Ultimate Pro Wrestling (2002–2003) Mordetzky began training for a wrestling career at the age of 16 in
Ultimate Pro Wrestling.
World Wrestling Entertainment Ohio Valley Wrestling (2003–2005) His work paid off, as WWE offered him a developmental contract in 2003, training him at its developmental territory,
Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). At OVW, he developed his wrestling skills and refined his character, achieving success in both the singles and tag team divisions. When Mordetzky was called up to the main roster, WWE showed
vignettes outlining him as "The Masterpiece", touting him as having a body so perfect, it would appear he was sculpted out of stone. Mordetzky credits
Matt Morgan for creating the "Masterpiece" gimmick, and said
Vince McMahon encouraged him to emulate former wrestler
Paul Orndorff.
WWE Championship pursuits (2005–2006) "The Masterpiece" Chris Masters made his debut in WWE on
Raw as a
villain, drawing attention to his physique in bodybuilding poses during his entrance to the ring. On the February 21, 2005 episode of
Raw, Masters made his debut by defeating
Stevie Richards. During the contest, Masters broke Richards' nose performing the
Polish Hammer. The Polish Hammer continued to be a signature move of Masters' for months after this first match, but with warning that it would only be used in striking an opponent's chest. Originally he would call out
plants from the crowd, placing a $1,000 prize of his own money to be paid to anyone who could break free from the Master Lock. He engaged in feuds with lower-card wrestlers,
Val Venis and
Sgt. Slaughter, who both failed to break the Master Lock. Using villainous tactics, he often attacked the wrestlers beforehand and frequently cheated (for example using a low-blow to escape Sgt. Slaughter's
cobra clutch). Masters increased the offered reward each week up to $20,000 and sometimes threw in a bonus. After defeating the 400-pound
Rosey on July 18, Masters defiantly stated "it doesn't matter how big they are!", prompting The
Big Show to accept a Master Lock Challenge. In accordance with his villainous persona, Masters fled, refusing a match with the Big Show. During the match, Masters defeated Ric Flair by submission. Masters regularly teamed with Carlito, albeit in a rigid business relationship. Michaels competed in a Master Lock Challenge on September 5. Masters, upset at the vigorous resistance of Michaels, released the hold and beat him with a
steel chair before re-applying the hold. Masters, alongside fellow Raw wrestler,
Edge, was one of several wrestlers to "invade"
SmackDown! in preparation for the match between the
SmackDown! and
Raw brands at
Survivor Series. The two ambushed
Rey Mysterio, leading to a tag match at
Taboo Tuesday against Mysterio and
Matt Hardy. Edge chose not to participate, so Masters teamed with Edge's replacement,
Gene Snitsky. During the match, there appeared to be a near-break in the Master Lock by
Bobby Lashley, who "powered out" of the hold. This set up a
Triple Threat Submission match for the November 28 edition of
Raw with Cena defending his title against Masters and Kurt Angle, with whom he had already been feuding. The idea was to put Cena at a major disadvantage and guarantee a new champion; Masters and Angle, who used the ankle lock as a submission finisher, both were submission experts while Cena did not employ a submission hold as part of his repertoire at the time. On that night, however, Cena emerged victorious by making Masters tap out to his new submission finisher, the STFU. Masters had to defeat Guerrero in 5 minutes and 56 seconds, which was the time set by Michaels (when he defeated Snitsky in the opening match of the show). During the match, Michaels walked backstage, leaving Angle to fend for himself. Masters saw the opportunity and applied the Master Lock to Angle, thus gaining the victory. Cena accepted the challenge and displayed signs that he might in fact break out of the hold, until Edge attacked Cena with his title belt and ended the challenge. In Masters' first round matchup, he would use the ropes for leverage in a victory against
Kane to secure himself a place in the second round against the winner of a later match between Carlito and
Rob Van Dam. Van Dam won that match. The next week on
Raw, Van Dam was able to beat Masters and advance to the tournament final. After this, Masters continued to feud with one half of the
