Wes Lee

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Wes Lee
Lee in July 2019
Birth nameDeveon Everhart Aikens[1]
Born (1994-11-02) November 2, 1994 (age 29)
Dayton, Ohio, U.S.[2]
Spouse(s)
Erica Marie
(m. 2020)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Dez[3]
Dezmond X
Dezmond Xavier[4]
Wes Lee
Billed height5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[3]
Billed weight190 lb (86 kg)[3]
Billed fromDayton, Ohio[3]
Debut2011[5]

Deveon Everhart Aikens

NXT North American Champion, and a former two-time NXT Tag Team Champion with Nash Carter
.

Aikens is best known for his time in

independent promotions, mostly notably for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where he was one-half of the PWG World Tag Team Champions
alongside Wentz and went on to become the longest reigning champions in the company’s history.

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2011–2021)

Xavier in October 2016

Dezmond Xavier made his wrestling debut in 2011.[5] In 2017 at WrestleCircus he won the WC Sideshow Championship by defeating Joey Ryan.[6] Afterwards, he went to wrestle in Desastre Total Ultraviolento where he won the DTU Alto Impacto Championship.[7]

In 2015, Dezmond Xavier teamed with Zachary Wentz while working in the independent circuit and formed a tag team by the name of Scarlet and Graves. The team competed in

A. R. Fox and Rey Fenix.[10]
A year later after that, Trey Miguel and Myron Reed joined the group and then the group name changed into The Rascalz.

Also in the year 2018, Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz wrestled at The Wrestling Revolver where they won both the PWR Tag Team Championships[11] and the One Night Tag Team Tournament[12] of 2018. In the same year, Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz also went on to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) to win the PWG World Tag Team Championships. They would hold the titles for 1025 days, the longest reign in company history.[13]

Dezmond Xavier executing a stunner on "Speedball" Mike Bailey at an Indy show event in 2016

Impact Wrestling

X Division (2017–2018)

In 2017, Dezmond Xavier signed with

Xplosion, where he defeated Idris Abraham. Later that month, Xavier entered the 2017 GFW Super X Cup tournament,[16] in which he defeated Idris Abraham in the quarterfinals, Drago in the semifinals, and Taiji Ishimori in the final to win the 2017 GFW Super X Cup.[17] In October, Xavier made his pay-per-view debut at Bound for Glory, where he competed against Trevor Lee, Garza Jr., Matt Sydal, Petey Williams and Sonjay Dutt in a six-way match for the X Division Championship but failed to win the title. Xavier also received a singles title shot for the X Division Championship against Taiji Ishimori
on the January 18, 2018 episode of Impact!, which he lost.

At Redemption, Xavier competed in a six-way X Division match, which he lost. He then lost to Brian Cage at the Under Pressure special to determine the #1 contender for the X Division Championship and he also lost to Brian Cage in a match for the X Division Championship on an episode of Impact Wrestling as well. He also has another title challenge for the X Division Championship in 2018 against Matt Sydal at the One Night Only pay-per-view event Zero Fear, in which he came up short. He then took a brief hiatus from Impact.

The Rascalz (2018–2020)

The Rascalz
in July 2019

In late 2018, Xavier was aligned with

Latin American Exchange (Santana and Ortiz). Dez and Trey then unsuccessfully challenged North for the World Tag Team Championship on the August 2 episode of Impact!.[19]

In October, Dez competed against

Motor City Machine Guns
accepted the challenge and won the match.

On November 11, it was revealed that The Rascalz would soon be leaving Impact and had interest from both WWE and All Elite Wrestling. During the November 17 tapings, The Rascalz were given a "send-off" by the Impact locker room. Trey confirmed the following day that he, Dez and Wentz were in fact done appearing on Impact Wrestling. Dez and Wentz went on to sign with WWE while Trey eventually returned to Impact Wrestling, effectively ending The Rascalz as a trio.

