Von Wagner

Von Wagner
Birth nameCalvin Bloom
Born (1994-06-30) June 30, 1994 (age 30)
Osseo, Minnesota, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Central Florida[1]
Parent(s)Wayne Bloom (father)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
  • Cal Bloom
  • Von Wagner[2]
Billed height6 ft 5 in (196 cm)[2]
Billed weight255 lb (116 kg)[2]
Billed fromOsseo, Minnesota, U.S.[2]
Trained byWayne Bloom
Ken Kennedy
Brad Rheingans
WWE Performance Center
DebutMay 3, 2019

Calvin Bloom (born June 30, 1994) is an American professional wrestler and former college football player. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Von Wagner. A second-generation professional wrestler, Bloom is the son of Wayne Bloom (who wrestled as Beau Beverly for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the early 1990s).

Early life

Bloom graduated from Osseo High School in 2012. He was a three-sport star, playing basketball, baseball and football, earning three letters in each.[3]

Football career

After graduating high school, Bloom played football at the University of Central Florida (UCF). He played as a tight end for the UCF Knights from 2012 to 2016.[1]

Professional wrestling career

In March 2019, it was announced Bloom was one of three recruits recently signed with WWE, and would report to the WWE Performance Center.[4] He made his in-ring debut at a live event on May 3, 2019, teaming with fellow recruit Denzel Dejournette against Dan Matha and Riddick Moss in a losing effort.[5] He continued wrestling at live events until March 2020,[6] making his main roster debut on the April 10, 2020 episode of SmackDown, losing to Sheamus.[7]

On September 14, 2021, he made his debut as a face on NXT with the new ring name Von Wagner, replacing Kyle O'Reilly, in a fatal four-way match for the vacant NXT Championship against LA Knight, Dunne and Tommaso Ciampa, which he lost.[8] He then formed a tag team with O'Reilly, wrestling for the NXT Tag Team Championship at WarGames, being defeated by Imperium (Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner). After the match, Wagner attempted to attack O'Reilly from behind, but failed and got himself attacked instead, turning heel in the process.[9] Two days later on NXT, Wagner defeated O'Reilly in a steel cage match.[10]

Wagner acquired Mr. Stone as a manager in February 2022.[11] On July 5, at NXT: The Great American Bash, Wagner began a feud with Solo Sikoa,[12][13] culminating in a falls count anywhere match on the August 2 episode of NXT, which Wagner lost.[14] On the October 4 episode of NXT, Wagner defeated Andre Chase to qualify for a ladder match for the NXT North American Championship at NXT Halloween Havoc on October 22, which was won by Wes Lee.[15][16] The following month, Wagner faced the NXT Champion Bron Breakker, and failed to win the title from Breakker on the November 15 episode of NXT.[17][18][19]

