Томас Матера (родился 13 декабря 1978 года) — американский профессиональный борец и личный тренер , более известный под псевдонимом Антонио Томас . Он наиболее известен своей работой в World Wrestling Entertainment на бренде Raw в роли половины The Heart Throbs под псевдонимом Антонио .
Матера дебютировал в конце 2001 года под именем Антонио Томас и быстро стал опорой независимого клуба Новой Англии . [4] В течение следующих нескольких лет он боролся в нескольких промоушенах , включая Чемпионат Новой Англии по борьбе , Хаотическую борьбу и Восточный борцовский альянс (EWA). [4]
В начале 2003 года Томас начал тренироваться с Риком Харрисоном и начал работать в промоушене Американской федерации рестлинга Брэдли (WFA). Там он выиграл чемпионат WFA в тяжелом весе и удерживал его на протяжении большей части 2003–2004 годов. [4]
Затем Томас начал объединяться со своим давним другом Ромео Розелли , который боролся как Джонни Сердцеед, и пара сформировала команду под названием The Heartbreakers. [1] 23 января 2004 года The Heartbreakers победили Кьюболла и Ника Маккенну и стали командными чемпионами EWA. [1]
В июле 2004 года Томас подписал контракт на развитие с World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) и был отправлен в Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). [1] В OVW он продолжал сотрудничать с Heartbreaker, но только в феврале 2005 года Heartbreaker был официально подписан контракт на разработку с WWE. [1]
On April 18, 2005, William Regal and Tajiri successfully defended the World Tag Team Championships against the debuting Heart 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 2005 Backlash pay-per-view, although they were unsuccessful.[6]
The Heart Throbs, who have portrayed heels, mainly appeared on the Raw B-show, Heat. They had short-lived feuds with Eugene and William Regal, The Hurricane and Rosey, and V-Squared (Val Venis and Viscera).[4]
During the first episode of Heat in 2006 the pair turned face 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 by Romeo Roselli. At InterPromotional Incident on July 8, 2006, Thomas and Blade defeated the team of Roselli and Xavier. On November 10, 2006, Thomas wrestled Claudio 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 on Slyk Wagner Brown. In June 2007, Thomas toured Italy with the Nu-Wrestling Evolution promotion.[1]
On February 22, 2009, Thomas competed in a dark match for Ring 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 for Chikara, teaming with The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) in an eight-man tag team match, where they were defeated by Hallowicked, Jigsaw, Mike Quackenbush and UltraMantis Black.[7] The Heart Throbs returned to the promotion on November 18, losing to 1-2-3 Kid and Marty Jannetty in a tag team match.[7]
On February 1, 2013, Thomas captured the vacant NECW Heavyweight Championship, defeating Johnny Thunder at NECW Snowbrawl. 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 at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's Destination X pay-per-view as Christy Hemme's mystery team. Renamed "The Heartbreakers", they lost to The Voodoo Kin Mafia (B.G. James and Kip James).
Thomas has wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling. Thomas and Akebono were defeated by Rene Dupree and Big Daddy Voodoo. Ryota Hama, Masayuki Kono and Shuji Kondo defeated Masakatsu 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 of Sox Appeal. He was on the wrestling observer live show.
Matera is a certified personal trainer, and plans to obtain a Master's degree in Exercise Science and Strength and Conditioning.[4] He grew up in Ludlow, Massachusetts and attended Ludlow 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.
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