Matt Baker

## Professional Wrestling Career

### Signature Move(s)

sniper kick, 'bring the rain' (rainmaker), 'poetry in violent motion' (BFT), 'sharpshooter' (ripcord knee)

### Finishing Move(s)

fate spinner (final cut), crossface chickenwing, nightmare on baker street (curtain call/saving grace/firemans carry roundhouse kick)

### Wrestling Style

techician/brawler/strong style

Matthew James Baker (born 11/07/1990) is a British professional wrestler signed to Insurgence Wrestling and is the founder and head male trainer of the Victory Academy, where he performs under his birth name. He is best known for his tenure in WAW where he was a former 3x WAW champion. He is a former 3x BAW champion and a former 3x BAW/Insurgence British Heritage champion. Throughout his career he has had 8 major title reigns, 3 in WAW, 3 in BAW, and one in IWI and chaos club wrestling respectively.

## BIOGRAPHY:

**SSPW**

Matt began his wrestling career competing and training with his longtime friend Alex J Arik, with wrestling being the thing their friendship was built upon it consumed most of their life, they trained together, they teamed together under the name 'the bury boys' and one point lived as roommates in an attempt to continue to pay for wrestling school as they both contributed to rent. SSPW was the first company Matt worked for and achieved moderate success though never winning any championship/accolade other than a tag team trophy with Arik named the 'Suffolk Invitational Tag Team Classic'. During this time he also went to briefly train at the golden school but this didn't last long as he left around the time he joined WAW to train under their academy.

**OFFLINE WAW**

Matt was eventually scouted and signed to WAW back in its 'offline' days where he won his debut match against Lee Akira on ep3, on ep4 when the first offline champ was crowned he was the 4th man eliminated from a 6 man battle royal won by Lee Akira. time went by and on ep9 he won a number one contenders match against Roberto De Marco for a shot at Akira's WAW offline title when WAW moved over to its new channel. in WAW's last match in its original format Matt teamed up with Mark Phoenix in a winning effort against Aaron york and Lee Akira pinning Aaron. On 'WAWHD' - WAW's offline show on their new channel, Matt pinned Lee off of the reverb to win the WAW offline championship and subsequently became its last holder.

**ONLINE WAW**

When WAW made the transition to an online company, Matt was at the beginning the only original in the company (with Aaron York returning at a later date), it was because of this Matt took the reigns of the company and became showdowns general manager, throughout his tenure as gm he always kept fan demand in mind and did his best to put on as good a show as possible.

**CHARISMA IS DEAD**

When showdown closed its doors in late 2014 the WAW board of directors decided to release Matt from his managerial role in the hope of him being gone for good so they could start a 'clean slate'. What they didn't realise was Matt because of the contract he signed in offline WAW was still contracted as a competitor in WAW. when hearing about is termination as gm, Matt snapped, everything he stood for i.e. the C.O.C and his moniker was dropped and removed as he saw it as nothing more as what the company that tried to remove him had built him up to be. When it came for him to return to company he sought out the help of a fellow brit in Alex J Arik to help him in his plan to take down the company, the newly created 'cruel britannia' would then send shockwaves through WAW when they managed to insert Matt into the WAW championship match at shockwave by taking advantage of Ariks debut to insert Matt into the qualifiers. Matt soon found himself in KAPOW where his offline championship he had won a long time ago became his own sanctioned championship renamed as the retro WAW title

**ENTER THE ANTIVENOM/DEVIL**

After WAW folded for the second time prior to their shockwave cpv, Matt's ego grew tenfold having claimed the companies death as his own personal victory as well as claiming the WAW world title as his own seeing as the title match he was scheduled in never took place. All these events began to take a toll on his psyche as he developed a god complex - he saw himself as a person who should rule whatever company he walked into (hence his phrase 'rule or be ruled') while also cleansing that company of whatever he considered a blemish or 'poison' donning the 'antivenom' moniker.

**A1/X1 (the devil has risen)**

Months after the fall of WAW, a new promotion called A1 wrestling purchased the rights to the WAW name as a way of 'carrying on the legacy' and in the process signed multiple WAW alumni including Matt. In an un televised show Matt became the inaugural A1 champion winning a battle royal to claim that title. On the first episode of A1 exhibition Matt successfully defended his title against Jak Starran; throughout the period between WAW's collapse and A1's rise Matt's demeanour changed yet again, similar to how in his C.O.C days he idolised Captain Charisma Christian, he began to idolise and embody 'the villain' Marty Scurll, going so far as to grow his beard out and adopting Scurll's crossface chickenwing. While still referring to himself as the AntiVenom he adopted a new moniker - the devil. when interviewed about why he chose to be known as the devil he answered "i have embraced hate, i have embraced anger, embracing these emotions has allowed me to become evil enough to embrace... the devil". Eventually A1 decided to perform a brand split, becoming X1 and P1, by being the A1 champ Matt was inserted into the X1 title match again against Starran this time however the WAW title was thrown into the equation; Matt would ultimately win on EP5 becoming a double world champion in the process. In X1 Matt saw potential in multiple members of the roster including X1 womens champion Heather Spades and a tag team called the red hoods who have yet to debut on a televised show. Matt took these individuals and formed a faction known as 'the coalition' - derived from an old faction he once led called the C.O.C (coalition of charisma).

