Charlie Dempsey (wrestler)

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Charlie Dempsey
Birth nameBailey Matthews
Born (1996-12-30) 30 December 1996 (age 27)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Parent(s)William Regal (father)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
  • Bailey Matthews
  • Charlie Dempsey
  • Joe Bailey
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Billed weight200 lb (91 kg)[1]
Billed fromBlackpool, England
Trained byWilliam Regal
DebutFebruary 9, 2018

Bailey Matthews (born 30 December 1996) is an American-English professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE, where he performs on their NXT brand under the ring name Charlie Dempsey. He is a member of the No Quarter Catch Crew stable and is the current NXT Heritage Cup Champion in his first reign.

Professional wrestling career[edit]

Training and independent circuit (2018–2022)[edit]

On 9 February 2018, Matthews made his wrestling debut for All Star Wrestling as Joe Bailey, where he was defeated by Tony Spitfire. Throughout 2019 and 2020, Bailey made appearances in Progress Wrestling, Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), and Evolve.[2]

In 2020, Matthews joined NJPW as a Young Lion. Although he would never end up appearing for the company, as he later left for WWE.[3]

In 2022, Matthews returned to Progress Wrestling, under his Charlie Dempsey ring name. He competed in the Super Strong Style 16 Tournament, where he defeated Charles Crowley in the first round and was defeated by Chris Ridgeway in the quarterfinal.[2]

WWE (2021–present)[edit]

NXT UK (2021–2022)[edit]

In January 2021, Matthews signed with WWE, where he was assigned to the NXT UK brand. Matthews later reverted to the ring name, Charlie Dempsey. Dempsey made his debut on 25 February edition of NXT UK, where he was defeated by Tyler Bate.[citation needed] Dempsey later joined Teoman and Rohan Raja to form Die Familie[4] and began a feud with Gallus. On the 18 November edition of NXT UK, Die Familie defeated Gallus in their first ever match as a team.[5] Die Familie also started a feud with A-Kid. On the 10 March 2022 edition of NXT UK, Dempsey defeated A-Kid. Dempsey was later challenged by A-Kid to a British Rounds Rules match. This took place on the 21 April edition of NXT UK, where Dempsey won 2–1 in the sixth round. Dempsey competed in a tournament for the NXT United Kingdom Championship, where he lost to Oliver Carter in his final match for NXT UK.[citation needed]

NXT (2022–present)[edit]

In August 2022, Dempsey moved to the NXT brand. On the 14 February 2023 edition of NXT, Dempsey started associating with Drew Gulak, where Gulak served as a teacher for Dempsey. On the 18 April 2023 edition of NXT, Dempsey challenged Wes Lee for the NXT North American Championship, which he lost. In the following months, Dempsey and Gulak formed the No Quarter Catch Crew (NQCC), where they would later be joined by Myles Borne and Damon Kemp.[citation needed] Throughout August and September, Dempsey competed in the NXT Global Heritage Invitational to crown a #1 Contender for the NXT Heritage Cup. Dempsey came up empty-handed as he lost to the likes of Axiom (formerly A-Kid), Tyler Bate, and Butch. On the 13 December 2023 edition of NXT, Dempsey was involved in a triple threat match for the NXT North American Championship with Joe Coffey and the NXT North American Champion Dragon Lee, who retained his title.[citation needed]

On the 27 February 2024 edition of NXT, Dempsey defeated The Meta-Four's Noam Dar 2–1 in a British Rounds Rules match to become the new NXT Heritage Cup Champion.[6] At NXT: Roadblock, NQCC announced that the NXT Heritage Cup will be defended by the whole stable under the "Catch Clause".[7][8] Under the Catch Clause, NQCC as a whole referred to themselves as the NXT Heritage Cup Champions but WWE only recognize Dempsey as the official champion. The Catch Clause was invoked on the 19 March episode of NXT, with Gulak defeating Chase University's Riley Osborne 2–1 to successfully defend the Cup.[9] On the 16 April episode of NXT, The D'Angelo Family leader Tony D'Angelo revealed that his Family were hired by NQCC to (kayfabe) eliminate Gulak. In reality, Gulak was written off following allegations from Ronda Rousey that Gulak grabbed her pants' drawstrings backstage in 2022.[10] D'Angelo demanded payment for the job but NQCC refused, causing a brawl between the two factions[11] and resulting in a six-man tag team match between the two factions at Week 1 of Spring Breakin', which was won by The D'Angelo Family (D'Angelo, Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and Luca Crusifino).[12]

