Tony D'Angelo

Not to be confused with Tony DeAngelo.

Tony D'Angelo
Ariola In 2024
Birth nameJoseph Ariola
Born (1995-06-09) June 9, 1995 (age 29)
Oak Park, Illinois, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Tony D'Angelo
Joey Ariola[1]
Billed height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Billed weight250 lb (110 kg)
Billed fromChicago, Illinois
Trained byWWE Performance Center
Debut2019[2][3]

Joseph Ariola (born June 9, 1995) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Tony D'Angelo. He is the reigning NXT North American Champion in his first reign. Working with a mafia gimmick, he is the leader of The D'Angelo Family stable as "The Don of NXT", and is a former two-time NXT Tag Team Champion and a one-time NXT Heritage Cup champion.

Early life and education

Before becoming a professional wrestler, Ariola was a collegiate wrestler for the University at Buffalo, from which he graduated in 2018.

Professional wrestling career

WWE (2021–present)

On the October 5, 2021 episode of NXT, Ariola made his WWE debut under the ring name Tony D'Angelo, with the heel gimmick of an Italian-American mafia, defeating Malik Blade in a few minutes.[4] On December 5, at NXT WarGames, Team 2.0 (D'Angelo, Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes and Grayson Waller) defeated Team Black & Gold (Johnny Gargano, LA Knight, Pete Dunne and Tommaso Ciampa) in a WarGames match.[5]

D'Angelo suffered his first loss against Dunne on the December 21 episode of NXT, brutally attacking Dunne with a crowbar after the match.[6] As a result of the feud that ensued, D'Angelo defeated Dunne in a Crowbar On a Pole match on the January 11, 2022 episode of NXT.[7] On the January 25 episode of NXT, D'Angelo faced Cameron Grimes for an opportunity to challenge for the NXT North American Championship, but lost after interference from Dunne.[8] On the February 15 episode of NXT: Vengeance Day, D'Angelo lost to Dunne in a Weaponized Steel Cage match, ending their feud.[9] On April 2 at NXT Stand & Deliver, D'Angelo defeated Tommaso Ciampa in the latter's final match in NXT.[10]

On the April 26 episode of NXT, D'Angelo introduced Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and Troy "Two Dimes" Donovan as his henchmen who attacked Santos Escobar the previous week, forming a stable called The D'Angelo Family.[11] At NXT In Your House on June 4, The D'Angelo Family defeated Legado del Fantasma (Escobar, Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde). As per the stipulation, Legado del Fantasma had to join The D'Angelo Family.[12] On June 11, Two Dimes was released by WWE.[13] On the June 21 episode of NXT, D'Angelo failed to win the NXT North American Championship from Carmelo Hayes after interference from Escobar.[14] D'Angelo and Stacks faced The Creed Brothers for the NXT Tag Team Championship on the August 2 episode of NXT but again lost due to Escobar's interference.[15] On the August 16 episode of NXT: Heatwave, D'Angelo defeated Escobar in a Street Fight and, as per the stipulation, Legado del Fantasma had to remain linked to The D'Angelo Family while Escobar had to (kayfabe) leave NXT.[16]

D'Angelo faced Wes Lee for the NXT North American Championship on the December 27 episode of NXT but lost after interference from Dijak.[17] On the following episode of NXT, D'Angelo turned face by challenging Dijak to a match at NXT: New Year's Evil on January 10, 2023, which he lost.[18][19] He then defeated Dijak on the March 7 episode of NXT: Roadblock in a Jailhouse Street Fight.[20] At NXT Stand & Deliver on April 1, D'Angelo and Stacks failed to win the NXT Tag Team Championship in a triple threat match.[21] The D'Angelo Family entered a brief feud with Pretty Deadly where they lost to them on the following episode of NXT but defeated them on April 25 at Spring Breakin' in a trunk match.[22][23] On July 30 at NXT: The Great American Bash, D'Angelo and Stacks defeated Gallus to win the NXT Tag Team Championship, the first championship in his wrestling career.[24] They defeated The Dyad (Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid) in their first title defense on the August 15 episode of NXT.[25] At NXT No Mercy on September 30, D'Angelo and Stacks retained the titles against Out the Mud (Lucien Price and Bronco Nima), The Creed Brothers (Brutus Creed and Julius Creed), and Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo in a fatal four-way tag team match.[26] On the October 24 episode of NXT: Halloween Havoc, D'Angelo and Stacks lost the titles to Chase University (Andre Chase and Duke Hudson), ending their first reign at 86 days,[27] but would later defeat Chase and Hudson in a rematch on the November 14 episode of NXT to regain the titles.[28] During this time, Adriana Rizzo became a part of the D'Angelo Family, feuding with Price, Nima and Jaida Parker of OTM, leading to a six-person mixed tag team match at NXT Vengeance Day on February 4 which the D'Angelo Family won.[29] On the February 13, 2024 episode of NXT, D'Angelo and Stacks lost the titles to Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic winners Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin, ending their second reign at 91 days.[30]

