Early career (2003–2010) Ricker moved to
Cincinnati,
Ohio and began training at the age of 20 on March 17, 2003, supporting himself with work at a lumber mill and a
Ruby Tuesday restaurant. On November 9, 2004, Deuce won the
HWA Television Championship, and
dropped it on January 4, 2005.
National Wrestling Alliance (2009–2012) NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (2010–2013) In December 2010, Ricker moved to work for
NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. He joined forces with
Brian Cage, forming The Natural Selection
tag team and winning the
NWA Heritage Tag Team Championship from The RockNES Monsters on December 8. After holding the titles for over 200 days, The Natural Selection lost them to The Tribe when Cage missed the event, causing the match to become a
handicap match. On May 5, 2013, Ricker won the 30-Man Red Carpet Rumble for the
CWFH Heritage Heavyweight Championship in homage to his late friend and
manager Percy Pringle. That same night, he successfully defended the title against
Ryan Taylor. He had previously performed sporadically in WWE over the years, starting with an appearance under the name
Dick Rick, where he teamed with
Jon Moxley in a losing effort against
Big Show in a
dark handicap match in May 2006. Upon signing with WWE, Ricker was given the ring name
Slate Randall and made his debut by defeating
Yoshi Tatsu in a dark match during an October 2013 taping of
NXT.
Return to the independent circuit (2014–2019) After his release from WWE, Ricker returned to wrestling on the
independent circuit and began competing under the ring name
Eli Drake. On September 5, at
Full Impact Pro's
Fallout, he participated in a trios tournament along with
Mason Ryan and
Michael Tarver, but they were defeated by the Full Impact Puerto Ricans (
Lince Dorado,
Jay Cruz, and Jay Rios) in the semifinals. On November 21, Ricker defeated
Kenny King at FSW Luck of the Draw. On May 11, 2019, Drake lost a fatal four-way match at a Maverick Pro Wrestling event. He made his debut for
World Wrestling Council in
Puerto Rico at
WWC Aniversario on August 17, wrestling
Carlito Colon.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / Impact Wrestling (2015–2019) The Rising (2015–2016) On February 16, 2015, Drake participated in
TNA One Night Only's
TNA Gut Check tournament, defeating
Crazzy Steve to qualify for a five-way elimination match won by
Tevita Fifita. On the March 27 episode of
Impact Wrestling, he joined
Drew Galloway and
Micah to form The Rising, defeating
The Beat Down Clan in his debut. On the July 1 episode of
Impact Wrestling, The Beat Down Clan defeated The Rising in a 4-on-3 handicap match, forcing The Rising to dissolve. On the July 15 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake turned
heel when he cost Galloway a match against
TNA World Heavyweight Champion Ethan Carter III. Drake defeated Galloway at
No Surrender on August 5 but lost a No Disqualification rematch on August 19 at
Turning Point. At
Bound for Glory on October 4, Drake competed in the Bound For Gold Gauntlet, which was won by
Tyrus. He then participated in the
TNA World Title Series as a member of group Future 4, along with
Jessie Godderz, Micah and
Crimson, advancing in the round of 16 along with Godderz, where he lost in the round of 16 to
Mahabali Shera, being eliminated from the tournament. At
TNA One Night Only: Live! on January 8, 2016, Drake and Godderz competed in a 3-Way
TNA World Tag Team Championship match, which
The Wolves won. On January 26, 2016, Drake won the
Feast or Fired match and the briefcase that contained a title shot for the future
TNA King Of The Mountain Championship. On the February 9 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake was attacked by
Grado, who had been fired after his Feast or Fired briefcase contained the
pink slip. Later that night, Drake interrupted him backstage, telling him "he better shut up about whatever he thinks he knows" and attacked Grado again, having him escorted out of the building through the tunnel. On the following episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake lost to Grado, who was masked as Odarg the Great. On the March 15 episode of
Impact Wrestling, he faced Grado in a
ladder match with Grado's career on the line, but was defeated.
