Anthony Gregory Mayweather[8] (born February 21, 1985)[9] is an Americanprofessional wrestler and promoter, currently signed to theNWA where he competes under his real name. In 2010, he signed withTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) asCrimson, where he achieved a 470-day undefeated streak, which lasted until June 2012. Afterwards, he spent time in TNA'sdevelopmental territoryOhio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he became a one-timeOVW Heavyweight Champion and a two-timeOVW Southern Tag Team Champion, before being released from his contract in July 2013. He has since made several returns to TNA, most recently in April 2017, using the ring nameMayweather. Mayweather served five years in theUnited States Army, which included two tours ofIraq as part ofOperation Iraqi Freedom. He made his professional wrestling debut in 2007, working under the ring nameTommy Mercer for various promotions on theindependent circuit, including Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW),NWA Main Event andShowtime All-Star Wrestling (SAW). He runs his own wrestling promotion, Tried-N-True Wrestling, based in Tennessee,[10] which has been loosely affiliated with theNational Wrestling Alliance since autumn 2017.
During his second tour of Iraq, Mayweather decided to pursue a career inprofessional wrestling and upon his return to the United States, entered theNWA Main Eventwrestling school inClarksville, Tennessee, where he was trained by Jeff Daniels.[7] He would make his professional wrestling debut in 2007, working forindependent promotions inNashville, Tennessee under the ring name "Tommy Mercer".[5][7] He would eventually make his debut also for NWA Main Event, starting astoryline rivalry with his trainer Jeff Daniels.[7] On June 3, 2010, Mercer won his first professional wrestling championship, when he defeated Matt Boyce for the NWA Mid-American Television Championship.[7][11] On October 10, 2009, Mercer wrestled in a six–way pre-show match at aRing of Honor (ROH) event inIndianapolis, Indiana.[12]
Mercer worked for Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW) from December 2009 until December 2010. On February 29, 2010, Mercer took part in a thirty-manGauntlet for the Gold to determine the new AIW Absolute Champion. The match ended with Mercer, Facade,Johnny Gargano andSJK all tumbling over the top rope at the same time, setting up a four-way decision match forAbsolution 5.[13] On April 9, Mercer formed Team No Mercy with Chris Dickinson and Toby Klein to take part in the Jack of All Trios tournament; the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals by The Young Studs (Bobby Beverly, Eric Ryan and TJ Dynamite).[13] On June 27, Mercer was defeated by Johnny Gargano in the four-way decision match for the AIW Absolute Championship.[13] Mercer made his final AIW appearance on December 17, unsuccessfully challenging Gargano for the AIW Absolute Championship.[13]
Mercer also worked forShowtime All-Star Wrestling (SAW), where he received shots atChase Stevens' SAW International Heavyweight Championship, however, both matches ended in a no contest.[14][15] After the title wasvacated, Mercer entered a tournament to determine the new champion. On June 11, 2011, Mercer was eliminated from the tournament, when his semifinal match against Chase Stevens ended in a double countout.[16] Mercer would finally get the better of Stevens on October 8, when he was victorious in aLast Man Standing match, which would turn out to be his final match for the promotion.[17]
In 2010, Mercer wrestled two tryoutdark matches forTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), in a losing effort againstJay Lethal.[18] andStevie Richards.[19] On December 4, 2010, Mercer took part in the TNA Gut Check Challenge tryout workshop inOrlando, Florida and two days later wrestled his third dark match for the promotion, in which he defeated Neico.[20][21][22] On December 10, 2010, it was reported that TNA had signed Mercer to a contract.[20][23] He would make his televised debut on the December 30 episode ofImpact!, portrayingAmazing Red's younger brother and being billed as "Little Red".[2][3] The previous weekJeff Jarrett had defeated Amazing Red in his $100,000mixed martial arts challenge series and upon hearing that he had a younger brother, challenged him to a match, expecting someone even smaller than the 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Red.[24] Mercer dominated his debut match, before Jarrett's security guards,Gunner andMurphy, pulled their boss out of the ring and prevented him from re–entering.[2][3][6] On the January 13 episode ofImpact! Mercer, now renamed "Crimson", returned, attackingAbyss backstage and promising that "they" would be coming to take outImmortal on February 3.[1] The following week, Crimson repeated his actions from the previous week, this time attackingA.J. Styles. Later that night, he savedKurt Angle from Immortal by attacking Abyss with Janice, his nail-covered board, and sidelining him with a storyline injury.[25]
