 Noble in 2015 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Gibson[3] (1976-12-23)December 23, 1976 (age 48) |
Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | James Gibson[1] Jamie Howard[1] Jamie Knoble[1] Jamie Noble[2] Jamie-San[3] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[2] |
| Billed weight | 202 lb (92 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | Hanover, West Virginia[2] |
| Trained by | Bill Weaver[1] Dean Malenko[3] |
| Debut | 1995[4] |
| Retired | December 11, 2022[5] |
James Gibson (born December 23, 1976) is an American retiredprofessional wrestler better known by thering nameJamie Noble. He is currently signed toWWE, where he works as aproducer. In addition to his work with WWE, Noble is known for his tenures inWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW),New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), andRing of Honor (ROH), where he is a formerone-timeROH World Champion.
Gibson was trained to wrestle byDean Malenko and Bill Weaver.[3] He debuted on theindependent circuit in 1995.[4]
In 1999, Gibson joinedWorld Championship Wrestling. After training at theWCW Power Plant, he made his first appearance with the promotion on July 11, 1999, under thering name "Jamie Howard", teaming with Jet Jaguar in a loss toCG Afi and Jeremy Lopez in adark match atBash at the Beach. He made his televised debut on the September 28, 1999, episode ofWCW Saturday Night, defeatingAlan Funk. He went on to perform in the promotion'scruiserweight division.
In February 2000, Gibson was renamed "Jamie-San" and reintroduced to WCW television as a member of theEast AsianstableJung Dragons, with Gibson wearing amask to conceal the fact that he wasCaucasian. The stable was made up of Gibson,Jimmy Yang,Kaz Hayashi and theirvalet,Leia Meow. Throughout mid-2000, The Jung Dragonsfeuded with rival stable3 Count. Gibson made hispay-per-view debut atNew Blood Rising on August 13, 2000, with The Jung Dragons losing to 3 Count in adouble ladder match.
In November 2000, Gibson left The Jung Dragons and formed atag team with former 3 Count memberEvan Karagias. Gibson removed his mask and adopted the ring name "Jamie Knoble", with he and Karagias performing as "Noble and Courageous". Noble and Courageous feuded with the remaining members of The Jung Dragons and 3 Count. Gibson continued to wrestle for WCW until the promotion was purchased by theWorld Wrestling Federation in March 2001.
Upon the acquisition of WCW by theWorld Wrestling Federation (later renamed World Wrestling Entertainment) in March 2001, Gibson was one of the WCW wrestlers to be signed by the WWF. He was assigned to the WWF developmental territoryHeartland Wrestling Association for seasoning, where he won the HWA Cruiserweight Championship under the Jamie Knoble name.[6]
Knoble debuted on the main WWE roster on the June 6, 2002, episode ofSmackDown! by attackingThe Hurricane and was joined byNidia in atrailer park trash gimmick. The spelling of his ring name was tweaked to "Jamie Noble" a few weeks afterwards. He won theWWE Cruiserweight Championship from Hurricane atKing of the Ring[7] andfeuded withTajiri andBilly Kidman. Noble held the title for 147 days until he lost the title to Billy Kidman atSurvivor Series on November 17, 2002. Noble then got an inheritance, making both Nidia and Noble rich.[8] Noble and Nidia both turnedface by befriendingTorrie Wilson andBilly Gunn. Nidia finally left him after she was "blinded" by then-heel Tajiri'sblack mist. He became a heel again by doing things he thought Nidia could not see (mainly using her as a human shield) and lied to her about them. During that time he also feuded withRey Mysterio for the Cruiserweight Championship. The two would face off for the Championship and Noble lost. A Boyfriend vs. GirlfriendBlindfold Match was then scheduled for Noble and Nidia atNo Way Out. Noble came out on top after cheating to see where Nidia was. AtWrestleMania XX, Noble competed in the Cruiserweight Open for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship which was won byChavo Guerrero. On the Sunday Night Heat beforeThe Great American Bash, Noble lost toSpike Dudley. He left WWE on September 15, 2004, when hissteroid usage came to light following astaph infection. Gibson was then released from his contract at his request to take some time off.