Fact of Life and Namer of Dummies (2016–2017) in 2017 On the May 31 episode of
Impact on Pop, Drake cashed in his
Feast or Fired briefcase for his shot at the TNA King of the Mountain Championship, defeating
Bram, who was just viciously attacked by
Lashley, winning his first title in TNA. He successfully defended the title against Bram on June 12 at
Slammiversary. On the June 28 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake hosted a
Fact of Life segment, inviting
James Storm as his guest and insulting him; Storm eventually hit Drake with the
Last Call, igniting a feud between the two. On the July 5 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake defended the King of the Mountain Championship against Storm, but intentionally disqualified himself to save the title. On the August 4 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake lost the championship to Storm. He entered the
Impact Grand Championship tournament, defeating Godderz in the first round but lost to
Aron Rex in the semi-finals. At
Bound for Glory on October 2, Drake won the Bound for Gold Gauntlet by last eliminating Tyrus. After this, Drake started a feud against
Ethan Carter III. On the November 10 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake cashed in his Bound for Gold opportunity, but failed to win the
TNA World Heavyweight Championship from
Eddie Edwards. On the November 24 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake faced EC3 in a title shot vs. voice match where if Ethan lost, he would lose his heavyweight title shot, and if Drake lost, he would not be able to talk for the rest of 2016; EC3 won by submission. At
One Night Only: Live! on January 6, 2017, Drake and Tyrus unsuccessfully challenged
The Broken Hardys for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Tyrus helped Drake take the red case during the Race for the Case on the January 19 episode of
Impact Wrestling. On the February 2 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake cashed in his Race for the Case briefcase for a match against Ethan Carter III, but lost. After the match, he and Tyrus attacked EC3, but were assaulted by the
Death Crew Council. On the following episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake abandoned Tyrus during their handicap match against The Death Crew Council, causing them to lose. A match was scheduled between Drake and Tyrus two weeks later, which ended in a disqualification victory for Tyrus. After the match, Drake proposed more money to Tyrus for keeping him as a bodyguard, which Tyrus accepted. On the May 11 episode of
Impact Wrestling, with help from Tyrus and
Chris Adonis, he attacked Impact Grand Champion
Moose after his match against
Marshe Rockett. On the June 1 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake failed to win the Impact Grand Championship from Moose. At
Slammiversary on July 2, Drake and Adonis lost to Moose and
DeAngelo Williams.
Impact Global Champion (2017–2018) at
Bound for Glory in November 2017 On the August 24 episode of
Impact!, Drake won a 20-man gauntlet match, as the second entrant, to win the vacant
GFW Global Championship for the first time; it was later renamed to the Impact Global Championship. This was Drake's first world title reign from a major wrestling promotion in his career. He would retain the title against
Matt Sydal on
Impact, and against
Cody Hall in Japan for
Pro Wrestling Noah. Drake successfully defended the title against
Johnny Impact at
Victory Road on September 28,
Bound for Glory on November 5 and at
Genesis on January 25, 2018 in a Six Sides of Steel match also involving
Alberto El Patron. He lost his renamed Impact World Championship on the February 1 episode of
Impact Wrestling against the returning
Austin Aries, ending his reign at 146 days. On the February 15 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake failed to regain the title from Aries. On the March 15 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake won a briefcase during the Feast or Fired containing an opportunity for an
Impact World Tag Team Championship match, which he refused as he no longer had a tag team partner. He defeated Moose for his World Championship briefcase on the April 5 episode of
Impact Wrestling after interference from
Ohio Versus Everything. At
Redemption on April 22, Drake and his tag team partner
Scott Steiner defeated
The Latin American Xchange to win the Impact World Tag Team Championship. On the April 26 episode of