**BAW and the Victory academy**

with X1 being on a somewhat hiatus, Matt used this time to 'give back' to a business which although he had sought to wreak havoc in it still provided him with his dream occupation and a means to encounter numerous people/ experiences he wouldn't have met/had otherwise. Baker created the Victory academy in England which trained new wrestlers and became the feeder system to a new promotion called BAW, working on the premise of how the progress dojo feeds progress. It was in the promotion Baker claimed more world titles becoming a 3x British Heavyweight champion. Although he still uses the devil/antivenom moniker he has since toned down the extremism of it showing more respect to competitors and companies as having his own academy gave him the reality check he needed. He lately has started to wear kanji on his wrestling tights standing for 'the devil', this was inspired by a tour of Asia which was a huge contributor to him creating the Victory Academy as he was so impressed by the way people over there would learn, train and compete.
As a part owner of BAW Baker used the promotion to showcase talent he felt needed the spotlight they deserved, people like the Victory champion Owen Fletcher, Project: Revival, his protege Madison Beauchamp and the newly crowned 2x BAW British Womens champion Angel Warren.

**IWI and the Chaos Club**

With BAW going on a somewhat hiatus Matt made his debut in IWI and Chaos Club wrestling. Matt won a 4 way match to become the first CCW champion, however he was unsuccessful in becoming the inaugural IWI champion being the 3rd man eliminated in the battle royal eventually won by Leon Artise. Matt did eventually win the title defeating Aaron Bomber with both the IWI and BAW heritage titles on the line. Matt eventually lost the title to JTD but later added 2 tag title reigns with leon artise and justin acconci respectively.

**Cherish The Opportunity**

In late 2017 Matt signed with CTO with the company wasting no chance in making it public with it featuring in the next CTO magazine issue of that year. Matt made his debut on episode one of their flagship show Ground Zero seemingly coming to the aid of a superstar on the receiving end of a beatdown by Zodiak, taking the monster down with a missile dropkick followed by an exit to the ramp inciting the crowd. Matt would make his in ring debut on the next ep in a one on one match with Zodiak which Matt won via DQ by spitting blood in Zodiaks face, causing him to attack Matt with a chair conceding the victory.

**Insurgence Wrestling**

With IWI failing in ticket sales and generally producing sub par events, Matt took it upon himself to take the company over using the experience from WAW and BAW to help turn the company around. The newly renamed 'Insurgence Wrestling' exceeded all expectations as Matt was able to maintain the background corporate role and the in ring competitor role simultaneously without a hitch unlike his WAW days. When Insurgence aired it's first televised broadcast Matt in the second match of the night was victorious against Tyler Venom. On Episode two it was revealed that both Insurgence and the Aero Academy had formed a business partnership with both Matt and Tiffany Aero as the co owners, controversy transpired when the newly appointed general manager Cassius revealed that during the events of the previous show Tiffany had acquired the shares needed to take over the company as the majority shareholder effectively taking the company right from under Matt's nose. The news enraged Matt causing him to attack Cassius as he was finishing his statement, calling out the new owner and labelling her a coward for using her 'errand boy' for delivering the information. During that segment Matt also invoked his rematch for the heritage championship by challenging Sean O'Riley, the heritage championship being a title that had been stripped from him by the insurgence board of directors with Tiffany being the one to orchestrate it. On the following show Cassius, who was embarrassed by what had transpired on the previous episode, challenged Matt to a match. As Matt made his way to the ring it was clear the power struggle happening in the company had taken a toll on him, his eyes were black, a consequence of the many sleepless nights he had suffered obsessing over regaining power, the t shirt he wore was a design released by Tiffany a few days prior, however Matt had vandalised the shirt spray painting the words 'false leader' across it in an act of defiance over her leadership. Matt would be victorious over Cassius maintaining his momentum going into Glitch in the System. After the match, Matt would again show a vicious side of him when he attempted to assault a beaten Cassius with a steel chair, an attempt that was thwarted by a debuting Sean O'Riley, who after chasing Matt out of the ring accepted the challenge for Glitch in the System, meaning the match between the two for the vacant heritage championship was now official.

## **Personal Life**

Matt as a person is somewhat a recluse, he keeps out of the public eye as he feels he does more than enough in ring for the media and he shouldn't be bothered outside of it.

