 Gacy in 2025 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Joseph Ruby[2] (1987-08-08)August 8, 1987 (age 38) |
Spouse | [4] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Joe Gacy Psycho Joe[1] Xerox[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[2] |
| Billed weight | 249 lb (113 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | Planet Terror[3] |
| Trained by | D. J. Hyde[1] Jon Dahmer[1] |
| Debut | July 29, 2006[1] |
Joseph Ruby (born August 8, 1987) is an Americanprofessional wrestler. He is signed toWWE, where he performs on theSmackDown brand under thering nameJoe Gacy. He is a member ofThe Wyatt Sicks.
Gacy first gained prominence for his work inCombat Zone Wrestling (CZW), where he was a three-timeCZW World Heavyweight Champion and a three-timeCZW Wired Champion. He also appeared forEvolve, where he was a one-timeEvolve Tag Team Champion.
On August 5, 2017, at Once in a Lifetime, Gacy appeared at the event, while ring announcer Larry Legend was about to introduce the match betweenLio Rush andJoey Janela. Gacy headbutted Legend, before criticising the direction CZW were going in, and then putting Legend through a barbed wire board.[5] In response to this, D. J. Hyde (kayfabe) fired Gacy on his birthday over Twitter.[6] On September 9, at Down with the Sickness, Gacy and his masked goons appeared after Strickland's title match with Jason Cade, but was chased off by the rest of the locker room.[7] On October 14, at The Wolf of Wrestling, a masked man was seen in the crowd, and offered Kit Osbourne the chance to join him. Osbourne refused and was abducted by a group of masked men. They resurfaced later in the night, after Strickland's title match withEthan Page. One of the masked men, purportedly Gacy, threatened to have Osbourne curbstomped onto a chair, unlessMatt Tremont reinstated him and gave him a title shot at the next event. Strickland urged Tremont to do so, and Tremont accepted Gacy's proposal, but Osbourne was curbstomped anyway. This turned out to be a ruse, as Gacy ran out from the back to attack Tremont; the man initially thought to be Gacy was actually Dan Barry, and the man who curbstomped Osbourne was Matthew Palmer. With Barry and Palmer aligning themselves with Gacy, it led to the formation of F.E.A.R.[8]
On November 11, at Night of Infamy, Gacy faced Strickland for the title. Towards the end, Strickland put Gacy's head in a chair, and was about to jump from the top rope, but was attacked by Barry and Gacy's masked goons. Some of the goons brought a guardrail out from under the ring which was propped up in the opposite corner, and as Gacy was about to powerbomb Strickland through the guardrail,Sami Callihan,Dezmond Xavier andJohn Silver came out to make the save. This resulted in Alex Reynolds being unmasked by Silver, who joined F.E.A.R., effectively breaking up theBeaver Boys. Reynolds and Barry held Strickland in place, as Gacy hit a big frogsplash on him to win the match. His second reign was short-lived asRickey Shane Page cashed in his ultimate opportunity coin, and Larry Legend (disguised as a masked goon) struck Gacy in the back with a nightstick, allowing Page to hit a chokebreaker on him to win the match. Following a staredown with Strickland, Page offered a rematch to the former champions at Cage of Death 19.[9] On December 9, Gacy faced Page and Strickland in the aforementioned stipulation match, in an attempt to win back the title. During the match, Gacy was chokeslammed through a pane of burning glass, which led to his masked goons to come out from the back to distract Page and Strickland. He got up and climbed the scaffolding to attack Page, but was thrown off the top by a masked man (revealed to be the debuting Anthony Gangone), onto a table with a pane of glass propped up on it, ending his involvement in the match.[10]
On February 10, 2018, at Nineteen, Gacy, flanked by Reynolds and Barry, facedAnthony Gangone in his debut match for CZW. Towards the end, Gangone hit a bicycle kick, followed by an invertedGo 2 Sleep on Gacy to win the match. Afterwards, a masked man jumped Gangone, and revealed himself to be Eddy Blackwater. At the same event, Gacy was involved in the CZW World Heavyweight Title #1 contendership 30-manrumble match, eventually won byMaxwell Jacob Friedman, but was eliminated by Gangone, continuing the feud.[11] On February 23, at Greetings from Asbury Park, Gacy, Barry and Blackwater interfered in the singles match in a singles match between John Silver and Reynolds, allowing Reynolds to hit his finisher on Silver and pick up the win. Immediately after that, F.E.A.R. faced off against The House of Gangone, which ended in defeat when Gangone pinned Blackwater.[12]
