 Luchasaurus in 2022 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Austin Matelson (1985-03-10)March 10, 1985 (age 40) |
| Alma mater | California State University, Northridge(BA,MA) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Austin Draven[1] Austin Morrison Judas Draven Judas Devlin Just Judas Killswitch Luchasaurus[2] Vibora |
| Billed height | 6 ft 5 in (196 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 275 lb (125 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | The Tar Pits |
| Trained by | Ballard Brothers[2] Bill DeMott Billy Gunn Ric Drasin[2] Ricky Steamboat Terry Taylor |
| Debut | 2009 |
Austin Matelson (born March 10, 1985),[3] better known by hisring nameLuchasaurus, is an Americanluchadorenmascarado (or maskedprofessional wrestler). He is signed toAll Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is one-half ofJurassic Express with"Jungle" Jack Perry.
Matelson began his professional wrestling career in 2009. He then signed adevelopmental contract withWWE in 2012 and was sent to train at the formerFlorida Championship Wrestling (FCW) under the ring nameJudas Devlin; that same year, FCW was rebranded as NXT, where Matelson remained until his release in 2014. After a two-year hiatus, he signed withLucha Underground asVibora and worked there from 2016 to 2018. He also began working on theindependent circuit in 2016 under the Luchasaurus gimmick until he signed with AEW in 2019. He continued his partnership withJungle Boy asJurassic Express, becoming a one-timeAEW World Tag Team Champion. He later aligned withChristian Cage, which saw him win theAEW TNT Championship, and later took on the ring nameKillswitch in September 2023.
During his two-year wrestling hiatus from 2014 to 2016, Matelson appeared onAccess Hollywood and was a house-guest on the reality competition,Big Brother 17, in which he placed 5th.[4] He also appeared onThe Price Is Right.[citation needed]
Matleson started his wrestling career out in California working in various independent promotions.
In 2012, Matelson signed adevelopmental contract withWWE and was sent for training atFlorida Championship Wrestling (FCW) where he was given the ring nameJudas Devlin. On August 1, 2012, he made his FCW debut teaming withCorey Graves defeatingBriley Pierce andCJ Parker.[5] In 2012, FCW was rebranded asNXT and Devlin transferred to the new development brand, performing mainly at house shows. Matelson was released in 2014 after a severe hip injury suffered in March 2013.[6] He would be inactive from wrestling.
Matelson made his return to professional wrestling in 2016, having not competed since his release fromWWE in 2014. On June 17, 2016, in a match for Millenium Pro Wrestling (MPW) under the ring nameAustin Draven, he defeated Ryan J. Morales.[7] On September 30, 2016, under the ring nameJust Judas, he defeated Danny Divine to become MPW Heavyweight Champion.[8]
On November 9, 2017, Matelson teamed with fellow Big Brother contestantJessie Godderz under the team name "Team Big Brother", they defeated HATE (Peter Avalon andRay Rosas) in a match for Bar Wrestling.[9]
After Matelson became known for his work as the Vibora character in Lucha Underground, he started to use the character in the independent circuit. He changed the name to "Luchasaurus", after fans chanted that during his Lucha Underground debut.[10] On November 17 and 18, Matelson wrestled forHouse of Hardcore under the new gimmick and ring nameLuchasaurus, defeating Alex Reynolds on the first night and winning on the second night in a three-way by defeatingMatt Riddle andWillie Mack.[11][12]
In May 2016, Matelson, under a mask and the ring name Vibora, made hisLucha Underground debut as a part of the Reptile Tribe stable. On May 7, 2016, Vibora along with Pindar andDrago won theLucha Underground Trios Championship.[13] On October 11, atUltima Lucha Tres, Reptile Tribe lost the Lucha Underground Trios Championship againstDante Fox,Killshot andThe Mack.[14]
On the July 18, 2018 episode ofLucha Underground, Vibora defeatedJohnny Mundo.[15] On the August 1 episode ofLucha Underground, the character Vibora was "killed off" via decapitation by a sword-wieldingTaya Valkyrie.[16]
