 JTG in 2009 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jayson Anthony Paul (1984-12-10)December 10, 1984 (age 41)[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Jay-TG[1] JTG[1] The Neighborhoodie[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2] |
| Billed weight | 232 lb (105 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | Brooklyn, New York[2][3] |
| Trained by | Ohio Valley Wrestling[1] |
| Debut | 2002[1] |
Jayson Anthony Paul (born December 10, 1984)[1] is an Americanprofessional wrestler best known for his time inWWE under thering nameJTG (Just Too Good).
Paul began his professional wrestling career in 2006 with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), being assigned to their developmental territoryOhio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he was atwo-timeOVW Southern Tag Team Champion (withShad Gaspard, as part ofCryme Tyme). In 2006, Cryme Tyme was promoted to WWE's main roster, before both JTG and Gaspard were released from the company the following year. They both returned to the company in 2008, and later split up and feuded with each other until Gaspard's release in 2010.
Later that year, JTG was assigned toNXT, where he was announced as one of the Pros forNXT Redemption[broken anchor], mentoring Jacob Novak. He eventually turnedheel and feuded withVladimir Kozlov's rookieConor O'Brian and Kozlov himself. He additionally made appearances onSmackDown andSuperstars. From late 2012 to 2013, JTG was relegated tojobber status and continued to compete until his release in 2014.
Jayson Anthony Paul was born on December 10, 1984, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York.[1] Paul's mother is of Tobagonian descent. He attendedJohn Dewey High School in Brooklyn, where he participated in acting and drama classes.[4]
Paul began his career in 2006, working in theWorld Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)developmental territoryOhio Valley Wrestling (OVW) under thering nameThe Neighborhoodie.[5] While there, he was placed into atag team withShad Gaspard. They held theOVW Southern Tag Team Championship on two occasions.
In 2006, the tag team was promoted from OVW to theRawbrand under the name "Cryme Tyme", with Paul changing his name toJTG. On September 4, 2006, a series ofvignettes began airing onRaw, hyping the debut of Cryme Tyme.[6] On the October 16, 2006 episode ofRaw, Cryme Tyme debuted and defeated two members of the then namedWorld Tag Team Champions, TheSpirit Squad (Mikey andJohnny), in a non-title match.[7] In November 2006, at theCyber Sundaypay-per-view, Cryme Tyme defeatedLance Cade and Trevor Murdoch,Charlie Haas,Viscera, andThe Highlanders in aTexas tornado tag team match (as voted by the fans).[8] As part of theirgimmick, Cryme Tyme regularly stole items belonging to other wrestlers and on-air personalities, and sold them to fans.[8][9] They were also selling false entry numbers at theRoyal Rumble.[9] A few months later at theNew Year's Revolution pay-per-view, Cryme Tyme won a tag team turmoil match against The Highlanders,World's Greatest Tag Team, Cade and Murdoch, and "Hacksaw"Jim Duggan andSuper Crazy, earning them a shot at the World Tag Team Championships.[10] They then competed mainly onHeat for the next few months,[9] although they made a backstage appearance atWrestleMania 23.[9] They also took part in thetag team battle royal on April 2.[9][11]
AfterMr. McMahon's "death", Cryme Tyme plugged some merchandise and auctions in memory of him.[9] On the June 29, 2007 episode ofSmackDown, Cryme Tyme was defeated byDeuce 'n Domino (withCherry) in an inter-brand match tag team match.[12] While Deuce, Domino and Cherry celebrated their victory, Cryme Tyme appeared on thetitantron and, in storyline, stole their car, taking it to Brisco Brothers Auto to sell it for parts chanting their signaturecatchphrase, "Money money, yeah, yeah".[12] On July 21, 2007, Cryme Tyme defeated The James Boys to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship for the second time.[13][14] On August 13, 2007, Cryme Tyme returned to their hometown ofNew York City on an episode ofRaw fromMadison Square Garden, losing to then-World Tag Team Champions Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch in a non-title match bydisqualification when Shad used a chair on Murdoch.[15] On the August 20, 2007 episode ofRaw, Cryme Tyme stole Murdoch's hat and sold it to a fan,[16] and the following week, stole Cade's and gave it away to a fan.[17] In the middle of thisfeud, on September 2, 2007, both Paul and Gaspard were released from WWE.[18]
Paul, along with Gaspard wrestled at theJersey All Pro Wrestling 10th Anniversary Show on October 27, 2007. Wrestling as Crime Time, they defeated The Dirty Rotten Scoundrelz.[19] Paul appeared in Derby City Wrestling (DCW) at their end of year show.[20] He was then involved in a feud with The Mobile Homers in DCW.[21]
