 Thatcher in 2023 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Timothy Andrew Moura[5][4] (1983-03-17)March 17, 1983 (age 42)[4][6][5] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Tim Moura Timothy Thatcher Bryce Braxton-Collins |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 225 lb (102 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Sacramento, California |
| Trained by | SPW Training Academy[2] APW Bootcamp[3] |
| Debut | 2005[4] |
Timothy Andrew Moura (born March 17, 1983), better known by the ring nameTimothy Thatcher, is anAmericanprofessional wrestler. He is signed toWWE as a trainer for theWWE ID program and as in-ring performer on theEvolve brand, having previously performed on theNXT brand during his first stint with the company.[3] He has also performed forPro Wrestling Noah,Major League Wrestling (MLW), and on theindependent circuit.
Moura is best known for his work inEvolve, where he is the longest-reigningEvolve Champion, as well as a former (and final)Open the Freedom Gate Champion[7] and the 2014 Style Battle Tournament winner.[8] In addition to his work forWWNLive promotions,[9][10] Thatcher has worked internationally for numerous notable promotions, includingPro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG),Progress Wrestling,Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro),Preston City Wrestling (PCW),Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) and,Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW).[11][12][13][14][15]
Moura is the second and final man (afterDrew Galloway) to simultaneously hold the Evolve and Open The Freedom Gate Championships.[16]
Moura began watching professional wrestling as a child with his grandmother. He later studiedjournalism and wrote an article about Supreme Pro Wrestling for a publication that folded before it could be published. He continued to attend SPW shows with the intention of being involved, becoming a referee and training to wrestle.[17]
Moura made his professional wrestling debut in September 2005 for SPW in a match lost against Drake Smith. Between the names Tim Moura and Timothy Thatcher, he appeared in promotions including Supreme Pro Wrestling,All Pro Wrestling (APW), Pro Wrestling Bushido,Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (CWFH) andPro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) among others. Thatcher would later work forInsane Championship Wrestling (ICW) and Source Wrestling,Preston City Wrestling (PCW),Progress Wrestling (Progress), Southside Wrestling Entertainment (SWE), andWestside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), where he is a formerUnified World Wrestling Champion andWorld Tag Team Champion withWalter. Thatcher became a Triple Crown Champion in Supreme Pro Wrestling, winning the SPW Extreme Championship, Heavyweight Championship and Tag Team Championship. While in All Pro Wrestling, Thatcher became a two-timeAPW Universal Heavyweight Champion and a two-timeAPW Worldwide Internet Champion.
Thatcher debuted in Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) in 2013 during its Ambition 4 tournament, in a quarter final match lost against Heddi Karaoui. The following night, he also competed in wXw's Back To The Roots XII event, losing in a singles match againstAxel Dieter Jr. During his tenure in wXw, Thatcher became a one-time wXw World Tag Team Champion with Walter, and a one-time wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion.
Thatcher made his Evolve debut at Evolve 31 in a Round Robin Challenge, losing toDrew Gulak. At Evolve 45, Thatcher became a double-champion, winning both theOpen the Freedom Gate Championship and theEvolve Championship. Thatcher was the longest reigning Evolve Champion in history until he lost toZack Sabre Jr. on February 25, 2017, at Evolve 79, ending his reign at 596 days.
On February 2, 2020, it was reported Thatcher signed a developmental contract withWWE.[18] On the April 15 edition ofNXT, Thatcher was revealed asMatt Riddle's tag team partner, replacingPete Dunne (who was unable to travel due to theCOVID-19 pandemic). Thatcher and Riddle defended theNXT Tag Team Championship against Undisputed Era. However, on the May 13 edition of NXT, Thatcher and Riddle lost the titles toImperium when Thatcher walked out on Riddle during the match, turningheel in the process.[19] Thatcher would then face Riddle later on in the evening, with Riddle picking up the win. Following the match, Thatcher would attack Riddle and lock him in his Fujiwara armbar submission. Their storyline would end the following week in aFight Pit match with Kurt Angle as the special guest referee, where Thatcher won after Riddle passed out to a rear naked choke.
On the June 17, 2020 episode ofNXT, Thatcher debuted a new gimmick of a submission specialist who taught students his "Thatch-as-Thatch-Can" style of training.[20] On the September 16 episode ofNXT, Thatcher had his first singles championship match in WWE when he facedDamian Priest for theNXT North American Championship where he was unsuccessful. AtNXT TakeOver XXX, he had his first Takeover match where he lost toFinn Bálor.
