Poll. On the April 6 episode, Slater won a

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keg-carrying contest against all other rookies. This resulted in him
being in the main event that night, a match against Kane, that he lost. In an upset victory on April 20, Slater defeated Chris Jericho in the main event of *NXT*. However, Slater remained at fourth in the second Pros Poll, revealed on May 11. He was eliminated from *NXT* on May 25, coming in last in the Pros' Poll.

#### The Nexus and The Corre (2010–2011)

Main articles: The Nexus, The Corre and Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel

Slater (second from right) with the rest of The Nexus at SummerSlam.

On the June 7 episode of *Raw*, Slater and the other season one *NXT* rookies turned heel by interfering in the main event match between John Cena and CM Punk, attacking both competitors, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and Justin Roberts before dismantling the ring area and surrounding equipment.[13] On the June 14 episode of *Raw*, the rookies sans Daniel Bryan, who had been released from his contract, attacked General Manager Bret Hart, when he refused to give them contracts.[14] At the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view, the seven rookies interfered in the WWE Championship match, and as a result costing Cena the championship to Sheamus. The following week on *Raw*, Vince McMahon fired Hart and announced the hiring of the Anonymous General Manager, who had signed the seven season one *NXT* rookies to contracts.[15] The following week, the group was named The Nexus.[16] On the July 12 episode of *Raw*,

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The Nexus competed in their first match together, without Darren Young,
a six–on–one handicap match against John Cena, which they won when

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Gabriel pinned Cena.[17] The Nexus continued to feud with Cena and the Raw roster, resulting in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match at SummerSlam. During the match Slater eliminated both Chris Jericho and Edge. Afterwards Slater was eliminated from the match by Daniel Bryan, ultimately Cena's team won when Cena eliminated Gabriel and then Barrett to win the match.[18]

In October 2010, Cena was forced to join The Nexus as a result of losing to Barrett at Hell in a Cell, and at Bragging Rights, Cena and Otunga won the WWE Tag Team Championship.[19][20] On the October 25 episode of *Raw*, Barrett made a tag team match, with Justin Gabriel and Slater

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facing Otunga and Cena for the championship. Gabriel and Slater won

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when Barrett ordered Otunga to allow Slater to pin him, becoming the new

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Tag Team Champions.[21][22] 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 the December 6 *Raw*.[23] Gabriel and Slater received a rematch for the championship at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view on December 19, but lost by disqualification when Nexus member Michael McGillicutty interfered.[24]

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On the January 10, 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.[25]

Heath Slater as part of Nexus in 2010

The following day, at the January 14 tapings of *SmackDown*, Gabriel and Slater helped their former leader Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson attack Big Show.[26][27] 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.[28][29] After winning a non-title match against the champions Kozlov and Marella on the February 4 episode of *SmackDown*,

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Gabriel and Slater received a match for the WWE Tag Team Championship

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two weeks later, but lost via disqualification when the other members of

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The Corre interfered.[30][31] They received a rematch at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on February 20 and defeated Marella and Kozlov to win the WWE Tag Team Championship for the second time.[32][33]

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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.[34][35] The Corre began a feud with The Big Show, and at WrestleMania XXVII the team of The Big Show, Kane, Santino Marella, and Kofi Kingston defeated The Corre.[36] At the April 19 taping of *SmackDown*,

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the duo of Gabriel and Slater lost the Tag Team Championship to the

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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 May 6 episode of *SmackDown*, Gabriel,
Barrett, and Slater attacked Jackson, removing him from the group.
Barrett walked out on Gabriel and Slater in a 6-man tag team match
against Jackson and The Usos on the June 10th edition of *SmackDown*. This led to Gabriel and Slater telling Barrett that The Corre was over.[37][38]

Slater and Gabriel then started a feud with The Usos. On the June 17 edition of *SmackDown*,

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Gabriel and Slater were defeated by The Usos, later defeating them in a
rematch on the June 24 edition. The next day he together with Gabriel

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were announced for the *Smackdown* Money in the Bank match in Chicago, Illinois.

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They were again defeated by The Usos on the July 8 edition, having a

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visible disagreement and argument in the ring following the match. On
the July 15 edition of *SmackDown*, Slater started a feud with
Gabriel when he verbally berated him saying that Gabriel was holding him

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down. That same night, Slater lost to Gabriel after receiving a 450° splash.[39] At Money in the Bank on July 17, he and Gabriel participated in the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by Daniel Bryan. On October 17, WWE suspended Heath Slater due to a Wellness Violation for 30 days.[40]

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#### Feud with the Legends (2012)

WWE's returning veterans celebrate over a vanquished Slater on *Raw 1000*.

