.jpg) Aldis in July 2025 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Nicholas Harry Aldis (1986-11-06)6 November 1986 (age 39) Docking, Norfolk, England |
Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Brutus Magnus[1][2] Magnus[3] Nick Aldis[1] Sir Brutus Magnus[4] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)[5] |
| Billed weight | 242 lb (110 kg)[5] |
| Billed from | King's Lynn, England[1][2] |
| Trained by | Dropkixx Academy[6] Frank Rimer[5] Harley Race's Wrestling Academy[7] John Hall[6] John Ritchie[6] Ricky Knight[6] Tony Scarlo[6] Vince Randell[6] WAW School[6] |
| Debut | 17 December 2004 |
Nicholas Harry Aldis (born 6 November 1986) is an Englishprofessional wrestler. He is signed toWWE, where he is aproducer and the on-screen general manager of theSmackDown brand. He is best known for his tenure inTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under thering nameMagnus from 2008 to 2015, and theNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from 2017 to 2022.
Aldis made his debut on the Britishindependent circuit in 2004 before signing with his first major contract with TNA in 2008. During his seven-year tenure there, he won theTNA World Heavyweight Championshiponce, becoming the first British-born world champion in the company's history along with becoming a three-time tag team champion, winning theTNA World Tag Team Championshiptwice and theIWGP Tag Team Championshiponce. AtRing Ka King in 2011, he won theRKK World Heavyweight Championship.
Immediately after leaving TNA in 2015, Aldis signed withGlobal Force Wrestling (GFW), where he was the inauguralGFW Global Champion and subsequently became the longest-reigning champion in the title's history. In 2017, Aldis briefly returned to TNA, now Impact Wrestling, due to their new partnership with GFW, dropping the title and leaving the company later that year. He then signed with the NWA and would soon after win theNWA World's Heavyweight Championship, a title he would hold twice, becoming the second British wrestler to hold that championship (afterGary Steele), making him a four-timeworld champion in professional wrestling. Aldis then left the NWA in late 2022 and briefly returned to Impact Wrestling in 2023 before departing the company in July and subsequently began working for WWE in August.
Aldis also appeared in the 2008 revival ofGladiators, where he was known asOblivion. He was also a co-presenter ofBritain's Strongest Man onChallenge TV.
Nicholas Harry Aldis was born on 6 November 1986 inDocking, Norfolk.[1] Before training to be a wrestler, Aldis became proficient in swimming and tennis; he then began bodybuilding, which ultimately led to him becoming a professional wrestler.[7]In 2008 he made several appearances onGladiators under the name "Oblivion" along with fellow professional wrestlerMason Ryan under the name "Goliath".
After beginning his training at the age of 16,[7] Aldis made his professional debut on 17 December 2004 for the British Wrestling Promotion Dropkixx Wrestling (DKW), losing to Charlie Rage.[5]
Early title matches included a DAM Promotions event where Aldis teamed up with Bash to take on the DAM Tag Team ChampionsBig Dave and The Bulk for the titles and he also went up against Ashe for the LDN Championship at Summit Wrestling, he would lose both matches. In 2007, he would face the WAW British Heavyweight Champion Brett Meadows for the title and lost. His last match before joining TNA was a win againstMarty Scurll. During his time inEngland he wrestled primarily atAll Star Wrestling and World Association of Wrestling.[8]
In November 2008, Aldis signed withTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). On 11 December 2008 episode ofImpact!, TNA started airing vignettes of Aldis' debut under the name Brutus Magnus, a modern-day gladiator.
Aldis competed under his Brutus Magnus name andgimmick at the TNAMaximum Impact! Tour inGlasgow, Scotland on 22 January 2009, where he defeatedMatt Morgan. Two days later on the last night of the tour, Magnus defeatedSheik Abdul Bashir inLondon at theWembley Arena. On 29 January episode ofImpact!, another vignette of Magnus was played and it stated that Magnus' debut would occur next week. He debuted on 5 February episode ofImpact! as avillainous character, defeatingShark Boy with his finishing move, theTormentum. After the match, he issued an open challenge to anyone on theTNA roster.Chris Sabin answered the open challenge atAgainst All Odds, which Magnus also won. This continued with another victory againstEric Young atDestination X.