Impact!, Drake and Steiner defeated LAX in a rematch to retain the titles. Two weeks later, Drake cashed in his World Championship briefcase against
Pentagón Jr., but failed to win the title. After losing the titles to D&E (
DJZ and
Andrew Everett) on the May 17 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake and Steiner had a match on May 31 at
Under Pressure, which Drake won after a chair shot. On the June 7 episode of
Impact Wrestling, during his
Fact of Life segment, Drake ranked Moose number one in his top five dummies in Impact. Moose confronted Drake later and challenged him for a match to determine the number one contender to the
Impact World Championship at
Slammiversary XVI. Drake accepted the challenge and attacked Moose. The following week at
House of Hardcore, Drake lost to Moose. On June 25, Eli Drake signed a new contract with Impact Wrestling. On the July 12 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake flirted with
Grado's girlfriend,
Katarina, during a backstage segment. This led to a match between Drake and Grado later that night, which was won by Drake. After the match, he tried again to flirt with Katarina, but Drake was stopped by
Joe Hendry. On the August 2 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake aligned himself with the Cult of Lee (
Trevor Lee and
Caleb Konley) and defeated Hendry and Grado. Drake issued various open challenges by this time, including one at
Bound for Glory. At the event on October 14, Drake defeated
James Ellsworth. After the match, Drake asked for a new challenger, a "Hall of Fame material" which resulted in
Abyss, the newest
Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame member, showing up and hitting him with a chokeslam through a table.
Feuding with hardcore wrestlers and departure (2018–2019) On the October 18 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake "sued" Impact Wrestling management for "unsafe working environment" after the attack of Abyss at Bound for Glory. On the November 8 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake betrayed his lawyer
Joseph Park after a low-blow. The following week, Drake criticized hardcore wrestling before being confronted by
Tommy Dreamer. Two weeks later, Drake lost to Dreamer via count-out after walking away from the match. However, the match was restarted by Impact Wrestling management and became a No Disqualification match, which Drake won. On the January 3, 2019 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake was confronted and attacked by Dreamer and
Raven. At
Impact Wrestling Homecoming three days later, Drake defeated Abyss in a
Monster's Ball match. On the January 11 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Drake confronted
Eddie Edwards, talking down about his hardcore style, leading to a match on the February 22 episode of
Impact Wrestling, where Edwards defeated Drake with a roll-up. Shortly after, Drake formed a tag team with Edwards, challenging the
Lucha Bros for the Impact World Tag Team Championship on the April 19 episode of
Impact Wrestling in a losing effort. During this time, a match was booked between Drake and
Tessa Blanchard at
United We Stand. However, he legitimately refused to partake in the match and criticized
intergender wrestling, and was replaced in the match by
Joey Ryan. After his comments, as well as statements he had made disparaging Impact's booking of him, Drake was fired via email on April 7, ending his four-year tenure with the promotion. Following this, Impact tried to lock him into a non-compete clause due to breach of contract. On June 4, Drake released a statement speaking positively about his time at Impact and announced that he was now a free agent.
Return to NWA (2019–2021) On June 28, 2019, Ricker (as Eli Drake) appeared at the
Ring of Honor event
Best in the World, being revealed as the mystery partner of
Nick Aldis and the newest person to sign an exclusive deal with the
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). At
Hard Times on January 24, 2020, Drake and
James Storm defeated
The Rock 'n' Roll Express (
Ricky Morton and
Robert Gibson) and The Wild Cards (
Royce Isaacs and
Thom Latimer) in a triple threat tag team match to win the
NWA Tag Team Championship. On November 10 at
UWN Primetime Live, Drake and Storm would drop the titles to
Aron Stevens and JR Kratos. On February 14, 2021, it was announced that Ricker had been quietly released from the NWA in late 2020 after only signing a new deal with the company a few months beforehand.