From the June 11 episode of *Raw*, Slater appeared in segments involving WWE veterans returning to *Raw* to build up to *Raw's*
 1000th episode on July 23. In the segments, Slater would enter the ring
 and issue challenges to "the so-called legends" or "any former WWE
champion", which resulted in him losing a series of squash matches, with the first two losses to Vader and Sycho Sid. He was further humiliated in a comedic segment featuring Roddy Piper, Wendi Richter and Cyndi Lauper. He did manage to defeat Doink the Clown on the July 2 episode of *Raw*, however, following the match, Diamond Dallas Page came to the ring and performed the Diamond Cutter on Slater. On the July 9 episode of *Raw*, Slater's challenge "to any former champion" was accepted by Bob Backlund. After Backlund played up to the crowd for a few moments, Slater hit him with a cheap shot. Backlund then applied the crossface chickenwing submission hold and kept it locked in long after Slater had tapped out. In following matches Scotty 2 Hotty, Rikishi, and Road Warrior Animal all defeated Slater in further squash matches. During the 1000th episode of *Raw* on July 23, he demanded a "no disqualifications, no countout" match and guaranteed his own victory. Lita responded to the challenge, however before the match could begin, Lita announced she had "hired some help", after which APA

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emerged. Slater attempted to leave, however he was forced back to the

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ring by all of the legends who had humiliated Slater in the preceding
weeks on *Raw*. Lita performed a twist of fate on Slater, followed by a clothesline from hell by John Bradshaw Layfield. Lita then pinned Slater after performing a moonsault. As Slater lay prone in the ring, the legends celebrated while Farooq taunted him with his catchphrase "Damn!".

#### 3MB (2012–2014)

3MB in 2013.

On the September 23 episode of *SmackDown*, Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal interfered in Slater's match against Brodus Clay by attacking Clay.[41] The trio later settled for the name of the Three Man Band, or 3MB for short.[42]
 Slater would then go on to become the brash and confident leader of the
 3MB. From October 2012, 3MB racked up many wins against Team Co-Bro (Santino Marella and Zack Ryder) and the Usos, all of them due to illegal interference. At the TLC pay per view, 3MB's winning streak came to an end at the hands of The Miz, Alberto Del Rio and the Brooklyn Brawler. The next night at the Slammy Awards show, 3MB lost again to Miz, Del Rio, and Tommy Dreamer. Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal often interfere in Slater's matches at Slater's behest, defending the leader of the trio.[43][44][45] On the *20th Anniversary of Raw* on January 14, 2013, 3MB won an Over the Top Challenge against Sheamus. Slater and McIntyre represented 3MB in the NXT Tag Team Championship tournament to crown the inaugural champions, but were defeated in the first round by Adrian Neville and Oliver Grey on the January 23 *NXT*.[46] He participated in the *Royal Rumble* coming from number 10 but was eliminated by John Cena. On the April 12 edition of *SmackDown* Slater, along with the rest of 3MB, attempted to ambush Triple H as he was addressing Brock Lesnar, however The Shield then came out and attacked them. On the April 15 *Raw*, 3MB called out The Shield but instead it was Brock Lesnar who came out and attacked the three of them, delivering the F-5 on Slater twice on the barricade. On the April 29 episode of *Raw*, 3MB attacked The Shield, but The Shield would quickly turned the tables on them. Team Hell No

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came to the ring, seemingly to aid 3MB, but The Shield escaped and Team
Hell No attacked 3MB instead. Over the next couple of months the group

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continued being used as partimers but mostly as jobbers, while doing
that on the main brand TV shows they would feud with Zack Ryder on WWE Superstars.

3MB in 2014.

On the November 11 episode of *Raw*, while on tour in the UK, 3MB changed their name to **The Union Jacks**, but were defeated by Santino Marella and Los Matadores. On the November 13 edition of *WWE Main Event*, Slater and McIntyre would defeat The Prime Time Players. On the November 15 episode of *SmackDown*, The Union Jacks were defeated by R-Truth and The Prime Time Players. On the country music edition of *Raw* on 18 November, 3MB competed as **The Rhinestone Cowboys** in which McIntyre and Mahal lost to R-Truth and the debuting Xavier Woods in Nashville. Similarly, this trend of name changes continued to amount the group losses as they also lost to The Prime Time Players on *SmackDown*, as **The Fabulous 3Birds**, which was a play on legendary tag team, The Fabulous Freebirds. On the November 29 episode of *Smackdown*, they were billed as **The Plymouth Rockers**, a play on The Rockers tag team, even coming out to the Rockers' theme music, and faced Los Matadores,

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along with their mascot, El Torito in a losing effort. Shortly after

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that match, Slater took time off from WWE to deal with personal issues.
He returned on the January 6, 2014 episode of *Raw*, which saw 3MB defeated by Rikishi and Too Cool. On April 4, Slater broke his losing streak, picking up the win against Kofi Kingston on WWE Superstars. At WrestleMania XXX,

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all three members entered the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and
eliminated both The Great Khali and Xavier Woods as a unit, before all

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three were eliminated by Mark Henry. After WrestleMania, 3MB entered a
feud with Los Matadores, which saw Hornswoggle ally himself with the
trio so as to feud with El Torito. 3MB won their first match since
December 2012 after Slater and McIntyre beat Los Matadores on the April
28 edition of Raw.