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On March 10, at Proving Grounds, Gacy facedJonathan Gresham. Gresham had Gacy in a figure four leg lock, but F.E.A.R. came out to make the save. The stable started beating down on Gresham, and Silver ran in to break up the attack. In the resulting chaos, Barry accidentally hit Gacy in the head with a chair, allowing Gresham to perform a deadlift German suplex and pin Gacy for the win. Following the match, Barry offered his spot in the Best of the Best to Gacy, as a way to stay in his good graces. Gacy accepted the offer, but then kicked him out of the stable by superkicking, and then powerbombing him through a stack of chairs.[13] On April 14, at Best of the Best, Gacy defeated Brandon Kirk, Joey Janela andRich Swann in a four-way quarter-final match, defeating Swann with aAce Crusher, followed by a superkick. In the semi-final, he facedZachary Wentz. Towards the end, Blackwater interfered by striking Wentz in the back with a kendo stick, but he kicked out at two. However, Gangone's music hit, which distracted Blackwater and allowed Wentz to get the pin on Gacy.[14] On June 26, at Dark City, Gacy faced Maxwell Jacob Friedman for the World Heavyweight Championship. Friedman initially had Dezmond Xavier as his opponent for his first title defence, but got his legal team to change the match so Gacy was inserted instead. Earlier on in the match, Gacy was beaten down by Freidman's henchmen, Mark Sterling and CPA, while he distracted the referee; when Blackwater came out to make the save, Friedman pointed in his direction and the referee sent Blackwater to the back. After that, Gacy struggled and was unable to cover Friedman due to his hurt left arm preventing him from making the cover. When he finally performed a superkick and a sit-down powerbomb on Friedman, the referee was down, and could not count the pin. Gacy had to break the pin up in order to get the referee's attention, and Gangone used this to his advantage, attacking Gacy with a running knee with the title belt in front of it, before shoving Friedman's limp body onto Gacy's and putting the referee in place to count the pin. Gangone further attacked Gacy after the match and retreated once Blackwater came out to make the save; an irate Gacy told D. J. Hyde to book the match for the next event.[15]
On July 28, at New Heights, Gacy, working as a face, hit an Alabama slam onto a pile of thumbtacks on Gangone, followed by a buckle bomb into a Falcon arrow back onto the thumbtacks for the win, ending the feud.[16] On September 8, at Down with the Sickness, Gacy faced Rickey Shane Page in a World Heavyweight Championship #1 contendership tournament match, dubbed an "opportunity for an opportunity match". In what was a very technical matchup, Page eventually put Gacy away with two successive chokebreakers.[17] On October 13, at Better Than Our Best, Gacy facedDesean Pratt, but the match finished in a no-contest, when Reynolds, accompanied by his own masked goons, attacked Pratt and turned on Gacy.[18] On November 10, at Night of Infamy, Gacy teamed with Pratt to face Reynolds andTim Donst. Towards the end, Pratt uppercutted Reynolds, allowing Gacy to hit him with aLiger Bomb. However, Gacy had to break up the pin as the referee was down. Donst then hit Gacy with a chair and almost won the match when he had Pratt submitted, until Pratt physically crawled over for a rope break. Gacy got back into the ring and hit Donst with aAce Crusher for the win. Afterwards, Gacy and Pratt were jumped by Reynolds and his masked goons. Gacy returned with his masked goons, resulting in a brawl and was about to hit Reynolds with a chair, but Reynolds ducked and hit Blackwater instead, who had come out to assist Gacy. This allowed Reynolds to hit his finisher on Gacy, who then took the chair and sat on it, with Gacy underneath, taunting his former stablemate.[19] On December 9, at Cage of Death XX, Gacy faced Reynolds in a singles match. They began the match by going back and forth with their offence; Gacy with quick strikes and Reynolds intentionally slowing everything down. Reynolds went to clothesline Gacy, but he ducked and the referee was hit, allowing Gacy to hit aLiger Bomb only to realise that the referee could not count the pin. Reynolds' masked goons came out to interfere, which Gacy dealt with quickly, but when he got back into the ring, he was hit with a low blow followed by a cutter. Gacy kicked out at two, and Reynolds in his frustration, attacked the referee. Gacy's masked goons came out to the ring, but they were taken out by Blackwater with his kendo stick. However, this turned out to be a swerve, as Blackwater struck Reynolds in the back just as he was about to put Gacy away. Gacy hit aLiger Bomb on Reynolds to win the match, ending the feud. After the match, Gacy left his trademark mask in the ring, signifying the disbandment of F.E.A.R.[20]