Dragon Gate (2018)

Dragon Gate announced the debut of Xavier and his indy tag team partner Zachary Wentz at Open The New Year Gate, Dragon Gate's first show of 2018. They debuted on 13 January, where Xavier and Wentz, collectively known as Scarlet and Graves, teamed with Susumu Yokosuka in a winning effort against Genki Horiguchi, Flamita and Bandido.

Lucha Underground (2018)

On the July 18, 2018, episode of Lucha Underground he made his debut under the name Dezmond X defeating Paul London for one of the seven ancient Aztec Medallions. The series was discontinued after season finale, Ultima Lucha Cuatro.[20]

WWE (2020–present)

MSK (2020–2022)

On December 2, 2020, he signed a contract with

NXT The Great American Bash, MSK defeated Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher for the tag titles.[27]
Over the next two months, MSK defended their titles against Imperium and Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch.

At

Lumber Jack-o'-Lantern Tag Team match to win the titles, only for MSK to reclaim them at NXT Stand & Deliver.[28][29] However, just four days later, on April 5, 2022, it was reported that WWE had released Carter due to multiple domestic abuse allegations and photos relating to Adolf Hitler
and Nazi symbolism. WWE later confirmed that the NXT Tag Team Championships were officially vacated on April 8, 2022, ending Lee's second reign at six days and also leading to the end of the group MSK in WWE.

NXT North American Champion (2022–2023)

On the April 19 episode of NXT 2.0, Lee returned to television, vaguely addressing the vacating of the tag titles, before being confronted by

NXT The Great American Bash, Lee lost to Trick Williams after Williams rubbed an unknown substance into Lee's eyes.[37]

On October 22 at

and Von Wagner over the next few months.

Lee broke the record for the most successful title defenses at

triple threat match against Mysterio and Mustafa Ali at NXT The Great American Bash after interference from Rhea Ripley.[41]

On the August 15 episode of NXT, Lee defeated Dijak to become the number one contender for the NXT Championship, with Lee challenging Carmelo Hayes for the title at NXT Heatwave in a losing effort.[42] On the September 12 episode of NXT, Lee lost to Ilja Dragunov in a number one contender match for the NXT Championship. Lee was later seen clearing out his locker and when asked about it, Lee said that he was going home and that "he's done."[43] Lee quietly returned on October 30 for a November 2 Main Event episode taping[44] and later appearing on the following night's NXT Halloween Havoc Night 2 to attack Mysterio after Mysterio's NXT North American Championship match against Nathan Frazer.[45] On the November 28 episode of NXT, Lee defeated three former NXT North American Champions in Cameron Grimes, Bronson Reed and Johnny Gargano in a fatal-four way match, as demanded by Mysterio the week before, for a title match against Mysterio at NXT Deadline.[46] However, a week later, Lee announced that he would need back surgery and will be out of action for 8-12 months, with Dragon Lee replacing him in the match at Deadline.[47] In a media call for Deadline, Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels revealed that Lee was suffering from back injury for some time and the decision to pull him from the match was a last minute call made by Lee and the medical team.[48]

Personal life

Aikens is married to Erica Marie.[49][50][51]