World Tag Team Champions, Big Show, while Masters' on and off teammate Carlito would feud with Kane. On the February 27 episode of
Raw, McMahon offered Shawn Michaels' former tag team partner
Marty Jannetty a WWE contract in exchange for kissing his exposed buttocks in the middle of the wrestling ring. When Jannetty hesitated, McMahon changed the condition to winning a Master Lock Challenge, and summoned Masters to the ring. After applying the Master Lock, McMahon ordered Masters to force Jannetty's face against his buttocks. Masters failed to complete this instruction as Shawn Michaels interrupted and knocked out Masters. Michaels was then attacked by Shane McMahon, who forced him to kiss Mr. McMahon's buttocks instead. On the March 6 episode of
Raw, McMahon publicly thanked everyone who encouraged the previous week's events, and officially awarded Masters and Carlito a World Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania 22. At WrestleMania 22, the pair, known as "The Masters of Cool", lost the match to
Big Show and Kane. The pair argued amongst themselves after the match. Even though Carlito had repeatedly betrayed Masters over the previous months, it was Carlito who turned face. During the next
Raw, Masters began to feud with Carlito after Carlito attacked him from behind. This led to a match between the two men at
Backlash which Carlito won. He returned to the ring during an OVW television taping on August 6. He had lost much of his muscle mass, appearing much slimmer, although he still had some definition in his arms and abdomen. On the August 28 episode of
Raw, Masters made his return against Cena. Along with less muscle mass, he sported a goatee and mustache leading
Jerry "The King" Lawler to refer to him as a "leaner and meaner" Chris Masters. This change of image was short-lived, however, as Masters shaved the goatee and regained some of his muscle mass. When Masters returned, he was put in lower-card matches including a short feud with
Super Crazy, who had moved from
SmackDown!, with Masters coming out on the losing end of their matches. The pair would also compete in a losing effort, along with four other Superstars, in a
Six-Pack Challenge for the Intercontinental Championship. Masters gained his first victory since his return against Jerry Lawler on the November 6 episode of
Raw in a match where Eric Bischoff, General Manager for the night, forced Lawler to be first
handcuffed to the top rope. Masters continued the feud with Lawler for a few weeks with Lawler also losing a Master Lock Challenge before defeating Masters. On the December 4 episode of
Raw,
Jonathan Coachman set up a Master Lock Challenge against John Cena for the WWE Championship. Masters appearing to have the challenge won but he released the hold for a short time, allowing Cena to reverse the hold into his own Master Lock, forcing Masters to submit, retaining his title, and making Cena the first to win the Master Lock Challenge. In a rematch the next night on
Raw, Carlito came out victorious. On the January 15 episode of
Raw,
Ron Simmons, with interference from Super Crazy, almost "won" the Master Lock Challenge. An attempted Master Lock Challenge for
The Great Khali on the February 26 episode of
Raw did not occur when Masters was unable to apply the hold to Khali. The Master Lock was first officially broken on the March 19 episode of
Raw, by
ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley. after Masters debuted it more than two years ago. However, on the May 28 episode of
Raw, he defeated Marella in the Master Lock Challenge. On the June 11 episode of
Raw, Masters was drafted to the SmackDown! brand as part of the
2007 WWE draft. While on
SmackDown! he was used sporadically including a few Master Lock Challenges. He had entered into a feud with
Chuck Palumbo competing in several matches and an attempted Master Lock Challenge that did not begin as Masters fled the ring after Palumbo realized Masters was trying to trick him. Following this, Masters was suspended for 30 days for failing a drug test. Masters returned to
SmackDown! on October 5, applying the Master Lock to Palumbo. Masters suffered a dislocated elbow during his last match, which would have sidelined him for four months. On November 2, 2007, it was reported that Masters had been suspended for 60 days for having violated WWE's Substance Abuse and Drug Policy a second time. Six days later, Masters was released from his WWE contract on November 8, 2007.