On 30 April 2009 episode ofImpact!, Magnus dropped the gladiator character and formed a villainous group calledThe British Invasion with fellow British wrestlersDoug Williams andRob Terry. In their debut match as a team, Williams and Magnus defeatedHomicide in a two-on-one handicap match after assaulting his tag team partnerHernandez backstage prior to the match, and stealing his Feast or Fired briefcase. The Invasion has since formed an alliance called World Elite with Eric Young, Sheik Abdul Bashir andKiyoshi and engaged in a feud withTeam 3D over theIWGP Tag Team Championship. On 30 July episode ofImpact!, Magnus and Williams won the IWGP Tag Team Championship by defeating Team 3D in aTables match.[9] However,New Japan Pro-Wrestling later stated that as the title change did not occur with the sanction of the promotion, they still recognised Team 3D as the official champions.[10][11] On 10 August 2009, NJPW formally recognised the title switch.[12] AtBound for Glory, the British Invasion lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship back to Team 3D, but managed to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship in afour wayFull Metal Mayhem Tag Team match againstBooker T andScott Steiner, Team 3D andBeer Money, Inc. (James Storm andRobert Roode).[13] The following month atTurning Point Magnus and Williams successfully defended the title in a three-way match against Beer Money andThe Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin).[14] AtFinal Resolution they were once again able to retain their title in a match against Shelley and Sabin.[15] AtGenesis the British Invasion lost the TNA World Tag Team Titles to Matt Morgan and Hernandez.[16] Afterwards, Magnus and Williams began abusing Terry and blaming him for their losses. On 18 February 2010 episode ofImpact!, Terry finally grew tired of this and attacked Magnus, thus ending his alliance with the British Invasion and completing hisfan favourite turn.[17] AtDestination X 2010, Magnus announced that from now on he would be known only by the name Magnus. He then went on to lose to his former mate and wrestling partner Rob Terry in a match for the Global Championship.[3]
After not being seen for over three months, Magnus returned on 14 June at the tapings ofXplosion, defeatingSuicide and afterward challenging Rob Terry to a rematch for the Global Championship.[18] The rematch took place at 29 June tapings ofXplosion, with Terry retaining his Global Championship.[19] On 3 July 2010,Dixie Carter announced that Aldis had signed a new long-term contract with TNA.[20] On the edition of 14 July 2010 ofTNA Today, Aldis debuted a new charming but promiscuous gimmick.[21] He then went on to form a tag team withDesmond Wolfe, with the two of them defeatingAmazing Red and Suicide in their first match together at 13 July tapings ofXplosion.[22] At the 26 and 27 July tapings ofXplosion Magnus and Wolfe defeated the teams of Hernandez and Rob Terry andInk Inc. (Jesse Neal andShannon Moore) in a four tag team tournament to earn the right to challenge for the TNA World Tag Team Championship.[23][24] On 26 August episode ofImpact! the tag team of Magnus and Wolfe was named London Brawling.[25] They were scheduled to receive their shot at The Motor City Machine Guns and the TNA World Tag Team Championship atNo Surrender, but were at the last minute pulled from the event, with TNA citing a "personal issue" as the reason.[26] It was later reported that Wolfe had been sidelined due to an undisclosed medical situation.[27] Magnus returned to workinglive events on 30 September.[28]
On 16 December, Magnus made his first appearance onImpact! in three months, when he met his former tag team partner Douglas Williams and informed him that Wolfe was close to a comeback.[29] On 30 December episode ofImpact! Magnus offered to team up with Williams in a tag team match, where they were defeated byFortune membersA.J. Styles and Rob Terry.[30] Magnus reappeared as a heel on 24 February 2011 episode ofImpact!, in a match, where he was defeated byCrimson.[31] On 31 March episode ofImpact!, Magnus and Douglas Williams officially reformed the British Invasion once again as a heel group by attacking the team of Eric Young andOrlando Jordan.[32] In their first match back together, Magnus and Williams were defeated by Ink Inc. on 12 April, onXplosion.[33] On 17 April atLockdown, Magnus and Williams were defeated again by Ink Inc. in a four tag team number one contenders'steel cage match.