| Antonio Thomas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | Thomas Matera |
| Born | (1978-12-13)December 13, 1978 (age 46) Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Antonio Thomas[1] Antonio[1] Promise Thomas Thomas Santell[2] The Promise[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 235 lb (107 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Humboldt, Iowa |
| Trained by | Lance Storm Kevin Landry[1] Steve Bradley Jeff Costa[1] Killer Kowalski[1] Ohio Valley Wrestling[1] |
| Debut | September 2001[3] |
Thomas Matera (born December 13, 1978) is an Americanprofessional wrestler andpersonal trainer, better known by hisring nameAntonio Thomas. He is best known for his stint withWorld Wrestling Entertainment on theRawbrand as one half ofThe Heart Throbs under the ring nameAntonio.
Matera made his debut in late 2001 under the name Antonio Thomas, and quickly became a mainstay on theNew Englandindependent circuit.[4] Over the next few years, he wrestled for severalpromotions, includingNew England Championship Wrestling,Chaotic Wrestling, and the Eastern Wrestling Alliance (EWA).[4]
In early 2003, Thomas began training withRick Harrison, and began working for Bradley's Wrestling Federation of America (WFA) promotion. There he won the WFA Heavyweight Championship, and held it throughout most of 2003–2004.[4]
Thomas then began teaming with his long-time friendRomeo Roselli, who was wrestling as Johnny Heartbreaker, and the pair formed atag team called The Heartbreakers.[1] On January 23, 2004, The Heartbreakers defeated Cueball and Nick McKenna to become the EWA Tag Team Champions.[1]
In July 2004, Thomas signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was sent toOhio Valley Wrestling (OVW).[1] In OVW he continued to team with Heartbreaker, but it was not until February 2005 that Heartbreaker was officially signed to a developmental contract with WWE.[1]
On April 18, 2005,William Regal andTajiri successfully defended theWorld Tag Team Championships against the debutingHeart Throbs (Thomas and Heartbreaker, now known simply as Antonio and Romeo respectively).[1][5] They went on to participate in a Tag Team Turmoil match for the World Tag Team Championship at the 2005Backlashpay-per-view, although they were unsuccessful.[6]
The Heart Throbs, who have portrayedheels, mainly appeared on theRaw B-show,Heat. They had short-lived feuds withEugene and William Regal,The Hurricane and Rosey, and V-Squared (Val Venis andViscera).[4]
During the first episode ofHeat in 2006 the pair turnedface and began educating the crowd by bringing two "hot chicks" into the ring and getting them to read a book.
On February 10, 2006, WWE announced that The Heart Throbs had been released from their contracts.[1]
After his release from WWE, Thomas returned to working on the New England independent circuit.
On May 27, 2006, Thomas debuted for MXW and pinned Jason Blade after the match was interrupted byRomeo Roselli. At InterPromotional Incident on July 8, 2006, Thomas and Blade defeated the team of Roselli andXavier. On November 10, 2006, Thomas wrestledClaudio Castagnoli in one half of the main event at Capital Collision in Albany, NY. His most recent appearance for MXW was at Brass City Battle on November 12, 2006, where he took onSlyk Wagner Brown.In June 2007, Thomas touredItaly with the Nu-Wrestling Evolution promotion.[1]
On February 22, 2009, Thomas competed in adark match forRing of Honor, teaming with Prince Jaleel in a loss to Andy Ridge and Alex Payne.[1] In May 2009, Thomas won the NECW Iron 8 Tournament.[4]
On July 28, 2012, The Heart Throbs made their debut forChikara, teaming withThe Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) in an eight-man tag team match, where they were defeated byHallowicked,Jigsaw,Mike Quackenbush andUltraMantis Black.[7] The Heart Throbs returned to the promotion on November 18, losing to1-2-3 Kid andMarty Jannetty in a tag team match.[7]
On February 1, 2013, Thomas captured the vacantNECW Heavyweight Championship, defeating Johnny Thunder atNECWSnowbrawl. The championship was vacated in the first place due to the previous title holder, Sean Burke, breaking his ankle during an NECW title defense with Antonio Thomas. Thomas and Burke would end in a time limit draw that night.[8]
On March 11, 2007, Thomas and Roselli appeared atTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling'sDestination X pay-per-view asChristy Hemme's mystery team. Renamed "The Heartbreakers", they lost toThe Voodoo Kin Mafia (B.G. James andKip James).
Thomas has wrestled forAll Japan Pro Wrestling. Thomas andAkebono were defeated byRene Dupree andBig Daddy Voodoo. Ryota Hama, Masayuki Kono andShuji Kondo defeatedMasakatsu Funaki,Akebono and Antonio Thomas.
On September 12, 2012, he has been nominated as head trainer for the Italian promotion Rome Wrestling Academy.
Matera appeared on the September 7, 2008 edition ofSox Appeal. He was on the wrestling observer live show.
Matera is a certified personal trainer, and plans to obtain aMaster's degree in Exercise Science and Strength and Conditioning.[4] He grew up inLudlow, Massachusetts and attendedLudlow High School, after attending Birchland Park Middle School in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. As of 2020, he was married on 10/31/2020 and living in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Media related toAntonio Thomas at Wikimedia Commons