On May 25, 2019, Matelson debuted forAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) atDouble or Nothing as a part of the pre-showCasino Battle Royale. He lasted until the final three, before being eliminated byAdam Page.[17] Three days later, it was revealed that he had signed with the company full-time as Luchasaurus.[18] He would then continue his tag team withJungle Boy, as he managed him atFyter Fest.[19] AtFight for the Fallen, they were defeated in a Triple Threat tag team match involvingThe Dark Order (Evil Uno andStu Grayson) andThe Hybrid 2 (Angélico andJack Evans).[20] AtAll Out, Luchasaurus, alongside Jungle Boy andMarko Stunt, would debut as the stableJurassic Express.[21] Luchasaurus also sporadically competed as a singles competitor, most notably participating in the Casino Ladder match atDouble or Nothing on May 23, 2020.[22] On the August 12 episode ofDynamite, Jurassic Express unsuccessfully challenged Page andKenny Omega for theAEW World Tag Team Championship.[23] The following year,Christian Cage began mentoring Jungle Boy, which saw Cage become a prominent figure as an associate of the stable, and led to Stunt being eventually phased out.[24]
On the August 18, 2021 episode ofDynamite, Jurassic Express received a title shot for the World Tag Team Championship againstThe Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson), but failed to win.[25] Following that, Jurassic Express participated in a tournament to determine the #1 contenders for the World Tag Team Championship. On theAugust 20 episode ofRampage, they defeatedPrivate Party in the opening round.[26] On the August 27 episode ofRampage, they lost to theLucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo andRey Fénix) in the final.[27] For three months, Jurassic Express feuded with various members ofThe Elite. On the September 1 episode ofDynamite, they partnered the Lucha Brothers in a loss to theGood Brothers (Doc Gallows andKarl Anderson) and the Young Bucks.[28] On the September 24 episode ofRampage, Cage and Jurassic Express were defeated by the SuperKliq (Adam Cole and the Young Bucks), with Luchasaurus taking the pin.[29] On the October 6 episode ofDynamite, Cage, Jurassic Express andBryan Danielson were defeated by Cole, Omega and the Young Bucks.[30] AtFull Gear, Cage and Jurassic Express defeated the SuperKliq in a falls count anywhere match.[31] On the November 19 episode ofRampage, Jurassic Express defeated Cole andBobby Fish.[32] On the January 5, 2022 episode ofDynamite, Jurassic Express defeated the Lucha Brothers to win their first World Tag Team Championship.[33]
At theRevolution event on March 6, Jurassic Express successfully defended the championship against the Young Bucks andreDRagon (Bobby Fish andKyle O'Reilly) in athree-way tag team match.[34] AtDouble or Nothing on May 29, they retained the championship in a three-way tag match againstTeam Taz (Ricky Starks andPowerhouse Hobbs) and Swerve In Our Glory (Keith Lee andSwerve Strickland).[35] After Jurassic Express lost the championship to the Young Bucks in aladder match atRoad Rager, Cage turned on Jungle Boy, with Luchasaurus also turning heel when he joined Cage.[36] At the start of his alliance with Cage, Luchasaurus was presented as a "monster heel" and started squashing a number of opponents within minutes, all at Cage's direction.[37][38] At week two ofFyter Fest, Luchasaurus turned on Christian Cage to realign with Jungle Boy.[39] However, this was also a short-lived reunion, as atAll Out, Luchasaurus cemented himself as a heel by attacking his tag partner once again and solidifying his alliance with Cage.[40] As a result, Luchasaurus began feuding with Jungle Boy, who by this point was going by "Jungle Boy" Jack Perry, defeating him in a match on the October 12 episode ofDynamite.[41] However, Luchasaurus lost to Perry in asteel cage match atFull Gear to end the rivalry.[42]
On the June 17 premiere episode ofCollision, Luchasaurus defeatedWardlow to win theTNT Championship.[43] Luchasaurus held the title for three months, retaining againstShawn Spears atBattle of the Belts VII,[44]Brock Anderson on the August 12 episode ofCollision[45] andDarby Allin atAll Out.[46] Luchasaurus would later lose the title to Cage in a three-way match that also involved Allin on the September 23 episode ofCollision.[47] AtWrestleDream, Cage defeated Allin in atwo out of three falls match to retain the championship. After the match, Cage, Luchasaurus, andNick Wayne (who turned on Allin) assaulted Allin and Sting; they were interrupted by the debutingAdam Copeland, who ran out to confront Cage and save Allin.[48] Cage's faction was later calledThe Patriarchy.[49] AtFull Gear, The Patriarchy lost to Copeland, Sting, and Allin in a six-man tag team match with Luchasaurus taking the pin.