[34] Despite not having won a match since their reformation, the British Invasion received a TNA World Tag Team Championship match atSlammiversary IX, which they lost to James Storm and Alex Shelley.[35][36] On 30 June, Magnus and Williams turned face by responding toMexican America's bad remarks by praising the United States. They were then attacked until Rob Terry returned to save them, effectively adding him back to the group.[37] On 14 July episode ofImpact Wrestling, Mexican America'sAnarquia and Hernandez defeated Magnus and Williams in a TNA World Tag Team Championship number one contender's match, following outside interference from their stablemateRosita.[38] At 9 August tapings ofXplosion, Magnus defeated Alex Shelley in the finals of a sixteen-manXplosion Championship Challenge tournament to earn the right to challenge for the title of his choosing.[39][40]
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In December 2011, Magnus began teaming up withSamoa Joe to take part in theWild Card Tournament. On 5 January 2012 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Magnus and Samoa Joe defeated A.J. Styles andKazarian to win the four-week-long Wild Card Tournament and become the number one contenders to the TNA World Tag Team Championship.[41] Three days later atGenesis, Magnus and Joe failed to capture the TNA World Tag Team Championship from Crimson and Matt Morgan.[42] Despite the loss, Magnus and Joe remained together as a tag team, attacking Crimson and Morgan on the next two episodes ofImpact Wrestling.[43][44]
On 2 February, Magnus and Joe defeated Crimson and Morgan in a non-title match to earn another shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship, and atAgainst All Odds, Magnus and Joe defeated Crimson and Morgan to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship.[45][46] Magnus and Joe then defeated Crimson and Morgan in two rematches in February and March and Mexican America (Anarquia and Hernandez) in March to retain the championship.[47][48][49] On 15 April atLockdown, Magnus and Joe defeated The Motor City Machine Guns in a steel cage match to retain the TNA World Tag Team Championship.[50] During the first "Open Fight Night" on 26 April, Magnus and Joe successfully defended the TNA World Tag Team Championship against the team ofJeff Hardy andMr. Anderson, after which they were attacked byChristopher Daniels and Kazarian, who had asked for a title shot earlier in the event.[51] On 13 May atSacrifice, Magnus and Joe lost the TNA World Tag Team Championship to Daniels and Kazarian.[52]
On 14 June episode ofImpact Wrestling, Magnus entered the2012 Bound for Glory Series, taking part in the openinggauntlet match, from which he was eliminated by Samoa Joe.[53] Magnus' participation in the tournament ended on 16 August episode ofImpact Wrestling, when he was defeated by Joe in a singles match, leaving him outside a spot in the semifinals. Afterwards, Magnus would attack Joe after the latter offered a sign of respect, turning heel in the process.[54] On 14 October atBound for Glory, Magnus unsuccessfully challenged Joe for hisTNA Television Championship.[55]
On 1 November episode ofImpact Wrestling, Magnus challenged Joe to a rematch as part of the Open Fight Night, however, he lost the match via disqualification, after hitting Joe with a wrench.[56] The rivalry culminated in a No Disqualification match on 11 November atTurning Point, where Magnus was again unsuccessful in winning the title.[57] On the following episode ofImpact Wrestling, Magnus was sidelined with a storyline injury after he was ambushed by theAces & Eights and hit in both his knees with aball-peen hammer.[58]
Magnus returned as a fan favourite on 31 January 2013 episode ofImpact Wrestling inManchester, England, interrupting and attackingBad Influence (Christopher Daniels and Kazarian) who were insulting the country. Afterwards, Magnus wrestled his return match, defeating TNA Television ChampionDevon in a non-title match via disqualification after interference from the Aces & Eights.[59] AtLockdown in March, Team TNA, consisting of Magnus, Eric Young, James Storm, Samoa Joe, andSting defeated Aces & Eights, consisting of Devon,DOC,Garett Bischoff,Knux, and Mr. Anderson in aLethal Lockdown match.[60] On 21 March episode ofImpact Wrestling, Magnus was defeated by Jeff Hardy in a four-way number one contenders match for theWorld Heavyweight Championship, which also includedKurt Angle and Samoa Joe.[61] On 18 April episode ofImpact Wrestling, Magnus was scheduled to face Devon for his Television Championship, however, was attacked by DOC and Knux before the match could start.[62] Magnus returned on 9 May episode ofImpact Wrestling, defeating DOC after an inadvertent distraction fromD'Lo Brown.[63] Later that night, Magnus was again attacked by the Aces & Eights.[64] AtSlammiversary XI, Magnus teamed with Jeff Hardy and Samoa Joe in a winning effort against Aces & Eights (Garett Bischoff, Mr. Anderson, andWes Brisco).[65]