Independent circuit (2007–2009) On December 20, 2007, Mordetzky made his first wrestling appearance since his departure from WWE, competing under the name Chris Moore for
Antonio Inoki's
Inoki Genome Federation at the event Genome2: Inoki Fighting Xmas in Tokyo, Japan, defeating Ryuji Yanagisawa. Mordetzky also appeared under his Chris Masters ring name and gimmick at
Harley Race's
World League Wrestling show on December 29, during a
Lumberjack match between Branden Tatum and Dinn T. Moore. Tatum pinned Moore after Masters applied the Master Lock behind the referee's back. He soon won the
WLW Heavyweight Championship, his first singles title, on February 9, 2008, from
Keith Walker. He later lost the title to Derek McQuinn on May 25. In May 2008, news reports revealed that Mordetzky had signed a one-year contract with Nu-Wrestling Evolution. Mordetzky wrestled on the
independent circuit in
Australia and
New Zealand appearing for
New Zealand Wide Pro Wrestling on April 23, 2009, in
Lower Hutt. He defeated Adam Avalanche and Rufguts in a Triple Threat match at the show Power Play 6. Masters also competed in Europe for American Wrestling Rampage, in the UK for Varsity Pro Wrestling and Puerto Rico for the
World Wrestling Council.
Return to WWE (2009–2011) in 2009 Mordetzky returned to World Wrestling Entertainment on July 27, 2009, reprising his character as "The Masterpiece" Chris Masters. Mordetzky did not take the mic and little commentary was made on his absence. He faced
Montel Vontavious Porter in a match that resulted in a
double-countout after he applied the Master Lock
submission to MVP outside the ring. A mini feud continued between the two as Porter was able to score a pinfall victory over Masters the following week to end the feud. In November 2009, Mordetzky began teasing a
face turn by entertaining fans with a
Tony Holland-style pec dance. On the November 2 episode of
Raw, Mordetzky entered the ''
Raw's Got Talent'' show hosted by guest host
Ozzy Osbourne,
Sharon Osbourne, and The Great Khali, where he performed a "special performance art piece"; he flexed his pecs to the beat of Ozzy's song "
Crazy Train", earning a positive crowd reaction. Masters later recalled that he was not a fan of the "pec dancing" gimmick, but made the best of it for the company. On the December 7 episode of
Raw, Masters cemented his face turn by saving
Eve Torres and
Hornswoggle from Chavo Guerrero after confronting and applying the Master Lock on Guerrero. After that, Masters and Torres began an on-screen relationship. Masters mostly engaged in lower-card feuds throughout 2010 and 2011. Some wrestling journalists have speculated that his character was being reduced to a comedic role because WWE hoped to avoid negative publicity tied to his past
Talent and Wellness Violations. Following
WrestleMania XXVI, Masters was not active on-screen for over 30 days. Masters was drafted to the
SmackDown brand on April 26 during the
Supplemental Draft. In his first match on the brand, he defeated Chavo Guerrero. Masters found himself lossless in singles matches from May to September, winning eleven singles matches during that period, where all the matches took place on
Superstars. Masters was announced as one of the men to compete in the
Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Team match as part of Team Mysterio, teaming with Rey Mysterio, Big Show,
Kofi Kingston and Montel Vontavious Porter to take on Team Del Rio (
Alberto Del Rio,
Tyler Reks,
Jack Swagger,
Drew McIntyre and "Dashing"
Cody Rhodes). On the November 19 episode of
SmackDown, Masters lost to Swagger in a Survivor Series Showdown match. Later that same night, he competed in a 10-Man Survivor Series Showdown Battle Royal where he eliminated Rhodes, though later on in the match he was eliminated, the Battle Royal was won by Mysterio and Big Show (as it was a team vs team battle royal). At the
Survivor Series pay-per-view, Masters was eliminated by Del Rio, but his team still went on to win. In late 2010, Masters mentored
Byron Saxton on
NXT. In February and March 2011, Masters would feud with Tyler Reks on
Superstars, and Masters won all four matches they had with each other. His last appearance on WWE programming was against Jack Swagger on the August 4, 2011 episode of
Superstars in a losing effort. On August 5, 2011, Masters was released from WWE. His release (as well as the releases of
Vladimir Kozlov and
David Hart Smith) was mentioned in a
worked shoot segment on the August 8 episode of
Raw by then-
WWE Champion CM Punk.