[50] On the November 22 episode ofDynamite, Cage renamed Luchasaurus asKillswitch (named after Cage'sfinishing move) and dubbed Killswitch as his "finisher".[51] AtWorlds End, Killswitch won a 20-man battle royale for a future TNT Championship title match. Later that night, Cage lost the TNT Championship to Copeland in a no disqualification match. As Killswitch was about to sign off his title match contract on Copeland, Cage demanded Killswitch to hand over the contract and Killswitch relented. Cage then defeated Copeland to regain the TNT Championship.[52][53] Cage eventually lost the TNT Championship to Copeland again in March 2024.[54] On the July 21 episode ofCollision, The Patriarchy defeated theBang Bang Gang (Juice Robinson andThe Gunns) for the vacantAEW World Trios Championship after interference from Mother Wayne.[55] On August 25 atAll In, The Patriarchy lost the AEW World Trios Championship in a four-way London ladder match toPac andBlackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli andWheeler Yuta), ending their reign at 37 days. Later in the event, Killswitch and Cage entered theCasino Gauntlet Match, where Killswitch assisted Cage to win the match.[56]
On September 30, it was reported that Matelson was hospitalized due to doublepneumonia after his fiancé found him collapsed at home. He was rushed to the hospital where they found hisblood oxygen level was below 80% and was days away from permanent lung damage.[57] Matelson was told his recovery period could take up to a month, sidelining him indefinitely.[58] During his time away, The Patriarchy was disbanded when Nick turned on Cage after the pair failed to win theAEW World Tag Team Championship fromThe Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley andShelton Benjamin) atAll In: Texas on July 12, 2025.[59]
On the August 20, 2025 episode ofDynamite, Killswitch returned and was revealed as the replacement partner forKip Sabian againstAdam Copeland and Christian Cage atForbidden Door, filling in for the injured Nick Wayne.[60] On August 24 atForbidden Door, Killswitch and Sabian were defeated by Copeland and Cage.[61][62] On September 17 atSeptember to Remember, Killswitch teased a face turn after walking out on Sabian during their match against JetSpeed.[63] On September 20 atAll Out, Killswitch cemented his face turn after saving Jack Perry from The Young Bucks, reuniting Jurassic Express and reverting back to hisLuchasaurus name.[64] On October 12 atWrestleDream, Jurassic Express defeated The Young Bucks.[65]
In the summer of 2015, Matelson appeared as a contestant in the17th season ofBig Brother.[66] He was evicted during the twelfth week and placed fifth. He returned during the19th season for the "BB Comics" competition with other former contestants, includingDan Gheesling and fellow wrestlerJessie Godderz.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Access Hollywood | Himself | |
| 2015 | Big Brother 17 | Himself | |
| 2016 | The Price Is Right | Himself | |
| 2017 | Big Brother 19 | Himself |
Before beginning studies atCalifornia State University, Northridge, Matelson had been entirelyhomeschooled. He earned two history degrees at CSUN — aB.A. in 2008 and aM.A. in 2010, with his master's concentration and thesis inmedieval literature.[67][68]
While in the Big Brother house, Matelson began a relationship with Liz Nolan. The two continued to date for five months before breaking up in February 2016.[69]
In late February and March 2015, several former NXT trainees previously working within the WWE developmental system alleged misconduct by head trainerBill DeMott, with Matelson and Brandon Traven publicizing complaints which they claimed they had submitted to WWE management about DeMott back in March 2013, when they were still employed with WWE.[70] Meanwhile, other ex-trainees likeBriley Pierce andDerrick Bateman also made allegations in 2015,[6][70][71][72] while previous allegations made in 2013 by Chad Baxter and Chase Donovan were also noted.[73] They accused DeMott of making trainees perform dangerous drills,[6] physicallyassaulting andbullying trainees,[6][70] usinghomophobic andracial slurs amongst otherderogatory terms,[70][73] and condoningsexual harassment.[71] WWE released statements regarding some of the claims that came to light in 2013 and 2015, saying that investigations were done and no wrongdoing was found.[6][73] On March 6, 2015, DeMott denied the allegations, but resigned from WWE "to avoid any embarrassment or damage" to the company.[71]