On 13 June episode ofImpact Wrestling, Magnus defeatedKenny King, Matt Morgan, and Rob Terry in a four-way match to qualify for the2013 Bound for Glory Series.[66] The following week, Magnus defeated Kazarian in his first Bound for Glory Series match via submission to earn ten points and take an early lead in the tournament.[67] On 4 July episode ofImpact Wrestling, Magnus was named the fourth member of the newly reformedMain Event Mafia along with Kurt Angle, Sting, and former tag team partner and rival Samoa Joe.[68][69] On 12 September episode ofImpact Wrestling, Magnus defeated Roode in a Bound For Glory Series Final Four match to advance before ultimately losing toA.J. Styles in the finals.[70]
After the Bound for Glory Series, Magnus began a feud withBad Influence, who assaulted him during the finals, and first challenged them to a six-man tag team match against himself, Sting and Samoa Joe, prior to the match Bad Influence incapacitated Magnus and injured his knee, but Sting and Joe emerged victorious. In the aftermath, Magnus announced he was going to take on all three members of Bad Influence himself in a gauntlet match. During the gauntlet, Magnus defeated Kazarian and Christopher Daniels, but was defeated by Bobby Roode, who took advantage of his injured knee and made him submit. After the match Magnus began venting his frustrations around the ring before Sting came out to calm him down, which culminated in Sting offering Magnus a match against him atBound for Glory, which Magnus accepted.[71] Magnus defeated Sting at Bound for Glory after Sting tapped out to the King's Lynn Cloverleaf.[72]
On 21 November 2013 episode ofImpact Wrestling, Magnus was entered into a tournament to crown a new TNA World Heavyweight Champion after the title was vacated. He defeated Samoa Joe in aFalls Count Anywhere match atTurning Point and Kurt Angle onImpact Wrestling to advance to the finals. He defeatedJeff Hardy in aDixieland match to become the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion on 3 December; the match aired on 19 December, onImpact Wrestling: Final Resolution.[73][74] In the process, he turned heel by joining Team Dixie and allying himself with Dixie Carter,Ethan Carter III, andRockstar Spud.[73]
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Styles returned on the edition of 2 January 2014 ofImpact Wrestling still claiming to be the legitimate champion as he was never defeated for the title. He then lost to Magnus due to TNA President Dixie Carter directing a heavy amount of interference against Styles, making Magnus undisputed champion.Samoa Joe then stepped up to challenge Magnus, labelling him a "paper champion". On 9 January 2014 episode ofImpact Wrestling,[75] Magnus defeatedA.J. Styles in a no disqualification title unification match after Styles had returned to TNA with his own TNA World Heavyweight Championship; Styles left TNA after the match.[76][77] The next week, Magnus defeatedSting in a no disqualification title match to end Sting's TNA career.[78]
On 30 January episode ofImpact Wrestling,Samoa Joe andKurt Angle defeated Magnus andEthan Carter III in a stipulated tag match. In the match, Joe forced Magnus to tap out and as a result of the stipulation put in place, he would receive a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On 2 March, Magnus successfully defended the TNA World Heavyweight Championship inTokyo, Japan, defeatingKai atWrestle-1'sKaisen: Outbreak event.[79] AtLockdown, Magnus successfully defended his TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Samoa Joe. On 3 April, Magnus successfully defended his TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Samoa Joe, Eric Young and Abyss. On 8 April, Director of Wrestling Operations MVP announced a 10-man gauntlet match that took place on 10 April episode ofImpact Wrestling where the winner would receive a future TNA World Heavyweight Championship that same night. The match would later be won by Eric Young who requested to have his shot at the same night, in which Magnus lost the TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Young. AtSacrifice, Magnus received a rematch for the title, but was again defeated by Young.
