Cole Karter

This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "Cole Karter" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Cole McKinney^[1] (born May 30, 2000) is an American professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Ring of Honor (ROH), where he performs under the ring name Cole Karter. He was previously in WWE on the NXT brand under the ring name Troy "Two Dimes" Donovan.

McKinney began his professional wrestling career wrestling for the International Wrestling Cartel (IWC) in Pennsylvania under the ring name Cole Karter with his debut match taking place on August 8, 2020.^[7] In 2021, Karter made several appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on AEW Dark and AEW Dark: Elevation, with his most notable appearance being on the April 14, 2021 episode of AEW Dynamite losing to Anthony Ogogo.^[8][9] On October 16, Karter defeated Anthony Greene in the finals of the Super Indy 20 to win the IWC Super Indy Championship. However, three months later on January 22, 2022, Karter vacated the title after his signing with WWE.^[10][11]

On March 17, 2022, McKinney was announced among a class of recruits who reported to the WWE Performance Center to begin training with WWE.^[1] On the April 8, 2022 episode of NXT Level Up, he made his debut under the ring name Troy Donovan teaming with Channing Lauren in a losing effort to Andre Chase and Bodhi Hayward.^[5] On the April 26 episode of NXT, Donovan and Lauren were introduced as Tony D'Angelo's henchmen under the modified ring names of Troy "Two Dimes" Donovan and Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo, forming a stable known as The Family. On the May 24 episode of NXT, Donovan and Lorenzo earned their first win as a team when they defeated Malik Blade and Edris Enofe.^[12][13] At NXT In Your House, The Family defeated Legado del Fantasma in a match where the losing team had to join the winning team's stable, thus forcing Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro to join The Family.^[14] On June 11, Donovan was released from his WWE contract due to a policy issue. His last appearance was on the June 14 episode of NXT (taped on June 8) where he teamed with Lorenzo in a losing effort to Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams. To explain his departure, on the June 28 episode of NXT, D'Angelo and Lorenzo were shown standing near a bridge and looking down at the river with D'Angelo claiming that he had taken care of a traitor within his group (referring to Two Dimes) by "making him sleep with the fishes".^[15][16][17]

Shortly after his release from WWE, McKinney under his previous name Cole Karter made his return to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on the July 16, 2022, episode of AEW Dark (aired July 26) defeating Mike Orlando. On the July 20 episode of AEW Dynamite: Fyter Fest, Karter challenged Ricky Starks for the FTW Championship in a losing effort. Following this, it was announced that Karter had signed with the company.^[18][19][20] On the August 1 episode of AEW Dark: Elevation, after picking up a victory over Serpentico, Karter was approached by QT Marshall backstage who offered him a spot in his group The Factory alongside Aaron Solo, Anthony Ogogo and Nick Comoroto, which Karter accepted. On the September 3 episode of AEW Dark: Elevation, Karter wrestled his first match as a member of The Factory teaming with Aaron Solo and Nick Comoroto in a losing effort to Hangman Page and John Silver and Alex Reynolds of The Dark Order.^[21][22][23] On the November 2 episode of AEW Dynamite, Karter (disguised as Sting) cost Darby Allin his match against Jay Lethal, which was revealed to be a deal made between Jay Lethal and The Factory. At Full Gear, Karter teamed with Marshall, Solo, Comoroto and Lee Johnson losing to Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta), Orange Cassidy, Rocky Romero, and Danhausen on the Zero Hour. On the December 12 episode of AEW Rampage, Karter fought Allin in a singles match where he was defeated.^{[24][25][26][27]}

Heading into 2023, The Factory quietly disbanded as Karter began appearing more frequently on Ring of Honor. Karter would begin a winning streak on ROH on Honor Club, defeating the likes of LSG, Griff Garrison and Rhett Titus which gained the attention of Maria Kanellis who offered him her managerial services which Karter accepted.^[28][29][30] Soon after, Karter and Maria would attempt to recruit Griff Garrison to join them as Karter and Garrison began teaming up. On the September 28 episode of ROH on Honor Club, Karter and Garrison now managed by Maria won their first match as a team when they defeated Shawn Dean and Carlie Bravo of The Infantry.^{[31][32][33][34]} On the January 25, 2024 episode of ROH on Honor Club, Karter and Garrison defeated Angelico and Serpentico of Spanish Announce Project (SAP) and afterwards stole Serpentico's mask. This ignited a feud between the two teams as over the next few weeks, where SAP would attempt to regain Serpentico's mask but were unsuccessful as Karter, Garrison and Maria always found a way to escape.^[35][36]

• Cole Karter's profile at Cagematch.net, Wrestlingdata.com, Internet Wrestling Database