Upon leaving WWE, Gibson began performing under his birth name. In September 2004, he began wrestling for the Japanese promotionNew Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he formed a tag team withAmerican Dragon. He made his final appearance with NJPW in February 2005.
In February 2005, Gibson began wrestling forRing of Honor. While in ROH he wrestled in Hawaii on June 25 and 26, 2005, on the debut shows of new promotion Action Zone Wrestling (AZW) wrestlingAJ Styles both nights. He lost the first night in Waianae and won on the second night in Honolulu. On August 12, 2005, Gibson defeatedCM Punk,Samoa Joe andChristopher Daniels in anelimination four-way match to win theROH World Championship. He held the championship until September 17, 2005, when he was defeated byBryan Danielson.[9] Gibson made his final appearance with Ring of Honor in October 2005, rejoining WWE shortly thereafter.
Noble made his return to WWE on the December 17, 2005, episode ofVelocity and would later frequently team up with fellow cruiserweightKid Kash; during June 2006, Noble and Kash debuted agimmick, where they woredog collars, andbarked andbit[10] and had a shortface run. The pair quickly turnedheel and were soon named "The Pitbulls". They then entered the hunt for theWWE Tag Team Championship. The Pitbulls disbanded after Kash was fired from WWE on September 27, 2006.[11][unreliable source]
In 2007, Noble returned to competing in the cruiserweight division and performing as anenhancement talent againstRey Mysterio andBobby Lashley. AtNo Way Out, Noble competed in a cruiserweight Gauntlet Match for theWWE Cruiserweight Championship. He was eliminated by his former WCW teammate,Jimmy Wang Yang.[12] Noble returned to television on the June 8 episode ofSmackDown!, teaming up withChavo Guerrero andDaivari againstPaul London,Brian Kendrick and Wang Yang in a losing effort.[13] On the June 15 episode ofSmackDown!, Noble competed in a Fatal Four-Way number one contenders match for theCruiserweight Championship, which he lost to Jimmy Wang Yang and also involvedShannon Moore and Daivari.[14] In July, Noble was unsuccessful in a triple threat match for the Cruiserweight Championship against then Champion Guerrero andFunaki. Noble then competed in the Cruiserweight Open atThe Great American Bash but was pinned byHornswoggle.[15] Noble would then begin a feud with Hornswoggle that would see him lose in various humiliating fashions, usually by countout. Moore would constantly use his obsession with Hornswoggle to humiliate him as well.[16] After his feud with Hornswoggle ended, Noble began an angle where he waseasily defeated in his matches as punishment for being disrespectful to then-SmackDown! general manager,Vickie Guerrero.[17][18][19][20][21][22] He was eventually placed in a match withChuck Palumbo, which was expected to be yet another squash. Noble, however, defeated Palumbo,[23] which began a feud between the two, as well as involving Palumbo's "friend"Michelle McCool.[24][25] After his fourth win against Palumbo he came out when Chuck threatened to hurt McCool. Later in a tag team match, Palumbo attacked Noble and McCool, becoming a heel in the process.[26][27] As a result of the double turn, Noble became a face character once again.
As part of the2008 WWE Supplemental Draft, Noble was drafted to theRaw brand.[28] Noble was then involved in a storyline where he tried to impressLayla on multiple occasions only to antagonize and be beaten by larger opponents.[29][30] He started a feud withWilliam Regal over the course of the storyline, with the two trading wins, and Layla, between them.[31][32] On the September 15, 2008, episode ofRaw, the feud escalated following Noble's victory overPaul Burchill.[33] Layla came out and told Noble it was over and she found a man worthy of her in Regal.[33] On the February 3 episode ofECW Noble asked then-ECW General Manager Theodore Long for an ECW contract and lost toThe Boogeyman.