On the January 27 episode ofImpact!, Crimson explained that he was no longer by Amazing Red's side, because he had been given an offer he couldn't refuse. Later that night Crimson and Angle were placed in a seven–on–two handicap match against Immortal andFortune members Jeff Jarrett,James Storm,Robert Roode,Kazarian,Rob Terry, Gunner and Murphy. The match ended with Jarrett pinning Angle for the win. Afterwards, Crimson and Angle were saved by the returningScott Steiner.[26] On the February 3 episode ofImpact!, Fortune turned on Immortal, revealing themselves as the "they" Crimson and Angle had been referring to.[27] Crimson made hispay-per-view debut on April 17 atLockdown, where he and Scott Steiner were unsuccessful in becoming the number one contenders to theTNA World Tag Team Championship in a four tag teamsteel cage match, which was won byInk Inc. (Jesse Neal andShannon Moore).[28] The following month atSacrifice, Crimson defeated Abyss in a singles match to win the feud and keep his "undefeated streak" intact.[29] Crimson then moved on to feuding withSamoa Joe, stemming from the fact that during the past three weeks, Joe had on two occasions turned his back and walked away from the ring, after Abyss had blindsided Crimson, claiming that he had not needed anyone's help during his own 18 month undefeated streak in 2005 and 2006.[30][31][32] On June 12 atSlammiversary IX, Crimson continued his streak by defeating Samoa Joe.[33] The following week Crimson entered theBound for Glory Series to determine the number one contender to theTNA World Heavyweight Championship and continued his undefeated streak against the likes ofD'Angelo Dinero, Bobby Roode andBully Ray, taking over the number one spot in tournament standings.[34][35][36][37] However, on the August 25 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Samoa Joe attacked Crimson, suffering a storyline ankle injury, which forced him out of the Bound for Glory Series.[38][39]
Crimson returned on the September 28 episode ofImpact Wrestling, challenging Joe to a fight. During the fight, Joe slammed Crimson's injured ankle into a guardrail and locked him in aheel hook, before being run off byMatt Morgan.[40] The following week Crimson defeated Joe in his return match.[41] Crimson continued his undefeated streak on October 16 atBound for Glory, defeating Samoa Joe and Matt Morgan in a three-way match.[42] On November 13 atTurning Point, Crimson wrestled Morgan to a double disqualification, keeping his undefeated streak alive.[43] On the following episode ofImpact Wrestling, Crimson and Morgan defeatedMexican America (Anarquia andHernandez) to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship.[44] During the next month, Crimson and Morgan made successful title defenses against Anarquia and Hernandez in a rematch on the November 24 episode ofImpact Wrestling, and againstDevon and D'Angelo Dinero on December 11 atFinal Resolution.[45][46] On January 8, 2012, atGenesis, Crimson and Morgan made another successful title defense by defeating the team ofMagnus and Samoa Joe.[47] On February 12 atAgainst All Odds, Crimson and Morgan lost the TNA World Tag Team Championship to Magnus and Joe in a rematch.[48] On the February 23 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Crimson and Morgan failed to regain the TNA World Tag Team Championship from Magnus and Joe.[49] Despite the problems between Crimson and Morgan, the two managed to defeatRobbie E andRobbie T on the March 8 episode ofImpact Wrestling to once again become the number one contenders to the TNA World Tag Team Championship.[50] During the title match against Magnus and Samoa Joe on March 18 atVictory Road, Crimson turned on Morgan, costing the team the match and turningheel in the process.[51] On April 15 atLockdown, Crimson defeated Morgan in a steel cage match to keep his undefeated streak alive.[52] On the May 10 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Crimson and Morgan were set to face each other in what was billed as their "final confrontation", however, before the match could start, Morgan was attacked by Bully Ray. After Morgan was stretchered away, Crimson was given a countout victory.[53] Three days later atSacrifice, Crimson defeatedEric Young in a singles match to keep his undefeated streak alive.[54] On June 10 atSlammiversary, Crimson's 470-day undefeated streak ended, when the returning James Storm answered his open challenge and defeated him in a singles match.[55][56]