Other media

As Wes Lee, Aikens made his video game debut in WWE 2K22 as downloadable content,[52][53] he is also playable in WWE 2K23[54] and WWE SuperCard.[55]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ a b c "Dezmond Xavier, Zachary Wentz, Alex Zayne among new recruits reporting to WWE Performance Center". WWE. December 2, 2020. Archived from the original on June 5, 2022.
  2. ^ "Dezmond Xavier profile".
  3. ^
    Impact Wrestling. Archived from the original
    on January 11, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  4. ^ "Dezmond Xavier - Impact Wrestling". December 30, 2017. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Dezmond Xavier Profight profile".
  6. ^ a b "WC Sideshow Championship history".
  7. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip. "DTU Alto Impacto Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  8. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip (December 10, 2016). "CZW World Tag Team Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip (August 6, 2016). "XICW Tag Team Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  10. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 15, 2017). "AAW Tag Team Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip (June 29, 2018). "PWR Tag Team Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  12. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip (August 3, 2018). "One Night Tag Team Tournament (2018)". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  13. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip (April 20, 2018). "PWG World Tag Team Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
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  17. ^ McMahon, Mike (August 17, 2017). "McMahon's GFW Impact report 8/17: Destination X, Lashley vs. Sydal, Lee vs. Sonjay in a ladder match, Ishimori vs. Xavier, Sienna vs. Kim, GFW Title fallout". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  18. ^ Garza, Antonio (November 29, 2018). "IMPACT WRESTLING RESULTS: ELI DRAKE VS. TOMMY DREAMER, RASCALZ DEBUT". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
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  21. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (December 2, 2020). "Dezmond Xavier, Zachary Wentz, And Alex Zayne Headline WWE Performance Center Recruitment Class". Fightful. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022.
  22. ^ "The Former Rascalz Debut As MSK On NXT". Fightful. January 13, 2021. Archived from the original on June 12, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  23. ^ Moore, John (January 13, 2021). "1/13 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Adam Cole and Roderick Strong vs. Tyler Breeze and Fandango, and Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Ever-Rise in a Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic matches, Shotzi Blackheart vs. Candice LeRae, Johnny Gargano vs. Dexter Lumis in a non-title match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
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  25. ^ Moore, John (April 7, 2021). "NXT Takeover Stand & Deliver results: Moore's live review of night one with Io Shirai vs. Raquel Gonzalez for the NXT Women's Championship, Walter vs. Tommaso Ciampa for the NXT UK Championship, MSK vs. Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde for the vacant NXT Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  26. ^ Powell, Jason (June 13, 2021). "NXT Takeover In Your House results – Powell's live review of Karrion Kross vs. Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly vs. Pete Dunne vs. Johnny Gargano for the NXT Title, Raquel Gonzalez vs. Ember Moon for the NXT Women's Title, Bronson Reed and MSK vs. Legado Del Fantasma for the NXT North American and NXT Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on March 23, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  27. ^ Moore, John (July 6, 2021). "7/6 NXT TV results: Moore's review of the Great American Bash edition with Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly, MSK vs. Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher for the NXT Tag Titles, Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell vs. Io Shirai and Zoey Stark for the NXT Women's Tag Titles, LA Knight vs. Cameron Grimes for the Million Dollar Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on October 11, 2021. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  28. ^ Moore, John (October 26, 2021). "10/26 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Halloween Havoc with Tommaso Ciampa vs. Bron Breakker for the NXT Title, plus Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal stipulations for Raquel Gonzalez vs. Mandy Rose for the NXT Women's Title, and MSK vs. Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel for the NXT Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on May 24, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  29. ^ Moore, John (April 2, 2022). "NXT Stand & Deliver results: Moore's live review of Dolph Ziggler vs. Bron Breakker for the NXT Title, Mandy Rose vs. Cora Jade vs. Io Shirai vs. Kay Lee Ray for the NXT Women's Title, Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel vs. MSK vs. The Creed Brothers for the NXT Tag Titles, the NXT North American Title ladder match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  30. ^ Moore, John (April 19, 2022). "4/19 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Santos Escobar vs. Carmelo Hayes, Tiffany Stratton vs. Sarray, Natalya vs. Tatum Paxley, Grayson Waller vs. Sanga, NXT Tag Champions Pretty Deadly appear". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  31. ^ "Wes Lee vs. Xyon Quinn: WWE NXT, April 19, 2022". WWE / YouTube.com. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  32. ^ Moore, John (May 24, 2022). "Moore's review of NXT Champion Bron Breakker vs. Duke Hudson in a non-title match, NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose vs. Indi Hartwell in a non-title match, Nikkita Lyons vs. Fallon Henley and Roxanne Perez vs. Lash Legend in NXT Breakout Tournament semifinal matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  33. ^ "Wes Lee vs. Sanga: WWE NXT, May 24, 2022". WWE / YouTube.com. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  34. ^ Moore, John (May 31, 2022). "5/31 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of the In Your House go-home show with North American Champ Cameron Grimes vs. Nathan Frazer in a non-title match, Cora Jade vs. Elektra Lopez, NXT women's championship summit". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 1, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
  35. ^ "Wes Lee vs. Xyon Quinn: WWE NXT, May 31, 2022". WWE / YouTube.com. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  36. ^ "Wes Lee vs. Xyon Quinn: WWE NXT, June 14, 2022". WWE / YouTube.com. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  37. ^ "NXT Great American Bash results: July 5, 2022". WWE. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  38. ^ "Full NXT Halloween Havoc 2022 results: Oct. 22, 2022". WWE. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  39. ^ "WWE NXT results, Nov. 1, 2022: Von Wagner makes a bold move into the NXT Title picture". WWE. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  40. ^ Moore, John (July 18, 2023). "NXT TV results (7/18): Moore's review of Wes Lee vs. Dominik Mysterio for the NXT NA Title, Nathan Frazer and Dragon Lee vs. Los Lotharios, Kiana James vs. Gigi Dolin, Tony D'Angelo's homecoming". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  41. ^ Thomas, Jeremy (July 30, 2023). "Dominik Mysterio Retains North American Title At NXT Great American Bash". 411Mania. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  42. ^ WWE.com Staff (August 15, 2023). "Carmelo Hayes and Wes Lee square off for the NXT Championship". WWE. Retrieved August 19, 2023.
  43. ^ Tessier, Colin (September 12, 2023). "Wes Lee Cleans Out His Locker, Says He's 'Done' On 9/12 WWE NXT | Fightful News". www.fightful.com. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  44. ^ Tessier, Colin (October 30, 2023). "WWE Main Event Spoilers (Taped On 10/30)". Wrestlezone. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  45. ^ Defelice, Robert (October 31, 2023). "Wes Lee Returns, Attacks Dominik Mysterio On 10/31 NXT Halloween Havoc | Fightful News". www.fightful.com. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  46. ^ Applegate, Colby (November 29, 2023). "NXT North American Title Match Set For WWE NXT Deadline". Wrestlezone. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  47. ^ Moore, John (December 5, 2023). "NXT TV results (12/5): Moore's review of Ilja Dragunov and Baron Corbin meet face-to-face on the Deadline go-home show, Iron Survivor Challenge last chance qualifiers". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  48. ^ Pritchard, Bill (December 7, 2023). "Shawn Michaels: Pulling Wes Lee From NXT Deadline Was A Last Minute Call, But It Was His To Make". Wrestlezone. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  49. ^ Aikens, Deveon. "My Queen, You have enriched my life and helped me evolve as a man and as a human being. You saved me from a very dark path and I'm eternally grateful and appreciative for everything you've done for and with me". Twitter.com. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  50. SuperLuchas
    . April 6, 2022.
  51. Sportskeeda
    . July 23, 2022.
  52. ^ LANDAVERDE, RAUL (June 4, 2022). "WWE 2K22 Video Shows Wes Lee DLC". Gamerant.com. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
  53. ^ "WWE 2K22 roster: Wes Lee". TheSmackDownHotel.com.
  54. ^ "WWE 2K23 roster: Wes Lee". TheSmackDownHotel.com. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  55. ^ "WWE SuperCard roster: Wes Lee". TheSmackDownHotel.com. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  56. ^ Caldwell, Brandon; Raimondi, Marc (August 3, 2023). "From MJF and Rhea to...a Viking? Here are the 30 best pro wrestlers under 30". ESPN. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  57. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2021". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
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  59. ^ "NXT Tag Team Championship". World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Retrieved April 8, 2021.
  60. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (February 14, 2021). "Men's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic (2021)". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved February 15, 2021.

External links

Achievements Vacant
Title last held by
Solo Sikoa
17th
NXT North American Champion

October 2, 2022 – July 18, 2023
Succeeded by