Matt Bentley

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For the English association football player, see Matt Bentley (footballer).
Matt Bentley
Bentley at TNA Lockdown in 2007
Birth nameMatthew James Bentley
Born (1979-12-10) December 10, 1979 (age 44)[1][2]
Clinton, Iowa, U.S.[1][3]
FamilyShawn Michaels (cousin)
WebsiteOfficialMattBentley.com
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Martyr[4]
Matt Bentley[4]
Maverick Matt[4]
Michael Shane[1]
Omega Griffon[3]
Omega Verifan[1]
Billed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Billed weight221 lb (100 kg)[1]
Billed fromSan Antonio, Texas[3]
Trained byTexas Wrestling Academy [3]
(Rudy Boy González)[3]
Shawn Michaels[3]
Debut1999[3]
Retired2015

Matthew James Bentley

superkick
maneuver as his own finisher.

Career

After being trained at Shawn Michaels'

Francine, and returned to Japan to compete for Zero-One Wrestling.[1]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003–2007)

Bentley joined TNA in 2003. He competed in the X Division, quickly winning the

portmanteau of their last names, Shazarian). On July 28, 2004, Bentley and Kazarian defeated Styles in an Ultimate X match when they both pulled down the championship.[8] Surprisingly, the duo was declared co-champions, a first for the X-Division Championship.[8] They lost the title in a Gauntlet for the Gold match two weeks later.[9] Shazarian split up in early 2005 when Kazarian left TNA and signed with WWE
.

Traci quietly left Bentley in 2005 to become an assistant for TNA

trademarked his name, something which Bentley had neglected to do.[1] After going simply by the name Michael, Bentley decided to go by his real name.[1] All TNA DVD releases featuring matches with Bentley as "Michael Shane" have had the on-screen graphics altered and commentary completely replaced to reflect the name change. One such DVD is the pay-per-view Lockdown
, included in the "TNA Anthology: The Epic Set" box set, in which you can still see the name "Michael Shane" on the entrance video playing in the background when he makes his entrance.

Michael Shane in 2005

After a disappearance from television due to contract renegotiations and a few matches in the X Division, Bentley and Traci turned into

Xplosion, Bentley and his partner Lance Hoyt had some miscommunication during their tag team against The Diamonds in the Rough. After the match, Bentley snapped and attacked Hoyt, thus turning him into a villain.[1] The next week on Impact! in an interview Bentley announced he was a "Maverick", and thus became "Maverick Matt". He continued feuding with Hoyt, and lost to him at Destination X.[11] He would then wrestle a few more matches, most being 6-man tag team matches, losing every time. Bentley did not appear on TNA television for the next four months. He returned on the July 20 edition of Impact!, teaming with former partner Frankie Kazarian, who had returned earlier in the week, in a loss against The Naturals.[12] Traci did not return with Bentley, instead becoming Ms. Brooks, Robert Roode's new valet.[12]

On the October 26 edition of Impact!, Bentley appeared in the "Raven's Perch" section of the Impact Zone bleachers, debuting a goth look. Weeks later, Bentley and Kazarian, along with Johnny Devine, formed the stable Serotonin, with Raven as their leader.[13] As part of the new group Bentley's name was changed to Martyr, who along with Kaz and Havok (Devine) portrayed a strange rocker type look and would not win a lot of matches - as a matter of fact, even if they won, Raven would come out, make them get on their knees and beat them with a Kendo stick (as part of a system dubbed "torture breeds success"). In August 2007, Bentley's TNA contract expired and was not renewed.

Semi–retirement

On April 4, 2008, Bentley made an appearance on Friday Night SmackDown in a squash match, losing to the debuting Vladimir Kozlov.[14] Following his WWE appearance, Bentley temporarily left wrestling in order to create a band named "Lost in Chaos" with his friends. They are currently located in Orlando and participating in numerous gigs. The band was nominated for Florida's Best Band on a local rock station website in 2009.[15]

On June 27, 2011, Bentley made a one night return to TNA at the tapings of the June 30 edition of Impact Wrestling, losing an opportunity at earning a TNA contract when

X-Travaganza special (aired on April 5, 2013), competing in a seven-man Xscape match, which was won by Christian York.[18]

On September 5, 2015, Bentley made his

Global Force Wrestling debut defeating Kevin Matthews and Mark Sterling in a three-Way match as part of the GFW Grand Slam Tour.[19]

Championships and accomplishments

1Shane and Frankie Kazarian were declared co-champions after defeating AJ Styles in an Ultimate X match at the weekly pay-per-view #104 by grabbing the belt at the same time. This co-reign was the second time that both men had won the championship.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Matt Bentley". Slam! Sports. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved 2009-03-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ a b Bio at IMDb
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Matt Bentley". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
  4. ^ a b c "wrestlingdata profile". Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  5. ^ a b "Unscripted- Philadelphia, PA 9/21/02". Ring of Honor. September 21, 2002. Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  6. ^ "Night of the Grudges- Cambridge, MA 6/14/03". Ring of Honor. April 7, 2003. Archived from the original on March 22, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  7. ^ Match results
  8. ^
    Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on January 1, 2013. Retrieved 2009-03-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  9. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved 2009-03-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  10. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved 2009-03-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  11. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved 2009-03-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  12. ^
    Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved 2009-03-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  13. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on August 2, 2012. Retrieved 2009-03-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  14. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved 2009-03-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  15. ^ Martin, Adam (2009-02-19). "Update on a former TNA wrestler". The Wrestling Observer. WrestleView. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
  16. ^ Tedesco, Mike (2011-06-28). "Spoilers: Impact Wrestling for June 30". WrestleView. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  17. ^ Baxendell, Matt (2011-06-30). "Bax's TNA Impact Wrestling report 6/30: Ongoing "virtual-time" coverage of Impact with 'Limited Commercial Interruption'". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  18. ^ Trionfo, Richard (2013-01-12). "RVD vs. Jerry Lynn: Full TNA One Night Only X-Travaganza results". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved 2013-01-12.
  19. ^ "GFW Grand Slam Tour: Clinton, Iowa".
  20. ^ "Independent Wrestling Results - October 2004". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  21. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 – 2004". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. The International Wrestling Database. Archived from the original on 15 May 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  22. ^ a b Martin, Adam (2005-11-28). "TNA announces plans for 2005 Year-End Awards after Turning Point PPV". WrestleView. Retrieved 2011-07-15.

External links

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