Shortly after his loss toEric Young, Magnus began a losing streak, after losing out on a number one contender's spot for the championship Magnus was met in a backstage segment by his childhood friend and fellow BritBram, who began to chastise him, claiming he had gone soft. Over the next several weeks, Magnus began showing signs of a face turn when Bram would throw weapons into the ring and encourage him to let out a more intense side but Magnus would refuse. More signs began to show from Magnus when he first attacked Bram in a backstage segment, and then when Magnus savedTigre Uno from an assault from Bram the following week. On the edition of 5 June of Impact Wrestling, it looked as though Magnus would finalise his face turn and saveWillow from Bram, but would in fact remain heel and attack Willow himself with a steel pry bar. Since developing a more violent persona, Magnus and Bram began a rivalry withWillow and the returningAbyss. Magnus defeated Willow on 15 June 2014, atSlammiversary XII. On 26 June 2014, episode ofImpact Wrestling Magnus and Bram defeated Willow and Abyss in a tag teamMonster's Ball match. On 20 August 2014, atHardcore Justice, Magnus was a participant in a six-sides of steel match to determine a number 1 contender for theTNA World Heavyweight Championship, the match was ultimately won by Eric Young and Bobby Roode.
On 23 January 2015, episode ofImpact Wrestling, Magnus competed in theFeast or Fired match grabbing the final case which contained aTNA World Tag Team Championship title opportunity, in whichBram claimed to have been the one to obtain it for himself but the chance was stolen from Magnus. On 30 January episode ofImpact Wrestling, Magnus tried to reconcile with Bram in a bar, but after leaving the bar he was then viciously attacked by Bram, which would turn Magnus face once again. The following weekMickie James, (Magnus's real-life fiancé) returned to TNA to confront Bram who threatened Mickie in return. The week after, Magnus returned and attacked Bram in retaliation for threatening Mickie. This would lead to a match between the two which Magnus won by disqualification after Magnus was strapped to the ropes, after which Mickie ran down to the ring and was grabbed by Bram who forced Magnus to kiss his boot, to which he obliged. Magnus would get redemption and attack Bram backstage. This would lead to a No Disqualification match between the two which Magnus won to end the feud.
Magnus would enter into a storyline withJames Storm who intervened in his final match withBram by savingMickie James from being attacked. On 24 April episode ofImpact Wrestling, Magnus andMickie James both came down to the ring to announce Mickie's retirement from professional wrestling to focus on raising their son but were interrupted by Storm who managed to convince her not to. Magnus was later approached backstage byDavey Richards (who had previously feuded with Storm) who warned Magnus not to trust Storm, after which Magnus asked a member of the camera crew to follow Mickie around to keep an eye on her. After consulting the footage the crew gathered, Magnus confronted Storm and warned him to stay out of his and Mickie's business. The following week the two would have another confrontation where Storm would push Magnus too far and provoked him to attack Storm with a guitar officially igniting their feud. The following week onImpact Wrestling, Magnus called out Storm for a fight to instead be met by former rival and Storm's Revolution teammate Abyss and eventually the rest of The Revolution membersManik andKhoya. AtSlammiversary XIII, Magnus facedJames Storm in a losing effort. On 29 July episode ofImpact Wrestling, Magnus and Mickie James defeated James Storm and Serena in a mixed tag match. On 29 June 2015, TNA announced that Magnus was released from the TNA, after nearly 8 years with the company.