Matt has various tattoos each with various meanings, he has his birth date across his left pec, kanji meaning 'the devil' (a nod to his old moniker) on the right pec, his initials and surname down the right side of his abdomen, the decepticon insignia behind his left ear (he got this as a nod to arik's autobot tattoo), a half sleeve on his upper right arm featuring roses and an angel, a half sleeve on his upper left arm featuring a tiger, the word spades surrounded by spade symbols on his right forearm, a rose down the left side of his abdomen with the initials 'M&H' and a sandslash pokemon tattoo below the rose as a nostalgic nod to his childhood. He has since acquired two more tattoos, the first being the date '5.2.2014' - this was the date of his first 'televised' championship win, the second tattoo being a piece on his left forearm which features the insignia of the first order faction from star wars with a lower part featuring the word 'fury'.

In late 2017/2018 he has since added more tattoos to his ever increasing collection, around the spades tattoo he added the word 'forever' to the underside, a small pink heart with the letters A and M which both he and Aubrey Aero have as a symbol of their friendship, a small lion with the name 'yekaterina' along the side of it as a reference to a relationship he once had with Kattya. Completing the sleeve on that side he has a red and black diamond pattern similar to that of the comic book character Harley Quinn to whom he is a fan of. He has also added wings to his lower neck/upper back which encircle his date tattoo and a tattoo of a heartbeat that both he and Austen Aero have. His newest and subsequently last addition to his tattoo collection is the phrase 'power is beauty' written in cursive on a rose branch placed across the underside of his left forearm.

Matt met Heather Spades at the beginning of 2016 when she signed up for X1 wrestling, what started as a teacher/student relationship soon became more when they revealed they were a couple at the end of 2016 which is the reasoning between a couple of Matt's tattoos and his nickname 'the king of spades'. The two got engaged in February 2017. The two have for the most part had a fairly secretive relationship, very little about them is public knowledge except for a dispute that came about concerning people that were booked on a divamania event - the dispute was quickly settled however prompted rumours of a split that never happened. The two were married on the 22nd of July 2017 However as of June 2018 they have now split.

outside of the ring his best friends include logan perris, kattya pretrovna, gin cruise, alex j arik (growing up before joining promotions they were a tag team competing in local backyard wrestling companies), kim woo, Aubrey and Austen Aero and various others.

Matt has a large scar across his cheek which occurred when he fell face first into some barb wire while competing in a death match in his first promotion SSPW.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ crown of thorns - crossface chickenwing (2016)
	+ **fate spinner - swinging vertical suplex (2016-present)**
	+ BOOM headshot - gourdbuster gts (2017)
	+ **nightmare on baker street - lifting reverse ddt (2014-present) - firemans carry roundhouse kick (2017) - firemans carry cutter/tko (2018 - present)**
	+ the reverb - reverse STO (2008-2014)
	+ The Unprettier (adopted as a tribute to christian) (2018)
* **Signature moves**
	+ **sniper kick (adopted/parodied from alex j arik) (2015 - present)**
	+ quick drop... sudden stop - punt kick (2015- early 2016)
	+ bring the rain - wristlock lariat (early 2016 - late 2016)
	+ poetry in violent motion - BFT (late 2016 - 2017)
	+ shot package - rocket kick (2017)
	+ bakers dozen - lucky 13 (2015)
	+ sharpshooter - ripcord knee (2018)
	+ Yakuza kick - Running big boot to a kneeling opponent while using their knee for leverage (2018)
	+ **Star killer** **- Shining wizard (2018 - present)**
* **Managers**
	+ Heather Spades (late 2015 - early 2018)
	+ The forgotten
	+ The Standard
* **Wrestlers/factions managed**
	+ The Forgotten
	+ Heather Spades
	+ The coalition
	+ Cruel Britannia
* **Nicknames**
	+ The Devil
	+ The Anti-Venom
	+ The Code of Charisma
	+ The King of Spades
	+ The British Nightmare
	+ **Britzilla**
	+ The Hardwick Hitman
	+ **Sharpshooter**
	+ **The Standard Bearer**
* **Entrance themes**
	+ corner - blue stahli
	+ the fall - blue stahli
	+ the devil - blue stahli
	+ scrape - blue stahli
	+ shoot em up - blue stahli
	+ BRITZILLA - (the revolution by David Schoenwetter + godzilla roar intro)
	+ **BRITZILLA V2 - (superhero showdown by blue stahli inc. godzilla roar)**

## Championships and accomplishments

* **WAW**
	+ WAW champion (2 times)
* **A1/X1**
	+ A1/X1 champion (1 time)
* **KAPOW**
	+ retro WAW champion (1 time - also recognised as his 3rd WAW title reign)
* **BAW**
	+ BAW champion (3 times)
	+ BAW British heritage champion (3 time) - later rebranded as the Insurgence heritage title

* **Chaos Club**
	+ Chaos Club world champion (1 time)

* **IWI/Insurgence wrestling**
	+ IWI champion (1 time)
	+ IWI tag team champion (2 times, once with leon artise, once with justin acconci)
* **SSPW**
	+ Suffolk Invitational Tag Team Classic winner (1 time, with Alex J Arik)