On February 9, 2019, at Twenty, Gacy was involved in two matches on the card, both of which ended in defeat. Firstly, he lost a tag team match alongside former F.E.A.R. stablemate Blackwater, against The REP (Dave McCall and Nate Carter). After that, he lost a singles match against Leyla Hirsch, which was also her second match of the night.[21] On August 10, at CZW vs. wXw, Gacy returned to the promotion by clotheslining then-champion John Silver, following his match against Anthony Greene. Gacy told the crowd that he was coming for the World Heavyweight Championship, despite the fact that he did not want it.[22] On September 13, at Down with the Sickness, Gacy defeated Silver, in a three-way match also involving Conor Claxton, beginning his third reign.[23] On November 30, in a backstage segment at Night of Infamy, D. J. Hyde offered to face Gacy at Cage of Death XXI, with his career on the line. Hyde's rival Maven Bentley disagreed, and told Hyde to find someone who would wrestle on his behalf to face Gacy instead.[24] On December 14, Gacy faced Hyde's representative in Matt Tremont. Anthony Gangone and his valet Valentina interfered towards the end, with Valentina lowblowing Tremont, before Gangone speared him through a door, allowing Gacy to pin him to win the match. In the resulting aftermath, Gacy was embraced by Bentley, and was then challenged for a future title shot byAlex Shelley.[25]
Gacy made his first appearance forEvolve in a tag team match on September 8, 2018, atEvolve 112. He tagged alongside Steve Pena, in a defeat to Facade andJason Kincaid.[26] His first match as a singles competitor was in a defeat toAdrian Jaoude, on October 28, atEvolve 114.[27] His first win came againstColby Corino on January 18, 2019, atEvolve 116.[28]
On February 16, atEvolve 122, following the title match between JD Drake andMontez Ford,Eddie Kingston jumped both wrestlers, and was joined in the post-match attack by Gacy, Corino andShane Strickland, and in the process, forming The Unwanted.[29] On 15 March, atEvolve 123, Gacy and Kingston defeated the Street Profits for theEvolve Tag Team Championship, ending theNXT tag team's reign at 138 days.[30] During WrestleMania weekend, on April 4, atEvolve 125, Gacy and Kingston defeated theDDT pairing ofKonosuke Takeshita and Mao.[31] On May 10, atEvolve 127, Gacy was defeated by Drake in a title match for theWWN Championship.[32] The following day, atEvolve 128, Gacy and Kingston defeated Drake andAnthony Henry, in which Drake took the pin after Henry walked out on him.[33] On June 29, atEvolve 129, Gacy and Kingston defeated the pairing of Anthony Greene and Curt Stallion, in which Gacy hit Stallion with a right hand, allowing Kingston to suplex him for the victory.[34]
On June 20, atEvolve 130, Gacy and Kingston interfered in the title match between Drake andBabatunde, resulting in a no-contest. They continued the beatdown, until Drake and Babatunde were able to separate them and give them a round ofchops. Gacy and Kingston then ran to the back, while Babatunde chased after them. Later that night, Gacy and Kingston were involved in non-title four-way elimination tag team match, alongsideA. R. Fox and Leon Ruff, TheBeaver Boys (Alex Reynolds andJohn Silver) and Milk Chocolate (Brandon Watts and Randy Summers). The final two teams came down to The Unwanted and Fox and Ruff, and ended when Fox landed a coast-to-coast to Gacy, which led to Ruff hitting aRuff Ride, followed by a 450 splash by Fox on Kingston for the victory. Afterwards, Gacy and Kingston attacked Fox and Ruff from behind, and Babutunde came out from the back and was about to perform a double chokeslam on The Unwanted, until Corino andSean Maluta came out to make the save, resulting in a beatdown.[35] On July 13, atEvolve 131, Fox and Ruff defeated Gacy and Kingston for the Evolve Tag Team Championship, ending The Unwanted's reign at 120 days.[36]
On March 8, 2020, at the wXwNOW Showcase during wXw 16 Carat Gold, Gacy defeated Anthony Greene in a non-title match, with a discus lariat.[37]
On August 31, 2020, it was reported that Gacy had signed a contract withWWE, following the company's purchase ofEvolve in July.[38] On October 7, WWE announced that he had reported for training at thePerformance Center, alongside five other professional wrestlers from Evolve.[2] On the July 2, 2021, episode of205 Live, Gacy made his television debut, defeating Desmond Troy to qualify for the 2021 NXT Breakout Tournament. On the August 3 episode ofNXT, Gacy was eliminated in the first round by Trey Baxter.[39][40]
On the September 21 episode ofNXT, Gacy began a new gimmick, portraying apolitically correct spokesperson who "wants to make NXT hissafe space", therefore establishing himself as aheel. He was later defeated byCameron Grimes. On the October 5 episode of NXT, he defeatedIkemen Jiro and proceeded to give him a hug afterwards.[41][42] Gacy formed an alliance withHarland who began accompanying him to the ring as his bodyguard.[43] On the November 23 episode ofNXT 2.0, he convinced the Cruiserweight ChampionRoderick Strong to grant him a match for theCruiserweight Championship atNXT WarGames, despite not weighing 205 pounds or below. At War Games, Gacy was unsuccessful at capturing the title.[44][45] In April 2022, Gacy began feuding with theNXT ChampionBron Breakker after he and Harland kidnapped Breakker's father,Rick Steiner. Gacy's character began to morph into a dark and sadistic cult-like leader. A title match between Gacy and Breakker was later made official forSpring Breakin' on May 3, 2022. Gacy would fail to capture the championship. Gacy eventually challenged Breakker for a rematch atNXT In Your House, with the stipulation that if Breakker gets disqualified, he loses theNXT Championship. Gacy would fail to capture the championship yet again.