In June, after opening up about his childhood struggles to Mr. Stone and reigniting his feud with Breakker, Wagner and Stone both turned face, shortly after Breakker himself turned heel.[20][21][22] At NXT: Heatwave on August 22, Breakker attacked Wagner before his scheduled match against Baron Corbin and bludgeoned Wagner with a set of steel steps on the September 5 episode of NXT.[23][24] Wagner returned from injury at Halloween Havoc on October 31, attacking Breakker after his match against Stone.[25] On April 22, 2024, it was reported that Wagner had been released from WWE.[26]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ a b "Cal Bloom - Football 2016 - UCF Athletics". University of Central Florida Athletics. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "Von Wagner". WWE.com. WWE. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  3. ^ "Osseo - 2011-2012 Regular Season - Roster - #21". mnbasketballhub.com. MN Boys' Basketball Hub. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  4. ^ "Stokely Hathaway, Cal Bloom and Robert Strauss join the WWE Performance Center". WWE. March 11, 2019. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  5. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (May 4, 2019). "NXT Live Event Results From West Palm Beach, FL (5/3/19): Kairi Sane Returns, Riddle vs. Dream". Fightful. Archived from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  6. ^ Williams, JJ (March 8, 2020). "NXT Orlando, FL, live results: Kushida vs. Bobby Fish". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Archived from the original on November 5, 2024. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  7. ^ Pappolla, Ryan (April 10, 2020). "Sheamus def. Cal Bloom". WWE. Archived from the original on April 15, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  8. ^ "WWE NXT results, Sept 14, 2021: Ciampa raises the title and InDex says "I Do" to begin NXT 2.0 era". WWE. September 14, 2021. Archived from the original on September 15, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  9. ^ Burdick, Michael (December 5, 2021). "NXT Tag Team Titles Match Imperium def. Kyle O'Reilly & Von Wagner". WWE. Archived from the original on December 6, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  10. ^ Moore, John (December 7, 2021). "12/7 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review Johnny Gargano addressing his future, Kyle O'Reilly vs. Von Wagner in a cage match, Santos Escobar vs. Xyon Quinn, NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes vs. Dexter Lumis in a non-title match, MSK meeting The Shaman". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on January 22, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  11. ^ Moore, John (February 1, 2022). "2/1 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Bron Breakker and Tommaso Ciampa vs. Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza, Cora Jade vs. Raquel Gonzalez, Gunther, Fabian Aichner, and Marcel Barthel vs. Roderick Strong, Julius Creed, and Brutus Creed, LA Knight vs. Joe Gacy". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  12. ^ Moore, John (July 5, 2022). "7/5 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Bron Breakker vs. Cameron Grimes for the NXT Title, Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne vs. Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade for the NXT Women's Tag Titles, Carmelo Hayes vs. Grayson Waller for the NXT NA Title, The Creeds vs. Roderick Strong and Damon Kemp for the NXT Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on August 12, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  13. ^ Moore, John (July 12, 2022). "7/12 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Mandy Rose vs. Roxanne Perez for the NXT Women's Championship, Apollo Crews vs. Giovanni Vinci, Solo Sikoa vs. Von Wagner". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on September 4, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  14. ^ Moore, John (August 2, 2022). "8/2 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin vs. Ivy Nile and Tatum Paxley vs. Kayden Carter and Katana Chance vs. Yulisa Leon and Valentina Perez in a four-way elimination match for the vacant NXT Women's Tag Team Titles, The Creeds vs. Tony D'Angelo and Stacks for the NXT Tag Titles, Solo Sikoa vs. Von Wagner in a Falls Count Anywhere match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on August 3, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  15. ^ Moore, John (October 4, 2022). "10/04 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Toxic Attraction vs. Zoey Stark, and Nikkita Lyons for a future tag title shot, Andre Chase vs. Von Wagner in a qualifying match for the ladder match for the vacant NXT North American Championship, The Grayson Waller Effect with Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  16. ^ Moore, John (October 22, 2022). "NXT Halloween Havoc results: Moore's live review of Bron Breakker vs. Ilja Dragunov vs. JD McDonagh for the NXT Title, Mandy Rose vs. Alba Fyre for the NXT Women's Title, Carmelo Hayes vs. Wes Lee vs. Von Wagner vs. Oro Mensah vs. Nathan Frazer in a ladder match for the vacant North American Title, Roxanne Perez vs. Cora Jade in a Weapons Wild match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  17. ^ Moore, John (November 1, 2022). "11/1 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Mandy Rose celebrating one year as NXT Women's Champion, NXT Champion Bron Breakker's appearance, Grayson Waller vs. R-Truth, Thea Hail vs. Kiana James, Odyssey Jones' return to the ring, The Schism addresses the addition of Ava Raine". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on November 2, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  18. ^ Moore, John (November 8, 2022). "11/8 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Kayden Carter and Katana Chance vs. Nikkita Lyons and Zoey Stark for the NXT Women's Tag Team Titles, Cameron Grimes vs. Joe Gacy, Brutus Creed vs. Damon Kemp in a five-minute challenge, JD McDonagh vs. Axiom, Andre Chase vs. Charlie Dempsey, Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo vs. Hank Walker". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  19. ^ Moore, John (November 15, 2022). "11/15 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Bron Breakker vs. Von Wagner for the NXT Championship, Mandy Rose vs. Alba Fyre in a Last Woman Standing match for the NXT Women's Championship, Apollo Crews vs. JD McDonagh, Indi Hartwell vs. Tatum Paxley, Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler vs. Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  20. ^ Moore, John (June 20, 2023). "6/20 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Gold Rush night one featuring Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker for the World Heavyweight Championship, Wes Lee vs. Tyler Bate for the NXT North American Title with Mustafa Ali as special referee, Dana Brooke vs. Cora Jade, a Triple Threat for an NXT Tag Team Title shot". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  21. ^ Moore, John (July 11, 2023). "NXT TV results (7/11): Moore's review of Bron Breakker vs. Ilja Dragunov for a shot at the NXT Championship, Judgment Day's appearance, NXT Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton vs. Ivy Nile, Stacks vs. Joe Coffey for Tony D'Angelo's freedom". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on July 17, 2024. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  22. ^ Moore, John (July 25, 2023). "NXT TV results (7/25): Moore's review of Rhea Ripley vs. Lyra Valkyria, Carmelo Hayes, Trick Williams, and Ilja Dragunov vs. The Schism, Gable Steveson's decision, Dana Brooke vs. Cora Jade in a Kendo Stick on a pole match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  23. ^ Moore, John (August 22, 2023). "NXT TV results (8/22): Moore's review of Heatwave with Carmelo Hayes vs. Wes Lee for the NXT Title, Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio vs. Dragon Lee and Lyra Valkyria, Nathan Frazer vs. Noam Dar for the NXT Heritage Cup". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on August 23, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  24. ^ McGeorge, Alistair (September 6, 2023). "WWE star Von Wagner 'rushed to hospital' on stretcher after horrifying scenes force NXT off air". Metro. DMG Media. Archived from the original on September 7, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  25. ^ Moore, John (October 31, 2023). "NXT TV results (10/31): Moore's review of Ilja Dragunov vs. Carmelo Hayes for the NXT Championship, Dominik Mysterio vs. Nathan Frazer for the NXT North American Title, Bron Breakker vs. Mr. Stone". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on November 3, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  26. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (April 22, 2024). "Von Wagner Released By WWE". Fightful. Archived from the original on April 25, 2024. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  27. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2022". The Internet Wrestling Database. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2022.