On June 12, both Jinder Mahal and Drew McIntyre were released from their WWE contracts, thus disbanding 3MB.[47]

#### Slater Gator (2014–2015)

Slater Gator in September 2014

On the June 16, 2014 episode of *Raw*, Slater showed signs of a face turn as he stood up to Rusev and Lana by responding to their anti-American promos. However, he was quickly defeated by Rusev, who applied the *Accolade* on Slater to get the win. On the June 26 episode of *Superstars*, Slater faced Adam Rose in a losing effort. On the July 11 episode of *SmackDown*, Slater teamed up with Titus O'Neil to face The Usos in a match which Usos won. At *Battleground*, Slater competed in a battle royal for the vacant Intercontinental Championship; Slater did not win the match, but managed to eliminate Cesaro in upset fashion and received the biggest ovation from the crowd in his career, but was then quickly eliminated by Sheamus. On the July 21 episode of *Raw*, Slater confronted Flo Rida about their previous confrontation. This resulted in Flo Rida once again pushing Slater to the ground. Slater then began to regularly team up with Titus O'Neil. On the July 29 episode of *Main Event*, Slater and O'Neil became known as *"Slater Gator"* and picked up their first win over Tyson Kidd and Zack Ryder. On the August 4 episode of *Raw*, Slater scored an upset victory over Seth Rollins following a distraction from Dean Ambrose, and he followed it up a week later with a count-out victory over Dolph Ziggler following a distraction from The Miz. During this period Slater Gator also scored victories on *Main Event* over Los Matadores and Goldust and Stardust. However Slater's brief winning streak was ended when Slater Gator were defeated by Los Matadores on the August 25 episode of *Raw*. Slater Gator then began a feud with Adam Rose and his bunny, who has attacked Slater on many occasions.

In his return to *Raw* on November 17, 2014, he returned in Uncle Sam attire and became the next victim against Rusev. Later at Survivor Series,

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Slater remained and Titus O'Neil, lost to Adam Rose and The Bunny. In

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December 2014, a warrant for Slater's arrest was issued, rendering him
inactive until all legal issues are resolved. The charges were dropped
on January 15, 2015.[48] Slater returned to action in a dark match against Luke Harper on February 3, 2015. On the February 12 edition of *SmackDown*,

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Slater-Gator competed in a tag team turmoil match, where they were

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quickly defeated by the team of Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns. This
would be the final time Slater-Gator would team up.

#### Singles competition (2015–present)

On the February 16 episode of *Raw*, Titus O'Neil made a face turn and reformed The Prime Time Players with Darren Young,

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effectively ending the team of Slater-Gator. Later that night, Slater

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stated on social media, "I'm going to start focusing on ME!!! I'm better

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on my own... It's about time I get what I deserve."[49]

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## Other media

Miller is one of the main cast members of The JBL Show on WWE.com
where he goes by the ring name 'Clem Layfield', a storyline nephew of
JBL. Despite this role, Miller still competes on WWE television as Heath
 Slater.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ **As Heath Slater**
		- *E Minor*[50] (Inverted DDT)[51] – 2011–2012
		- *Smash Hit* (Spinning lifting DDT)[52][53] – 2012–present
		- Snapmare driver[54] – 2012
		- *Sweetness* (Jumping Russian legsweep or a leaping reverse STO)[1][55][56] – 2010–2011
	+ **As Heath Miller**
		- Jumping neckbreaker[1] – Independent circuit; used as a signature move in WWE
		- *Miller's Crossing*[4] (Hangman's neckbreaker)[4][57]

* **Signature moves**
	+ Corkscrew plancha[58]
	+ Diving crossbody[1]
	+ Flapjack[55]
	+ Inverted suplex[57]
	+ Knee drop[59]
	+ Missile dropkick[1]
	+ Spinning spinebuster[55]
	+ Springboard clothesline[1]
	+ Super scoop powerslam[60]

* **Wrestlers managed**
	+ Shawn Osborne[61]
	+ Hornswoggle

* **Nicknames**
	+ "Handsome"[4]
	+ "The Thriller"[62]
	+ **"The One Man** (Southern) **Rock Band"**[3]
	+ **"The American Rock Star"**[3]
	+ **"The Front Man**"
* **Entrance themes**
	+ "We Are One" by 12 Stones[63] (June 7, 2010–January 10, 2011; used while a part of The Nexus)
	+ "End of Days" (various versions)[64] (January 14, 2011–June 10, 2011; used while a part of The Corre)
	+ "Black or White" by Bleeding In Stereo[65] (Used while teaming with Justin Gabriel)
	+ "South Bound" by Jimmy Norman (July 28, 2011-August 18, 2011)
	+ "One Man Band" by Jim Johnston[66] (August 18, 2011–October 18, 2012)
	+ **"More Than One Man"** by Jim Johnston (October 25, 2012–present)

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Florida Championship Wrestling**
	+ FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[10]
	+ FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[7]
	+ FCW Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Joe Hennig[10]

* **Georgia Championship Wrestling**
	+ NWA/GCW Columbus Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[1]

* **Pro Wrestling Illustrated**
	+ PWI Feud of the Year (2010) The Nexus vs. WWE[67]
	+ PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (2010) as part of The Nexus[68]
	+ PWI ranked him #**66** of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011[69]

* **World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE**
	+ WWE Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Justin Gabriel [21][32][34]
	+ Slammy Award for Shocker of the Year (2010) The debut of The Nexus