Crimson returned on the July 5 episode ofImpact Wrestling, unsuccessfully challenging Devon for theTNA Television Championship.[57] After not appearing onImpact Wrestling for over a month, Crimson askedAl Snow to improve in TNA'sdevelopmental territoryOhio Valley Wrestling (OVW),[58] making his debut on August 15, 2012.[59] On September 1, Crimson won theNightmare Rumble to become the number one contender to theOVW Heavyweight Championship.[60] On September 12, Crimson defeated Johnny Spade to become the new OVW Heavyweight Champion.[61][62] Crimson's first title program was with another TNA employee, Rob Terry,[63] which built to title matches on October 10 and November 4, which both saw Crimson retain the OVW Heavyweight Championship.[64][65] On December 1, Crimson lost the OVW Heavyweight Championship to Terry.[66] Crimson then formed astable named the Coalition Forces with Jack Black, Jason Wayne, Joe Coleman, Raul LaMotta and Shiloh Jonze and began being referred to as "General" Crimson.[67] On January 16, 2013, Crimson and "General" Jason Wayne won theOVW Southern Tag Team Championship by defeatingAlex Silva andSam Shaw.[68] Crimson and Wayne lost the title back to Silva and Shaw on February 27,[61] before regaining it from them on April 3.[61][69] Crimson's and Wayne's second reign ended on June 26, when they lost the title to Michael Hayes and Mohammed Ali Vaez.[61] Crimson returned toImpact Wrestling on June 13, claiming that he had been sent home for a year after his 470-day undefeated streak had ended. He then proceeded to lose toJoseph Park in aBound for Glory Series qualifying match.[70] On July 3, Mayweather was released from his TNA contract due to budget cuts.[71][58] Despite his July 3 release from TNA, Crimson wrestled one more match for OVW on July 6, when he and Wayne failed in their attempt to regain the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship from Hayes and Vaez.[72] He was then sidelined with ameniscus tear in his right knee.[73]
On February 12, 2015, Crimson returned to TNA, losing toSamuel Shaw at aTNA Xplosion taping.[74] Over the next days, Crimson also worked several One Night Only pay-per-view tapings.[75][76] Crimson returned on the June 10,Destination X themed episode ofImpact Wrestling, losing toBram.[77] During 2015, Crimson also took part in theTNA World Title Series,[78] but failed to advance to the round of 16 after losing all of his matches in the "Future 4" group, which also includedEli Drake,Jessie Godderz, andMicah.[79]
On the April 6, 2017, episode ofImpact Wrestling, a vignette aired promoting Mayweather's return to the company now in a tag team called the "Veterans of War".[80] On the April 20Impact Wrestling, Mayweather, introducing himself by his real name, appeared in a vignette, where he talked about his life.[81] The Veterans of War, made up of Mayweather andWilcox, debuted on the April 27Impact Wrestling with a win over Fallah Bahh and Mario Bokara.[4] On May 18, Mayweather signed a contract with Impact Wrestling,[82] but left the promotion on November 13, 2017.
Mercer returned to SAW, now known as NWA Southern All-Star Wrestling, on September 6, 2013, defeating Hot Rod Biggs to become the newNWA Southern Heavyweight Champion.[83][84] Crimson vacated the title on October 11 due to an injury.[83] Also returned to AIW on April 25, 2014, when he,B. J. Whitmer andJimmy Jacobs formed a stable named The Forgotten and attacked the AIW Tag Team Champions, the Jollyville Fuck-Its (Nasty Russ and T-Money).[85][86]
On May 16, 2014, Crimson and Amazing Red defeatedThe Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) to win theHouse of Glory (HOG) promotion's Tag Team Championship.[87] In December 2014, it was reported that Mayweather was taking part in a one-week tryout camp withWWE.[88]
In April 2016, Mayweather was arrested for domestic assault after allegedly head-butting his wife.[94]
In March 2023, Mayweather was arrested for violating an order of protection. Police conducted a welfare check on February 24, and it was found that Mayweather had made several calls to his juvenile son's phone and sent several text messages to his wife, Heather Mayweather, even while police were present.[95]
^Meltzer, Dave (January 30, 2012). "Jan 30 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Gigantic year-end awards issue, best and worst in all categories plus UFC on FX 1, death of Savannah Jack, ratings, tons and tons of news".Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, CA.ISSN1083-9593.