Cryme Tyme returned to WWE on the March 31, 2008 episode ofRaw, where they defeatedLance Cade and Trevor Murdoch in their first televised match in nearly six months.[22] Cryme Tyme began working withJohn Cena on the June 30 episode ofRaw when they helped him interfere duringJohn "Bradshaw" Layfield's match.[23] The following week, they again appeared together in a backstage segment when they vandalised JBL's limo.[24] After ahouse show match, Cena announced they had created a faction called CTC, "Cryme Tyme Cenation".[25] Separately, Cryme Tyme started a feud with then World Tag Team ChampionsTed DiBiase andCody Rhodes, stealing theirchampionship belts for a time,[26] then losing a title match to them atUnforgiven.[27] JTG entered early into theRoyal Rumble match at the2009 Royal Rumble pay-per-view in January, after cheating to get a spot instead of Shad.[28] JTG lasted nearly 12 minutes before he was eliminated byThe Undertaker.[28] On the January 26 episode ofRaw, JTG and Shad attempted to win the World Tag Team Championship fromJohn Morrison and the Miz, but were unsuccessful.[29]
On April 15, 2009, Cryme Tyme were drafted to theSmackDown brand as part of the2009 supplemental draft.[30] They earned aUnified WWE Tag Team Championship match againstJeri-Show (Chris Jericho andBig Show) forSummerSlam after defeatingThe Hart Dynasty on the July 31 episode ofSmackDown.[31] On the August 7 episode ofSmackDown, JTG pinned Jericho in a major upset,[32] however at SummerSlam they lost the match after Show hit JTG in the face and Jericho pinned him.[33] At theRoyal Rumble, JTG entered his second royal rumble match but only lasted 25 seconds getting eliminated byCM Punk.[34] AtWrestleMania XXVI, Cryme Tyme competed in thedark match battle royal, but neither won the match.[35]
On the April 2, 2010 episode ofSmackDown, Cryme Tyme was quickly defeated byJohn Morrison andR-Truth.[36] The loss of the match prompted Gaspard to attack JTG, breaking up the team.[36] Their feud culminated with astrap match atExtreme Rules which JTG won. After JTG won againstCaylen Croft, Gaspard immediately attacked him unsuccessfully. Shad won a rematch on the May 6 episode ofSuperstars, but their feud came to an end when Gaspard was sent toFlorida Championship Wrestling (FCW).
Also after the split up of Cryme Tyme in 2010 JTG went on to compete in singles and in tag team action strictly on the SmackDown roster wrestling against talent such asMike Knox,[37]Chavo Guerrero,[38]Jack Swagger,[39]CM Punk,[40]Vance Archer,[41] and even teaming with other talent such asMVP,Chris Masters, andTrent Barreta[42][43][44] in tag team action and in six man tag team action since the team split up.
JTG was announced to be one of the Pros forNXT Redemption[broken anchor], mentoring Jacob Novak. On the May 3, 2011 episode ofNXT, he started his feud withWilliam Regal when Regal called him a "muppet" while Novak was calling Regal out to a match, turning himheel. Two weeks later, Novak was on eliminated, being the first to no longer be part of the show. In the2011 WWE draft, JTG was drafted to the Raw brand in thesupplemental draft via WWE.com on April 26, 2011.[45]
On the May 24 episode ofNXT, JTG had a feud withVladimir Kozlov's rookieConor O'Brian after he was pinned by O'Brian in asingles match. Afterwards JTG attacked O'Brian until Kozlov made a save and attacked JTG. He wrestled on the May 26 episode ofSuperstars as aface in a losing effort againstCurt Hawkins. He officially cemented his status as a heel on the June 7 episode ofNXT Redemption when he attackedYoshi Tatsu on JTG's in ring segment "Straight Outta Brooklyn". As he was going backstage,Matt Striker came out and announced JTG would face Tatsu in a match, which JTG lost. On the July 19 and August 2 episodes ofNXT Redemption, Kozlov started a feud with JTG beating him two times in a row with Kozlov also dressed like JTG in the second match. The feud ended when Kozlov was released by WWE on August 5, 2011. JTG scored his first win in months on the August 5 episode ofSmackDown teaming withDavid Otunga andMichael McGillicutty to defeatThe Usos andTrent Barreta. JTG gained a girlfriend andmanager inTamina in November 2011, leading to a feud with The Usos, whom Tamina had formerly managed;[46] JTG continually found himself losing to The Usos.[47]
Alicia Fox then approached JTG in May 2012 and offered to give him a makeover, which JTG accepted. On the May 9 episode ofNXT Redemption, JTG debuted a new look and defeated Yoshi Tatsu,[48] which was his first and only win in 2012, as JTG soon reverted to losing matches for the rest of 2012 and 2013,[49] including his final match, which was a loss toSantino Marella on the September 20, 2013 episode ofSuperstars.[50] After not appearing on WWE television in 2014, JTG was released on June 12.[51]
On April 1, 2022, JTG, in his first WWE appearance in eight years, appeared withShad Gaspard's wife and son in the2022 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, awarding the Warrior award to Gaspard.[52][53]