All Japan Pro Wrestling (2023–2024)[edit]

Dempsey made his All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) debut on 31 December 2023, where he teamed up with Yuma Anzai to face LEONA and Tatsumi Fujinami in a victorious effort. At AJPW’s New Year Giant Series, Dempsey challenged Katsuhiko Nakajima for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, which Nakajima won.[13][14]

Personal life[edit]

Matthews is the son of English retired professional wrestler William Regal.

Championships and accomplishments[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Charlie Dempsey". WWE.com. WWE. 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip (2024). "Charlie Dempsey - matches". Cagematch.net. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  3. ^ Middleton, Marc (21 February 2020). "William Regal's Son Joe Bailey Training for NJPW Career (Photos)". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  4. ^ Gibbons, Laurence (2 December 2021). "12/2 NXT UK TV results: Gibbons' review of Ilja Dragunov vs. Rampage Brown for the NXT UK Championship, Meiko Satomura vs. Xia Brookside for the NXT UK Women's Championship, and Saxon Huxley vs. Kenny Williams". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  5. ^ Gibbons, Laurence (27 January 2022). "1/27 NXT UK TV results: Gibbons' review of Ilja Dragunov vs. Jordan Devlin in an Empty Arena match for the NXT UK Championship, "Die Familie" Teoman, Rohan Raja and Charlie Dempsey vs. "Gallus" Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang, and Jinny vs. Amale". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  6. ^ Moore, John (27 February 2024). "NXT TV results (2/27): Moore's review of Ilja Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes meeting, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade, Von Wagner vs. Lexis King, Kiana James vs. Kelani Jordan". Pro Wrestling Dot Net.
  7. ^ Moore, John (27 February 2024). "NXT TV results (2/27): Moore's review of Ilja Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes meeting, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade, Von Wagner vs. Lexis King, Kiana James vs. Kelani Jordan". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  8. ^ Powell, Jason (5 March 2024). "NXT TV results (3/5): Moore's review of NXT Roadblock with Carmelo Hayes vs. Tony D'Angelo for a shot at the NXT Title, Kabuki Warriors vs. Lyra Valkyria and Tatum Paxley for the WWE Women's Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  9. ^ Moore, John (19 March 2024). "NXT TV results (3/19): Moore's review of Trick Williams vs. Noam Dar, Riley Osborne challenging for the NXT Heritage Cup, Roxanne Perez vs. Tatum Paxley, NXT Tag Team Title match qualifiers for Stand & Deliver". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  10. ^ Gartland, Dan (17 April 2024). "WWE Wrestler Drew Gulak Written Off TV After Investigation Into Complaint Brought by Ronda Rousey". SI (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  11. ^ Moore, John (16 April 2024). "NXT TV results (4/16): Moore's review of Carmelo Hayes vs. Trick Williams in a steel cage match, Ridge Holland vs. Joaquin Wilde, Sol Ruca vs. Lola Vice, Noam Dar vs. Dijak". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  12. ^ "NXT Spring Breakin' 2024 Week One results". WWE. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  13. ^ Varable, Aaron (24 December 2024). "Charlie Dempsey Heading to AJPW for Landmark Match". SEScoops. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  14. ^ Carey, Ian (3 January 2024). "WWE NXT's Charlie Dempsey loses AJPW Triple Crown Title match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  15. ^ "NXT Heritage Cup". WWE. Retrieved 25 April 2024.

External links[edit]