On the February 23 episode ofRaw, Noble suffered a neck injury in a match withMike Knox, and was taken to a local hospital. His injury meant that the scheduled segment betweenChris Jericho andRicky Steamboat that was meant to take place in the ring, had to take place on the stage instead.[34] It was later confirmed that the injury was not severe.[35] Noble made his return about one month later. During a match withSheamus on the November 2, 2009, episode ofRaw, Noble sustained aback injury after getting a Powerbomb onto the concrete. On November 10, 2009, Noble announced he was retiring from professional wrestling due to the effects of the injury and several other nagging injuries sustained over his career.[36] Upon retiring, Noble began working as aproducer. He made occasional appearances on WWE programming and wrestled sporadically athouse shows, including a bout withWorld Heavyweight Champion at the timeDaniel Bryan on January 13, 2012.
On the September 29, 2014, episode ofRaw, Noble and fellow producerJoey Mercury aligned themselves with thevillainousstableThe Authority. They were later named "J&J Security", with Noble and Mercury acting as bodyguards to Authority memberSeth Rollins.[37] On the November 24 episode ofRaw, Noble, along with Mercury, would wrestle their first televised matches in several years, when they teamed up with Rollins in a 3-on-2 Handicap match againstJohn Cena andDolph Ziggler in a losing effort.[38] On the February 5, 2015, episode ofSmackDown, J&J Security once again teamed with Rollins, this time in a 3-on-1 handicap match againstDaniel Bryan, once again in a losing effort.[39] After weeks of tension between Rollins and The Authority, on the June 8 episode ofRaw, J&J Security stood up to Rollins, leaving him, before defeating Rollins in a 2-on-1 Handicap match following interference fromDean Ambrose. However, on the June 22 episode ofRaw, after Rollins apologized to The Authority for his behaviour andBrock Lesnar returning and attacking him, J&J Security andKane would help Rollins attack Lesnar.[40] Noble would legitimately suffer three broken ribs from Lesnar after being thrown into the barricade during the brawl.[41] On the July 6 episode of "Raw",Brock Lesnar viciously attacked J&J Security, whom an afraid Rollins sent to the ramp with Mercury to stop him from getting his hands on Rollins by confronting him near their (J&J Security's) new Cadillac, which Rollins had just given them as a gift of his appreciation the previous week. Noble was promptly beaten down by Lesnar and locked into a Kimura Lock submission maneuver. Following this, it was announced that both Noble and Mercury would be out of action indefinitely.
In 2017, Noble was seen backstage atGreat Balls of Fire assisting Raw General ManagerKurt Angle with the rescue ofBraun Strowman who had been trapped in an ambulance due toRoman Reigns crashing into it with a truck, following theirambulance match. On the May 28, 2018, episode ofRaw, Noble helped Seth Rollins walk after he was attacked byElias. He has been involved as a security team member, in numerous pull-apart brawls onRaw andSmackDown throughout 2018 and 2020. On the May 29, 2020, episode ofSmackDown, Noble was among officials on the scene following a hit-and-run on Elias and found a seemingly inebriatedJeff Hardy, who was then arrested. On the March 12, 2021, episode ofSmackDown, Noble was seen shieldingCesaro from Rollins who attacked him. On December 11, 2022, during the WWE Holiday Tour in Charleston, West Virginia, Noble made a one-night-only return to competition. In his final match, Noble teamed with Braun Strowman andThe Brawling Brutes (Ridge Holland andButch) againstThe Bloodline (The Usos,Solo Sikoa andSami Zayn). Noble picked up the victory after hitting the Gibson driver on Zayn.[5]
Gibson attendedBaileysville High School inBaileysville, West Virginia, where he met his future wife, Angela England. The couple have a son, Gage, and a daughter, Paige. He has since been remarried to Sasha Gibson and relocated to Florida.[3] He has two half brothers, Cody and Dale.
On September 28, 2016, Gibson was stabbed twice outside of hisWest Virginia home and was hospitalized after an alleged dispute with a driver.[42] On October 5, 2016, it was revealed that he had a collapsed lung from the stabbing.[43]
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