In late 2020, Thatcher began a feud withTommaso Ciampa which led to a match atNXT TakeOver War Games where Ciampa won.[21][22] On the January 20, 2021, episode of NXT, Thatcher fought Ciampa in the Fight Pit where he came out victorious. After the match, Thatcher and Ciampa showed respect to one another and Ciampa asked Thatcher to be his partner for theDusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic which Thatcher accepted, turningface in the process.[23] They defeatedAriya Daivari andTony Nese in the first round,The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole andRoderick Strong), in the quarter-finals, before being defeated by theGrizzled Young Veterans (James Drake andZack Gibson) in the semi-finals. On the June 15 episode ofNXT, Ciampa and Thatcher defeated the Grizzled Young Veterans in a tornado tag match to earn a future NXT Tag Team Championship match. They faced the champions,MSK (Wes Lee andNash Carter) on July 6 atThe Great American Bash but were defeated.
On the August 24, 2021 episode ofNXT, Thatcher facedRidge Holland in a losing effort and after the match would be brutally attacked by Holland, writing him off television. This would mark his final appearance on television as he would transition to a coaching role at theWWE Performance Center. On January 5, 2022, Thatcher was released from his WWE contract.[24]
On June 7, 2022, Thatcher made his debut inPro Wrestling Noah (Noah) teaming withSugiura-gun membersEl Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.,Hideki Suzuki,Rene Dupree andTakashi Sugiura, subsequently becoming the newest member of the stable.[25] The next day, he defeated Shuhei Taniguchi in his first singles match for Noah.[26] On July 16, Thatcher won the vacantGHC Tag Team Championship with Suzuki, defeatingMasa Kitamiya andYoshiki Inamura.[27] They would lose their titles to Takashi Sugiura andSatoshi Kojima on September 25, ending their reign at 71 days. On October 11, He would faceKaito Kiyomiya for theGHC Heavyweight Championship, in a losing effort.
On April 16, 2023, at Green Journey in Sendai, Thatcher andSaxon Huxley began teaming with each other, and the two developed a good chemistry with one another. Later that night,Hideki Suzuki on the behalf of Thatcher and Huxley challengedShuhei Taniguchi andTakashi Sugiura to a title match for the GHC Tag Team Championship. After the relationship between Sugiura-gun members had just fizzled out over the previous months, Suzuki stated that Sugiura-gun wasn't working and was over, leading Sugiura to confirm that the stable had disbanded. On April 22, their stable was named "Real". On May 4 at Majestic, Thatcher and Huxley defeated Sugiura and Taniguchi to win the GHC Tag Team Championship. In August, Thatcher took part in the 2023N-1 Victory, finishing the tournament with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. On September 24 atGrand Ship In Nagoya, Thatcher and Huxley lost the GHC Tag Team Championship toGood Looking Guys (Jack Morris andAnthony Greene).[28]
From February 24 to March 10, Thatcher and Huxley took part in the2024 Victory Challenge Tag League, where they finished the tournament with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the tournament's finals. On March 10, they were defeated in the finals of the tournament byKaito Kiyomiya and Ryohei Oiwa.[29] However on March 17, it was announced that Kiyomiya, was forced to withdraw from the title match for the GHC Tag Team Championship due to a spinal cord concussion sustained during training, leading Huxley and Thatcher, who finished as the Victory Challenge Tag League runners-up to replace them. At the title match, atGreat Voyage in Yokohama, Thatcher and Huxley unsuccessfully challenged Jack Morris and Anthony Greene for the GHC Tag Team Championship. This marked Thatcher and Huxley's last appearance for the promotion.[30]
Thatcher made hisAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut on February 1, 2023, facing off againstBryan Danielson onAEW Dynamite after being (kayfabe) contracted byMJF, where he was unsuccessful.
Thatcher debuted in AEW's sister promotion,Ring of Honor (ROH), on the February 18, 2023 edition ofROH on HonorClub, where he confronted theROH Pure ChampionWheeler Yuta. The following week, they wrestled for the Pure Championship, with Thatcher losing.
On June 8, 2023, it was announced byMajor League Wrestling that Timothy Thatcher would be making his MLW debut againstTracy Williams on July 8 atNever Say Never. Thatcher would lose at the event via referee stoppage.[31]
On November 9, 2024, Fightful reported that Thatcher had been re-signed by WWE to serve as theWWE ID trainer.[32] On the March 26, 2025 episode ofEvolve, Thatcher made his WWE in-ring return, losing toSean Legacy.[33]
Thatcher made hisvideo game debut as a playable character inWWE 2K22.[34]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
,Cagematch,Wrestlingdata,Internet Wrestling Database