Return to independent circuit (2011–present) In December 2011, Mordetzky joined the
Ring Ka King promotion, a branch of
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling for
India under the name American Adonis. There he defeated
Roscoe Jackson, but was defeated by Indian wrestler Mahabali Veera. In December 2011, Mordetzky was also revealed to be involved in the
Wrestling Retribution Project under the
ring name "Concrete". Mordetzky appeared on the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in
Manila,
Philippines on February 4, 2012, where he wrestled under the name Chris Master. There he was defeated against fellow WWE alumni MVP. In April 2012, Mordetzky participated in the Revolution event for
International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom (IPW:UK) in
London. Other wrestlers at the event were
WWE Tough Enough Season 5 contestant
Matt Cross and WWE alumni and friend Carlito. In June 2012, Mordetzky was defeated by
Robbie E in a dark match for
Impact Wrestling. Mordetzky has also been involved in many other wrestling events since his release from WWE such as Southside Wrestling (UK) beating
El Ligero, Dutch Pro Wrestling (DPW), Fire Star Pro Wrestling, Big Time Wrestling (BTW), World Star Wrestling (WSW), Vendetta Pro Wrestling and
Tommy Dreamer's
House Of Hardcore (HOH). On October 26, 2012, Masters was defeated by Matt Hardy in the Big Time Wrestling 16th Anniversary Show. On October 27, 2012, Masters defeated Rik Luxury,
Sean Casey and then-Champion Chavo Guerrero Jr. in a Four-Way Elimination match for the Vendetta Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship. On December 9, 2012, Masters made his
Preston City Wrestling (PCW) debut losing to
Kris Travis at PCW Festive Fury 2012. On March 1, 2014, Masters won the Road to Glory Tournament, earning the right to a match for the PCW Heavyweight Championship. On August 1, 2014, Masters defeated Joey Hayes to become PCW Heavyweight Champion at Preston City Wrestling's third anniversary show with Lionheart as the special referee. On April 20, 2013, Masters unsuccessfully challenged
Rob Conway for the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship. On January 24, 2014, Masters won the
Real Canadian Wrestling (RCW) Canadian Heavyweight Championship. Masters lost the title the next day. On March 29, 2014, at International Wrestling Federation's Breaking Ground, Masters was defeated by
Chris Hero. On June 26 Masters defeated Ken Kerbis & Kronus in a triple threat match for the AWO Championship at the
All Wrestling Organization annual show Wrestlefest in
Tira, Israel. On 1 November 2014, Masters faced 'The One' Simon Lancaster at the RDW 10th Anniversary Show, the match ended in a draw when the RDW champion, Spyda, attacked both men. Masters then went on to aid Lancaster in a match against Spyda, winning Lancaster the championship. On May 6, 2015,
Global Force Wrestling (GFW) announced Mordetzky as part of their roster. He made his debut for the promotion on June 12, defeating Dustin Starr. On November 29, 2014, Masters lost the PCW Heavyweight Championship in a three-way elimination match to
Uhaa Nation during a PCW/
ROH Supershow of Honor event the match also included Dave Mastiff. On March 14, 2015, Masters defeated Uhaa Nation in a loser leaves PCW no disqualification match to regain the PCW Heavyweight Championship at PCW Road To Glory 2015. On July 11, 2015, Masters lost the PCW Heavyweight Championship to Dave Mastiff at the PCW Tribute To The Troops 2 event.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / Impact Wrestling (2015–2018) In 2015, Mordetzky initially made his
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) debut on the July 27, 2015 episode of
Impact Wrestling, where he competed in a
King of the Mountain match for the vacant
TNA King of the Mountain Championship. Robbie E,
Eric Young, Lashley and the winner of the match,
P. J. Black were the other participants. On the following
Impact Wrestling the Global Force stable cut a promo in the ring challenging TNA. Mordetzky took the microphone and demanded a TNA opponent, revealed to be Lashley. The match ended in a "