Return to WWE NXT (2021–2022) On February 14, 2021, it was reported that Ricker had re-signed with
WWE. He made his in-ring debut on the March 17 episode of
NXT, defeating
August Grey. At
TakeOver: Stand & Deliver on April 7, he participated in a
Gauntlet Eliminator for a future
NXT North American Championship match, eliminating
Dexter Lumis before being eliminated by
Bronson Reed. Knight aligned himself with
Ted DiBiase on the May 25 episode of
NXT after attacking
Cameron Grimes during their segment. This culminated in a
ladder match between the two for the re-introduced
Million Dollar Championship at
TakeOver: In Your House on June 13, which was won by Knight. During the championship ceremony on the following episode of
NXT, Knight turned on DiBiase, attacking him before being driven off by Grimes. On the June 29 episode of
NXT, Grimes challenged Knight for the title at
The Great American Bash, which he accepted on the condition that if Grimes lost, he would become Knight's personal butler. At The Great American Bash on July 6, Knight retained the title against Grimes, who became Knight's butler per the stipulation. On the August 10 episode of
NXT, Knight agreed to defend the championship against Grimes at
NXT TakeOver 36 on the condition that DiBiase would replace Grimes as Knight's butler if Knight won. At the event on August 22, Knight lost the title to Grimes following interference from DiBiase, ending his reign at 70 days. On the November 23 episode of
NXT, Knight turned
face by confronting
Grayson Waller, who had turned heel by berating the fans. At
WarGames on December 5, Knight teamed with
Johnny Gargano,
Pete Dunne, and
Tommaso Ciampa as Team Black & Gold, where they were defeated by Team 2.0 (
Bron Breakker,
Carmelo Hayes, Waller, and
Tony D'Angelo) in a
WarGames match. On March 8, 2022, at
Roadblock, Knight lost to Waller in a
Last Man Standing match. The following week on
NXT, he faced
Dolph Ziggler for the
NXT Championship in a losing effort. After this, Knight started a brief feud with
Gunther, culminating in a match at
NXT Stand & Deliver on April 2, which he lost in what would be his final NXT match.
Main roster debut and various feuds (2022–2024) Knight made his first main roster appearance on the January 24, 2022 episode of
Raw, participating in a backstage segment with
The Dirty Dawgs (Dolph Ziggler and
Robert Roode). In a dark segment before the April 15 episode of
SmackDown, Knight appeared as a heel
manager by announcing his new stable, "Knight Model Management", and became the manager of
Mace and
Mansoor. The angle went to television on the May 20 episode of
SmackDown, when he made his televised debut on the
brand under the ring name
Max Dupri, adopting the character of a talent agent. On the July 1 episode of
SmackDown, Dupri announced Mace and Mansoor, under the tweaked names "ma.çé" and "mån.sôör", as
Maximum Male Models. Later that month, he was joined by his storyline sister
Maxxine Dupri. Dupri ended his relationship with Maximum Male Models on the September 30 episode of
SmackDown. The following week, he beat down Mace and Mansoor and reverted to his LA Knight persona. After a brief feud with
Ricochet, Knight became involved in a feud with
Bray Wyatt in November and lost to Wyatt in a
Mountain Dew Pitch Black match at the
Royal Rumble on January 28, 2023; this was Wyatt's final WWE premium live event match as well as his final televised match before his death seven months later. in April 2024 Over the next few months, Knight's popularity stayed with the fans even though he had a poor win-loss record. On the June 2 episode of
SmackDown, Knight defeated
Montez Ford to qualify for the men's
Money in the Bank ladder match. At the
namesake event on July 1, the match was won by
Damian Priest, who threw Knight off the ladder to grab the briefcase. On the July 28 episode of
SmackDown, Knight was confirmed to be an entrant in the
Slim Jim Battle Royal match at
SummerSlam on August 5, which he won by last eliminating
Sheamus. Two nights later on
Raw, after months of performing as a
tweener, he turned
face when he began a feud with
The Miz. At
Payback on September 2, Knight defeated Miz with
John Cena as the surprise special guest referee. Two weeks later on the September 15 episode of