On 22 July 2012, Magnus made his debut for the JapanesePro Wrestling Noah promotion, when he and Samoa Joe defeatedAkitoshi Saito andJun Akiyama to win theGHC Tag Team Championship.[80][81] On 8 October, Magnus and Joe lost the title toKENTA andMaybach Taniguchi in their first defence.[82][83]
On 29 June 2015, it was announced that Aldis had signed withGlobal Force Wrestling, and will compete under his real name.[84] On 9 July, Aldis made his in-ring debut defeatingTommaso Ciampa as part of the inaugural GFW Grand Slam Tour.[85] On 10 July 2015, Aldis facedKongo Kong as part of the GFW Grand Slam Tour inErie, Pennsylvania making this their first of three matches during the tour which saw him winning on all three occasions.[86]
On 24 July 2015, Aldis entered into a tournament to crown the inauguralGFW Global Champion, defeatingKongo Kong in the quarterfinals of the tournament.[87] On 5 September, Aldis defeatedChris Mordetzky in the semifinals to advance to the finals of the tournament.[88]
On 23 October 2015, at theGFW Amped taping, Aldis defeatedBobby Roode in the finals of the tournament to become the first ever GFW Global Champion.[89] On 28 October, Aldis andDoug Williams reunited asThe British Invasion as part ofGlobal Force Wrestling's GFW UK Invasion tour, defeatingMarty Scurll andRampage Brown.[90] Aldis lost the title on 22 April 2017 toAlberto El Patrón.[91]
FollowingJeff Jarrett's hiring as TNA's executive consultant in January 2017[92] and promotion to executive producer and chief creative officer[93] status a month later by its new ownersAnthem Sports & Entertainment, GFW talent and championships started being featured on TNA (renamed Impact Wrestling in March) television. Aldis returned on 6 April episode ofImpact! under the Magnus ring name as a fan favourite, helping to saveMatt Morgan from a 4-on-1 attack by TeamJosh Mathews (Bram,Eli Drake,Lashley, andTyrus), beating down Bram and, in the process, being revealed as TeamJeremy Borash's 4th member, joiningChris Adonis, Morgan andAlberto El Patrón, that would battle the aforementioned foursome.[94] The two sides squared off on the following episode ofImpact!, with Magnus getting the pinfall victory on Bram.[95]
Over the next two TV airings, Magnus exhibited villain-type arrogance during backstage segments, by verbally putting himself over, berating other wrestlers, especially El Patrón, and proclaiming himself number one contender for theImpact World Championship. On 4 May episode ofImpact!, Magnus successfully defended the GFW Global Championship againstMatt Morgan following a low-blow andMichinoku Driver.[96] On 11 May episode ofImpact!, Magnus lost the GFW Global Championship to El Patrón via submission to thecross armbreaker.[97][91] Magnus then acted as guest commentator during a match betweenEthan Carter III andJames Storm the following week onImpact! and got involved himself in the post-match melee between the two wrestlers, beating and leaving Storm laying by the ring steps then entering the ring to argue with Carter. Consequently, Impact authority figureBruce Prichard booked the three rivals in a triple threat match for an opportunity at the Impact World Heavyweight Championship.[98] This match took place on 25 May episode ofImpact!, where Magnus lost to Carter.[99]
TheWrestling Observer Newsletter reported on 20 July that Aldis rejected a contract offer from Anthem, who had purchased and merged Jarrett's promotion with Impact Wrestling (renaming the company GFW) on 20 April and that he only worked April'sImpact! tapings on ahandshake deal to protect the lineage of the GFW Global Championship by transitioning it to El Patrón.[100][101] On 26 July edition of sports writer Chris Featherstone's Pancakes and Powerslamspodcast, Aldis cited the lack of financial compensation and creative challenge GFW would offer him as his reasons for not signing. He added that "it's not a contract that anyone with any value, any sense of self-value or self-worth would sign...There's no point in signing a contract to make you exclusive to one place if you're not getting anything in return". He said he was willing to continue working for the company as an independent contractor on handshake agreements, but he was rebuffed.[102]
On 23 September 2017, Aldis made his debut forChampionship Wrestling from Hollywood, defeating Will Roode. Immediately following the match Aldis set forth a challenge toTim Storm for theNWA World's Heavyweight Championship.[103] That match took place on 12 November and saw Storm retain the title; this was the first title match under the new NWA regime headed byBilly Corgan.[104] On 9 December, Aldis defeated Storm in a rematch atCage of Death 19 to become the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion, making him the second British-born champion afterGary Steele.[105] The same evening, retired NWA starAustin Idol made a surprise return to professional wrestling as Aldis' corner and spokesman.
