Slam Master J

Jesse Dalton

Cousin Ray

Slam Master J made his televised debut for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on the December 9, 2005 episode of *SmackDown!*, where he lost to The Boogeyman in just over a minute.

In November 2006, he was renamed to **Cousin Ray** and adopted a hillbilly gimmick as he began teaming with Henry Godwinn at *SmackDown* house shows.

On the May 11, 2007 edition of *SmackDown!*, a vignette aired with Ray as **Jesse Dalton** alongside his new tag team partner Festus Dalton. Jesse and Festus were put in traditional wrestling gear and transformed their gimmick to be a little less country, and the Dalton name was dropped. On the June 29, 2007 edition of *SmackDown!*, vignettes hyping the team of **Jesse** and Festus began to air.

Jesse and Festus made their official televised in-ring debut on the October 5, 2007 edition of *SmackDown!*, defeating Mike Tolar and Chad Collyer. Their secondary gimmick was that when the opening bell rang, Festus' persona changed into a very focused, aggressive competitor as compared to the aloof, absent-minded character he had been portrayed as. When the bell rang signifying the end of the match, Festus returned to his "normal" self.

On the October 16, 2007 edition of *ECW*, Jesse and Festus made their debut for the ECW brand in conjunction with a "Talent Exchange" discussed between *ECW* General Manager Armando Estrada and acting *SmackDown!* General Manager Vickie Guerrero. Jesse and Festus defeated their first notable opponents, the team of Elijah Burke and Nunzio.

On the November 9 episode of *SmackDown!*, Jesse and Festus suffered their first WWE loss in a 10-man tag team battle royal to determine the number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship, which also involved Deuce 'n' Domino, The Major Brothers, Shannon Moore and Jimmy Wang Yang, and William Regal and Dave Taylor. Jesse and Festus suffered their second loss in the WWE when they were defeated by the Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz on the November 27 edition of *ECW*, and lost to them again on the December 7 episode of *SmackDown!*.

After a brief hiatus, more vignettes aired that featured Jesse explaining Festus' condition and spoke of a cure for it. The team returned on February 8, 2008, on *SmackDown*, defeating Deuce 'n' Domino. Festus appeared to be unchanged, aside from perhaps being more aggressive than ever. This success continued as they once again defeated Morrison and Miz in another non-title match on the February 29 edition of *SmackDown*. When they received a title match on the March 21 edition, however, they failed to win.

They continued in a sporadic feud with Miz and Morrison for the rest of 2008, but also underwent a gimmick change which began on the September 12 edition of *SmackDown*. Jesse and Festus made their way to the ring, dressed in moving attire, and with a hand truck, large cardboard box and moving supplies. After an attack from Kenny Dykstra, the duo proceeded to package Dykstra up and roll him away. The next week they did the same thing to Ryan Braddock and later the set of Carlito's Cabana. After the show's move to a different channel, however, they reverted to their previous gimmick.

On April 15, 2009, Festus was drafted to the *Raw* brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft and, as a result, was separated from his tag team partner Jesse, who remained on *SmackDown*.

Jesse appeared on the June 26, 2009 edition of *SmackDown*, during the first televised edition of Cryme Tyme's *Word Up* internet show. During this segment, Jesse began to display thug-wannabe mannerisms. On the *SmackDown* airing July 24, Jesse was officially renamed **Slam Master J**; his first match with this moniker was on the August 7, defeating Charlie Haas on *SmackDown*. He then formed a tag team with Jimmy Wang Yang and faced The Hart Dynasty on two occasions and lost. They picked up their first win as a team against Charlie Haas and Mike Knox. J was soon taken off television until he reappeared at WrestleMania XXVI, where he took part in the 26-man battle royal that also involved his former partner Festus, now known as Luke Gallows, but both were unsuccessful as the match was won by Yoshi Tatsu.

J was released from his WWE contract on April 22, 2010 along with several other talents.

On April 2, 2016, he made an appearance at the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony during his father Terry Gordy's induction as part of The Fabulous Freebirds, accepting the award on his behalf.