Early career (2000–2005) Whitmer was trained by
Les Thatcher and debuted on January 23, 2000, in Thatcher's
Ohio-based
Heartland Wrestling Association. Whitmer
feuded with "Ice Cream Man" Tony B. before forming a
tag team with
Jamie Knoble in 2002. On May 8, 2002, he won the
HWA Cruiserweight Championship by defeating Knoble,
Shannon Moore, and
Matt Stryker in a
four-man elimination match. He lost the title to Rory Fox on August 10. In addition to the HWA, Whitmer also began performing for
Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South. After being unsuccessful in winning the inaugural Sweet Science Sixteen tournament and then again in 2001, Whitmer won the now-renamed
Ted Petty Invitational in 2002 as well as the Revolution Strong Style Tournament that same year. On April 9, 2004, he defeated
Jerry Lynn in a thirty-minute
Iron Man match for the
IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship, which he held until May 29 when he was defeated by
Petey Williams. In June 2001, Whitmer toured
Japan with
Pro Wrestling Noah, teaming on several occasions with fellow
gaijins
Matt Murphy and
2 Cold Scorpio. He was entered in the GHC Junior Tournament, but was eliminated by
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi in his final match in Japan on June 21 in
Toyama, Toyama. Whitmer toured with Noah once more in August and September 2005, losing most of his matches. His last appearance in Noah featured him in a three-way match for the
ROH World Championship against Kenta and the then-reigning champion
Nigel McGuinness.
Ring of Honor (2003–2008) The Prophecy; teaming with Dan Maff (2003–2005) Whitmer debuted in
Ring of Honor in January 2003 at
Revenge on the Prophecy. On June 12, 2004, at
World Title Classic, Maff and Whitmer defeated three other teams in a thirty-five-minute-long ultimate endurance match. After the match, Maff convinced Whitmer to discard both The Prophecy's name and the managerial services of Allison Danger, claiming that they no longer needed a leader or a manager and resulting in both men
turning face. Furious over this turn of events, Danger subsequently placed a
bounty on the heads of Maff and Whitmer. They spent several months feuding with teams sent after them by Danger, including
Slash Venom and Chicano and the
Carnage Crew. On December 26 at
Final Battle 2004, they defeated the Carnage Crew in a "
Fight Without Honor", and shook hands with their opponents after the match. However, Whitmer injured his elbow in the course of the match, and was sidelined for two months. Whitmer and Maff captured the Tag Team Championship for a second time on February 19, 2005, defeating the
Havana Pitbulls. While a member of The Hangmen Three, Whitmer challenged for the World Tag Team Championship on a number of occasions with either Pearce or Albright, but was unsuccessful in regaining the title. In March 2008, Albright and Pearce joined
Sweet 'n' Sour Inc., prompting Whitmer to leave The Hangmen Three. Later that month, ROH announced that Whitmer had resigned from the promotion, praising his "immense contribution". not to be confused with the
Ted Petty Invitational held by
Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South. He would be eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by
Tim Donst. On September 9, Whitmer made his debut for
Dragon Gate USA, competing in a six-way elimination match, which was won by
Brodie Lee. One week later, Whitmer returned to Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South and defeated Bucky Collins to win the vacant
IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Championship, which he held until losing it to Collins on October 14. Whitmer's first internet pay-per-view appearance for Dragon Gate USA took place on November 11 at Revolt, where he defeated
Vinny Marseglia. Two days later at Freedom Fight 2011, Whitmer was defeated by Brodie Lee in a singles match.
Return to Ring of Honor (2012–2018, 2022) onto the ring apron that
Mike Bennett (left) executed on Whitmer (right) in 2013 resulted in Whitmer suffering a legitimate neck injury On February 17, 2012, Whitmer returned to ROH after a four-year absence, where he lost to
ROH World Television Champion Jay Lethal in a non-title Proving Ground match. After this, Whitmer allied himself with Rhett Titus to feud with Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team. Both teams competed against each other at
Glory By Honor XI and a street fight at
Final Battle 2012: Doomsday, where Whitmer and Titus lost both matches, the second of which saw Haas throw Whitmer into a table. As a result, Haas and Whitmer faced each other at the 11th Anniversary Show in a No Holds Barred match, which Whitmer won by referee decision. On May 18, 2013, Whitmer unsuccessfully challenged
Jay Briscoe for the
World Championship. On June 22 at
Best in the World 2013, Whitmer defeated
Mike Bennett and both subsequently began
feuding with each other. On July 12 at Reclamation, Whitmer and the newly renamed Michael Bennett faced off in a rematch, where Bennett defeated Whitmer. August 3 at All Star Extravaganza, Whitmer entered a tournament for the newly vacant World Championship, where he faced Bennett in a first round match. However, the match ended without a winner after Whitmer was
legitimately injured after being
piledriven on the ring apron. On September 20 at
Death Before Dishonor XI, Whitmer announced his retirement due to the neck injury he suffered from Bennett's piledriver. On December 14 at
Final Battle 2013, Whitmer came out of retirement and teamed with
Eddie Edwards in a winning effort against
Jay Lethal and
Roderick Strong. After the match, Whitmer turned
heel by attacking Edwards with the assistance of Strong and former tag team partner Jimmy Jacobs. Whitmer then reunited with Jacobs and they both allied with Strong to form
The Decade, with the
stable's name being a reference to all three men's long tenures with the company. On the January 4, 2014, The Decade secured its first victory as Whitmer and Jacobs defeated
Adam Page and
Mark Briscoe in a tag team match. Whitmer successfully recruited
Colby Corino, the 18-year-old son of Whitmer rival Steve Corino to join the Decade. This caused friction between Jacobs and Whitmer, feeling that taking Corino's son was too much, On March 27, 2015, at
Supercard of Honor IX Whitmer defeated Jimmy Jacobs. Whitmer feuded with
Adam Page after Page left The Decade. Whitmer faced Page at
ROH 14th Anniversary Show, and defeated him. At
Best in the World '16 Whitmer defeated
Steve Corino in a
Fight Without Honor with the help from
Kevin Sullivan. Later Whitmer and Sullivan would align with
Punisher Martinez. On January 7, 2017, Whitmer was defeated by
Jay Briscoe in the Decade of Excellence. On February 11, Whitmer and Punishment Martinez defeated
War Machine, after the match Martinez turned on Whitmer, hitting him with South of Heaven. Whitmer retired as a professional wrestler in 2017. However, Whitmer left the promotion on December 20, 2018. He mentioned that the departure was down to ROH not letting him work at WWE's Performance Center as a guest trainer. In 2022, Whitmer was a judge at
Supercard of Honor XV for a
ROH Pure Championship match. On December 10, 2022, he returned as a judge during the ROH Pure Championship match at
Final Battle.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–2023) In 2019, Whitmer signed a contract with the newly formed
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) to serve as a
coach. In June 2023, Whitmer was fired from AEW following a domestic violence arrest. ==Personal life==