Now working as a solidly "tweener" character, Aldis' primary angle was that of a traveling champion who actively accepts all challengers in a bid to raise the profile of the title and bring back some of its lost prestige. His first major story as champion was known as "The Aldis Crusade," a self-imposed mission to undertake twenty title defences over the course of sixty days across three continents in the spring of 2018, concluding with a title defence againstColt Cabana inWenzhou,China. That summer, Billy Corgan made an announcement at theAll In press conference, namingCody Rhodes as the new challenger for the title at the 1 September event. To promote the match, Aldis wrestled two matches in Ring of Honor: on 24 May 2018 he andMark Haskins were defeated byThe Young Bucks, and atHonor For All, Aldis would successfully retained the NWA World Championship againstFlip Gordon. On 1 September 2018, Aldis lost the title to Cody atAll In.[106]
On 21 October 2018, at theNWA 70th Anniversary Show, Nick Aldis beat Cody to regain the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship. On 24 November, Aldis successfully defended the title againstJake Hager at WrestleCade: SuperShow.[107] Other challengers have included Cowboy James Storm,Jimmy Havoc, Leland Race (son of Harley), andMarty Scurll. Aldis retained the title throughout 2019, leading into the October debut of the weeklyPowerrr studio streaming show, which he headlined as champion and on the first episode of which retained the title against Tim Storm. AtInto The Fire, Aldis successfully defended the title againstJames Storm in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match.[108] On the next episode ofPowerrr on 17 December, Aldis turned full heel when he aligned with The Wild Cards (Thomas Latimer andRoyce Isaacs) and led an attack on Tim Storm.[109]Kamille looked to have come to Storm's aid but would instead join the beatdown and aligned with the three men.[109] This foursome would go on to be calledStrictly Business.
Shortly after forming the new faction, Aldis retained the title againstRicky Morton onPowerrr andVillain Enterprises' Flip Gordon atHard Times, which set up a title defense for Aldis against Gordon's teammate Marty Scurll atCrockett Cup, a rematch between the two from the previous year's Crockett Cup. In preparation for the title match, Aldis appeared at ROH'sFree Enterprise, where he teamed withRush against Scurll andPCO in a losing effort. Crockett Cup was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic and the rematch never came to fruition due to Scurll leaving ROH amid allegations of theSpeaking Out movement. NWA did not hold any events throughout 2020 but Aldis defended the title on a few occasions during the fall of the year.
NWA resumed hosting events withBack For The Attack on 21 March 2021, where Aldis retained the title againstAron Stevens in the main event. In the weeks following the event, the recently debutedChris Adonis joined Strictly Business as its newest member. The group immediately began feuding withTrevor Murdoch, who won a battle royal to face Aldis for the title atWhen Our Shadows Fall, where Aldis retained the title after Murdoch got disqualified. Aldis retained the title against Murdoch in a rematch at T-Mart Promotions eventThe Gathering II on 24 July. However, Murdoch earned another opportunity against Aldis after his team won the Champions Series onPowerrr. The subsequentTitle vs Career match for Aldis' championship and Murdoch's career match took place at theNWA 73rd Anniversary Show, where Aldis lost the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship to Murdoch, ending his reign at 1,043 days.
On 6 November 2022, Aldis announced on hisInstagram for his subscribers that he requested a release from NWA.[110] As Aldis was publicly critical about the direction of the company, he was later suspended by NWA.[111] Aldis pointed the new direction of the promotion as the reason to leave NWA.
While still employed by the NWA, Aldis returned to Impact Wrestling on 1 April 2022 for theMultiverse of Matches event, teaming with Mickie James to compete against Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green.[112] He also appeared atSlammiversary 2022 on 19 June 2022.[113]
After leaving the NWA, Aldis would return to Impact Wrestling atRebellion.[114] After winning atAgainst All Odds in an8–4–1match to become the number one contender for the Impact World Championship,[115] he faced championAlex Shelley atSlammiversary, but was defeated.[116] On 16 July, it was reported that Aldis was officially done with Impact Wrestling. He competed in his final match with the company on the 27 August tapings ofImpact in a losing effort againstEric Young.[117]
In August 2023, Aldis began working withWWE as abackstage producer.[118][119] Two months later on the 13 October episode ofSmackDown, WWE'schief content officer and head of creativePaul "Triple H" Levesque introduced Aldis as the new on-screen general manager of theSmackDown brand.[120] On the 28 April 2025 episode ofRaw, Aldis filled in forAdam Pearce as the on-screen general manager for theRaw brand due to Pearce being forced to miss the show because of "doctor's orders".[121]
Aldis married American professional wrestlerMickie James on 31 December 2015.[122] They have a son named Donovan Patrick Aldis, who was born in 2014.[123]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–2009 | Gladiators | Oblivion | |
| 2009 | Are You Smarter Than a 10 Year Old? | ||
| 2012 | UK's Strongest Man 2012[124] | Himself | Presenter |
| 2013 | UK's Strongest Man 2013[124] |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