In June 2014, JTG and tag team partnerShad Gaspard began taking bookings as Crime Time, changing the spelling of their name in order to avoid a lawsuit from WWE. On August 23, 2014, for Warriors of Wrestling, Crime Time andThe Blue Meanie were defeated by Chachi, Verna and J-George. This was JTG's first match since leaving WWE. He appeared at wrestling events by himself or with Gaspard as part of Crime Time in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. In 2017, he wrestled forJoey Ryan's California Bar Wrestling promotion in matches alone and alongside Gaspard. In 2019, he wrestled a tag match with Shad at aGame Changer Wrestling/Suburban Fight Pro event, and in a battle royal atJoey Janela's Spring Break 3.[54]
On February 15, 2020, Crime Time appeared at former WWE wrestler Santino Marella's Battle Arts promotion in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, which would be their final match together as following scheduled events were cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. Gaspard died three months later on May 17, disbanding the tag team.[55]
Three months after Gaspard's death, JTG made his first wrestling appearance at VxS Wrestling on August 16, 2020, losing toBrian Cage. He also appeared at Brii Combination Wrestling on September 5 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. On October 9, JTG defeated Trey Miguel at Game Changer Wrestling's For The Culture event, and also participated in a Battle Royal at the promotion's Spring Break 4 event the following day, which was broadcast onFITE TV. On November 6, JTG won the VIP Wrestling Heavyweight Championship in Haltom City, Texas, becoming his first solo championship after defeating Gino, Shane Taylor, and Will Allday.[56] He reappeared at the wrestling promotion on January 29, 2021, after issuing an open challenge to take his championship title, which Alex Hammerstone accepted but lost. He returned to the promotion again on March 26, defeatingCarlito, and has continued to make appearances with the promotion, with his most recent being on March 6, 2022, in a match againstShane Taylor.
In February 2021, he appeared at Florida-based wrestling promotions and returned to VxS Wrestling in New Jersey, defeatingMance Warner.[57] On April 9, he appeared at VxS Wrestling's Lucid Dreams show in Tampa, Florida that was broadcast on FITE TV in a match against Dr. Cube. After being attacked by Dr. Cube and his entourage, he was saved byBig Cass and won the match.[58] On October 22, he made his PCW Ultra debut in Wilmington, California, where he was defeated bySteve Madison.[59] On October 24, he won the Waco Association Wrestling Championship in Waco, Texas after defeatingJuventud Guerrera.[60]
On February 3, 2023, JTG appeared atHouse of Glory's The Beginning show in an attempt to earn the Heavyweight Championship title fromJacob Fatu, though lost the match.[61] He also attempted to earn the Super Indy title fromCole Karter atInternational Wrestling Cartel's Twenty Two Show the following month, though also lost.[62]
On June 6, JTG made hisNational Wrestling Alliance debut at theirWhen Our Shadows Fall pay-per-view event, defeatingFred Rosser.[63] A month later on July 6, he was defeated byChris Adonis in an attempt to earn his NWA National Championship title.[64] In December of that year, he formed a tag team withDirty Dango under the name "Dirty Sexy Boys."[65]
JTG published his first bookDamn! Why Did I Write This Book? in May 2015,[66] followed by its sequelDamn! Why Did I Write This Book Too? How to Play the Game the following year.[67] He published his third book and first fitness e-book,The Newbies Guide To Big Biceps: So Easy To Follow A Child Could Do It! in December 2020.[68]
As an actor, JTG made his film debut inBad Night and appeared inThe Last Sharknado: It's About Time. In 2017, he appeared on the song "Team Asoka" with The Asoka alongside wrestlersJohn Morrison andRocky Romero.[69]
In 2018, JTG founded a beard and body care line named Sexy As Hell Beard Care.[70] The following year, he created an app called Earsaye, which creates audio memes.[71]
JTG has appeared in thevideo games as a playable character inWWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008,[72]WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009,[73]WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010,[74] andWWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011.[75]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Silent Library | Himself | Season 4, Episode 3 |
| 2014 | We The Economy | Himself | "GDP Smackdown" (Short film) |
| 2015 | Bad Night | Knuckles | |
| 2015 | Wrestling Isn't Wrestling | Theater Audience Member | Short film |
| 2017 | Campus Law | Dynamite Joe | "Quill Plus" (Season 1, Episode 3) |
| 2018 | Coach's Wrestling Class | Himself | Short film |
| 2018 | The Last Sharknado: It's About Time | Joe Louis | Television film |
| 2023 | I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson | Himself | "So Now Every Time I'm About to Do Something I Really Want to Do, I Ask Myself, 'Wait A Minute, What Is This?'" (Season 3, Episode 4) |
JTG def. DEWEY
{{cite web}}:Cite uses generic title (help)
,Cagematch,Wrestlingdata,Internet Wrestling Database