On the February 27 episode of NXT, D'Angelo interrupted the contract signing between Carmelo Hayes and NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov, willing to earn a title shot at the NXT Championship. NXT General Manager Ava then set a match between Hayes and D'Angelo at NXT: Roadblock to determine who would face Dragunov for the NXT Championship at NXT Stand & Deliver.[31] At NXT: Roadblock on March 5, D'Angelo introduced Luca Crusifino as the "consigliere" of The D'Angelo Family and defeated Hayes after using Trick Williams' entrance music to distract Hayes.[32] At NXT Stand & Deliver on April 6, D'Angelo failed to win the title from Dragunov.[33] On the April 16 episode of NXT, D'Angelo revealed that his Family were hired by No Quarter Catch Crew (Charlie Dempsey, Damon Kemp, and Myles Borne) to (kayfabe) eliminate their leader Drew Gulak. D'Angelo demanded payment for the job but NQCC refused, causing a brawl between the two factions and resulting in a six-man tag team match between the two factions at Spring Breakin' on April 23, which was won by The D'Angelo Family.[34][35] On the May 7 episode of NXT, Dempsey and Borne faced Tyson DuPont and Tyrek Igwe. Before the match started, the match referee was declared "unavailable" and Stacks was announced as the special guest referee, costing Dempsey and Borne the match through a fast count. After the match, an irate Dempsey gave D'Angelo a title shot at the NXT Heritage Cup as payment due to the D'Angelo Family and invoked the Catch Clause, which was then nullified when D'Angelo and his Family kidnapped Kemp and Borne later that night.[36] On the following episode of NXT, D'Angelo defeated Dempsey 2–1 in British Rounds Rules to win the Cup, his first singles championship in WWE.[37] He lost the Cup back to Dempsey on the August 13 episode of NXT after outside interference from NQCC's new stablemate Wren Sinclair, ending his reign at 90 days.[38] On September 1 at NXT No Mercy, D'Angelo failed to win the NXT North American Championship from Oba Femi.[39] However, the following month, D'Angelo defeated Femi in a rematch on the October 8 episode of NXT to win the title, ending Femi's record-setting title reign at 273 days and becoming the first wrestler to win the NXT Tag Team, Heritage Cup and North American Championships.[40] At Halloween Havoc on October 27, D'Angelo defeated Femi in a rematch to retain the title in a Tables, Ladders and Scares match.[41]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ "Joey Ariola". Facebook. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  2. ^ "Joey Ariola". Facebook. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  3. ^ "Joey Ariola First Match". cagematch. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  4. ^ Zak, Brad (October 5, 2021). "WWE NXT results: Oct. 5, 2021". WWE. Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  5. ^ Moore, John (December 5, 2021). "NXT WarGames results: Moore's live review of two WarGames matches, Roderick Strong vs. Joe Gacy for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel vs. Kyle O'Reilly and Von Wagner for the NXT Tag Titles, Cameron Grimes vs. Duke Hudson in a hair vs. hair match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on December 6, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  6. ^ Moore, John (December 21, 2021). "12/21 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of AJ Styles responding to Grayson Waller, Raquel Gonzalez vs. Dakota Kai in a street fight, Pete Dunne vs. Tony D'Angelo, Dexter Lumis vs. Trick Williams, Julius Creed and Brutus Creed vs. Zack Gibson and James Drake, Von Wagner in action". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on September 14, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  7. ^ Moore, John (January 11, 2022). "1/11 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of AJ Styles vs. Grayson Waller, Santos Escobar vs. Xyon Quinn, Pete Dunne vs. Tony D'Angelo in a Crowbar on a Pole match, Solo Sikoa vs. Boa, Kacy Catanzaro, Kayden Carter, and Amari Miller vs. Indi Hartwell, Portia Pirotta, and Wendy Choo". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on January 12, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  8. ^ Moore, John (January 25, 2022). "1/25 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Solo Sikoa vs. Boa in a No DQ, Falls Count Anywhere match, Cameron Grimes vs. Tony D'Angelo for a shot at the NXT North American Championship, Toxic Attraction vs. Kay Lee Ray, Indi Hartwell, and Persia Pirotta, two Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on February 14, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  9. ^ Moore, John (February 15, 2022). "2/15 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of Bron Breakker vs. Santos Escobar for the NXT Title, Carmelo Hayes vs. Cameron Grimes for the NXT North American Title, Gigi Dolan and Jacy Jayne vs. Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta for the NXT Women's Tag Titles, MSK vs. The Creeds in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic finals, Pete Dunne vs. Tony D'Angelo in a weaponized cage match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on March 12, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
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  12. ^ Moore, John (June 4, 2022). "NXT In Your House results: Moore's live review of Bron Breakker vs. Joe Gacy for the NXT Title, Mandy Rose vs. Wendy Choo for the NXT Women's Title, Pretty Deadly vs. The Creed Brothers for the NXT Tag Titles, Cameron Grimes vs. Carmelo Hayes for the NXT North American Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on June 5, 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
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  15. ^ 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 9, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
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  21. ^ McGuire, Colin (April 1, 2023). "NXT Stand & Deliver results: McGuire's live review of Bron Breakker vs. Carmelo Hayes for the NXT Title, Roxanne Perez vs. Zoey Stark vs. Gigi Dolin vs. Tiffany Stratton vs. Lyra Valkyria vs. Indi Hartwell in a ladder match for the NXT Women's Title, Wes Lee vs. Dragon Lee vs. JD McDonagh vs. Ilja Dragunov vs. Axiom for the NXT North American Title, Johnny Gargano vs. Grayson Waller". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
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