no contest" after the Global Force stable interrupted the match. On the September 9th episode of
Impact Wrestling, Mordetzky defeated
Drew Galloway in a
Lumberjack match. On the September 16 edition of
Impact Wrestling, Team GFW (Mordetzky,
Brian Myers,
Jeff Jarrett,
Eric Young and
Sonjay Dutt) lost to Team TNA (Drew Galloway, Lashley,
Eddie Edwards,
Bram and
Davey Richards) in a
Lethal Lockdown match. On the April 6 episode of
Impact, Mordetzky returned to TNA, now known as Impact Wrestling under the ring name Chris Adonis. In his debut he competed in an eight-man tag team match by teaming with
Matt Morgan,
Magnus and
Alberto El Patron against Lashley, Bram,
Eli Drake and
Tyrus in a winning effort. On the April 20 episode of
Impact, Adonis attacked
Moose from behind, establishing himself as a heel in the process. During the following weeks, Adonis formed an alliance with Drake against Moose. On the June 8 episode of
Impact, Adonis lost a GFW Global Title Match to Alberto El Patron. At
Slammiversary XV, Adonis and Drake were defeated by Moose and
DeAngelo Williams. Afterwards, he frequently helped Drake to retain his
Impact Global Championship. On the July 27 episode of
Impact, Adonis, Eli Drake and
Ethan Carter III defeated Eddie Edwards,
Naomichi Marufuji and Moose in a six-man tag team match. On August 24, on
Impact, Adonis competed in the Gauntlet for the Gold match for the GFW Global Championship, which Drake won. Adonis and Drake then transitioned into a storyline with
Johnny Impact, facing him in tag team and singles matches. On January 13, 2018, Mordetzky officially confirmed on his Twitter account that he had officially parted ways with Impact Wrestling. According to Mordetzsky, he left the promotion due to the low salary and the fact that the company did not have any plans for him besides being a manager for Eli Drake.
National Wrestling Alliance (2021–2023) NWA National Championship (2021–2023) On March 12,
National Wrestling Alliance announced on their social media, that Mordetzky would make his NWA debut at
NWA Back For The Attack. Adonis defeated
Trevor Murdoch on the March 30 episode of
NWA Power, in a
No Disqualification match, to win the
NWA National Championship. After this, Adonis turned heel when he aligned with
Thom Latimer and
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis, as the new member of Strictly Business. On May 25, 2021, Adonis vacated the NWA National Championship to participate in the battle royal to receive an NWA World Heavyweight Championship match at
NWA When Our Shadows Fall; the match was won by Trevor Murdoch. Adonis would defeat
JTG in the tournament final to win the National Championship. At
NWA 73rd Anniversary Show, Adonis successfully defended his title in his first title defense against
James Storm. He would lose the title against
Anthony Mayweather on the February 11, 2022 episode of
Power, ending his reign at 249 days.
Championship pursuits (2023) On the February 28, 2023 episode of
Powerrr, Adonis announced that he will utilize his Champions Series title opportunities at
NWA 312, challenging NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Tyrus. He would then go on to unsuccessfully challenge Tyrus for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. On June 3, during night one of the
Crockett Cup, Adonis teamed with Tyrus under the name "The Midnight Riders" to compete in the namesake tournament, defeating The Warriors from the Wasteland (
Judais and
Max the Impaler) in the second round, and The Immortals (
Kratos and Odinson) in the quarterfinal but lost to Knox and Murdoch (
Mike Knox and Trevor Murdoch) in the semifinal. During Adonis and Latimer's match against Knox and Murdoch on the August 22, 2023 episode of
Powerrr, Adonis turned on Latimer and attacked him, thus giving Knox and Murdoch the victory. At
NWA 75th Anniversary Show, Adonis was unsuccessful at winning the NWA World Television Championship. On the October 17
Powerrr, Adonis defeated
Zyon by
disqualification to earn an opportunity at "Thrillbilly" Silas Mason's NWA National Heavyweight Championship at
Samhain in a
Burning Lake Brawl. At the event, Adonis unsuccessfully challenged Mason for the NWA National Heavyweight Championship. ==Legacy==