On the July 19, 2022 episode ofNXT 2.0, Gacy revealed the druids' identities as the Dyad, consisting ofJagger Reid andRip Fowler, formerly known as James Drake and Zack Gibson of theGrizzled Young Veterans respectively. Collectively, Gacy and the Dyad were known as Schism, and they began a feud withCameron Grimes. During this rivalry, the debutingAva Raine, would join Schism and cost Grimes in his final match with Gacy on the November 8th episode ofNXT, ending the feud. Gacy competed in the Men's Iron Survivor match atNXT Deadline, but was unsuccessful in becoming number one contender. The Schism stable would slowly begin to disband in September 2023, starting with the expiration of The Dyad's contracts on September 14,[46] and culminating in a backstage segment atNXT No Mercy where Gacy declared the Schism to be "dead", which was followed up by Ava posting a cryptic tweet simply saying "goodbye" to NXT.[47][48]
During the Second week ofNXT Halloween Havoc, on October 31, 2023, Gacy appeared in a vignette possibly hinting at a new character change. Over the following weeks, he would appear in segments which included him appearing out of a car trunk, also posing as a construction worker. On the January 16, 2024 episode ofNXT, Gacy was part of the commentary table providing color commentary alongsideBooker T andVic Joseph during the match betweenDijak and Trey Bearhill. During the match, Dijak verbally insulted Booker T and Joseph, and knocked Gacy's headphone off while Gacy was standing up for Booker and Joseph. After the match, Gacy attacked Dijak, turningface and starting a feud with Dijak in the process.[49] Gacy was defeated by Dijak in No Disqualification match atNXT Vengeance Day and again atNXT Roadblock in anAsylum match.[50][51] AtStand & Deliver, Gacy was attacked byRidge Holland with a chair, but Gacy told the referee he was still able to compete. Gacy ended up defeatingShawn Spears in his final match for NXT.[52]
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Gacy made his main roster debut on the June 17, 2024, episode ofRaw as member ofThe Wyatt Sicks. Gacy would sport a pig mask, resembling Huskus the Pig Boy fromBray Wyatt's"Firefly Funhouse".[53][54] On the August 5 episode ofRaw, Gacy teamed with stablematesDexter Lumis andErick Rowan to defeatAmerican Made (Chad Gable and theCreed Brothers).[55] On the September 9 episode ofRaw, the Wyatt Sicks defeated American Made in a Street Fight, ending their feud.
The Wyatt Sicks' next feud was againstThe Miz andThe Final Testament, facing each other on the December 9 episode ofRaw, where the Wyatt Sicks suffered their first loss as a stable in an eight-man tag team match.[56] The stable was drafted to the SmackDown brand, but didn't appear on television due to an injury to leaderUncle Howdy.[57] The stable returned to television on the May 23 episode ofSmackDown, attackingWWE Tag Team Champions theStreet Profits,Fraxiom andDIY.[58] On the July 11 episode ofSmackDown, Gacy and Lumis defeated The Street Profits to win the WWE Tag Team Championship, marking Gacy's first championship in WWE. On night two ofSummerSlam on August 3, Gacy and Lumis defended the titles in a six-packtables, ladders, and chairs match against the Street Profits, DIY, Fraxiom, theMotor City Machine Guns, andAndrade andRey Fénix, where they retained.[59] On the January 23, 2026 episode ofSmackDown, Lumis and Gacy lost theWWE Tag Team Championship toSolo Sikoa andTama Tonga ofThe MFT.[60]
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