SmackDown, Knight defeated Miz in a rematch, ending their feud. On the September 29 episode of
SmackDown, Knight assisted Cena against
Jimmy Uso and
Solo Sikoa of
The Bloodline, replacing
AJ Styles who had been injured by Jimmy and Solo. At
Fastlane on October 7, Knight and Cena defeated Jimmy and Solo after Knight pinned Uso. Three days later, Knight returned to
NXT as the special guest referee for the
NXT Championship match between
Ilja Dragunov and
NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio. Knight would then enter into a feud with
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, leading to a title match being announced for
Crown Jewel on November 4, where Knight lost to Reigns after interference from Jimmy. At
SmackDown: New Year's Revolution on January 5, 2024, Knight faced
Randy Orton and Styles in a triple threat match to determine who would face Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at
Royal Rumble, which ended in a no contest after The Bloodline took out all three competitors. SmackDown General Manager
Nick Aldis then announced that Reigns would defend his title in a fatal-four-way match against Knight, Styles, and Orton at the Royal Rumble on January 27, which Reigns won by pinning Styles. Knight competed in the men's
Elimination Chamber match at the
titular event on February 24, where he was eliminated by
Drew McIntyre after Styles interrupted the match and attacked him. On the March 15 episode of
SmackDown, Knight challenged Styles to a match at
WrestleMania XL, which Styles accepted. On Night 2 of WrestleMania XL on April 7, Knight defeated Styles. The following week on
SmackDown, Knight participated in the
Undisputed WWE Championship Eliminator Tournament, defeating
Bobby Lashley and
Santos Escobar in the semifinals. Knight was defeated by Styles in the finals on the April 19 episode of
SmackDown, ending their feud. In May, Knight entered the
King of the Ring tournament, defeating
Santos Escobar in the first round at a live event in
Chattanooga but lost to
Tama Tonga in the quarterfinals.
United States Champion (2024–2025) Knight then began a feud with
United States Champion Logan Paul, who he pinned in a triple threat match on the June 28 episode of
SmackDown to qualify for the
Money in the Bank ladder match on July 6, which was won by McIntyre. At
SummerSlam on August 3, Knight defeated Paul to win the United States Championship. Throughout his reign, he successfully defended the title on
SmackDown against
Santos Escobar, against
Ludwig Kaiser in Kaiser's home country of
Germany, and in a triple threat match against
Andrade and
Carmelo Hayes at
Crown Jewel on November 2. On the November 15 episode of
SmackDown, Knight retained the title against
Berto, after which he was attacked by a returning
Shinsuke Nakamura. At
Survivor Series: WarGames on November 30, Knight lost the United States Championship to Nakamura, ending his reign at 119 days. He received his rematch for the title on the January 10, 2025 episode of
SmackDown, winning via disqualification after being attacked by
Tama Tonga and
Jacob Fatu of The Bloodline (led by
Solo Sikoa, who replaced Reigns' leadership in mid-2024). However, Nakamura remained champion as titles do not change hands via disqualification unless stipulated. At
Royal Rumble on February 1, Knight entered his first
Royal Rumble match at number 29, where he eliminated
Damian Priest before being eliminated by the returning
AJ Styles. On the March 7 episode of
SmackDown, Knight defeated Nakamura in a rematch to win his second United States Championship. On Night 1 of
WrestleMania 41 on April 19, Knight lost the title to Jacob Fatu, ending his second reign at 43 days.
Championship pursuits (2025–present) On the May 23 episode of
SmackDown, Knight was able to win a
triple threat match against Shinsuke Nakamura and
Aleister Black to qualify for the
Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by
Seth Rollins at the
namesake event on June 7. After Money in the Bank, Knight continued to feud with Rollins, defeating him at
Saturday Night's Main Event XL on July 12. On the August 4 episode of
Raw, Knight challenged Rollins for the
World Heavyweight Championship, but the match ended in a
disqualification after
CM Punk attacked Rollins. In the same month, Knight was quietly moved to the
Raw brand. He failed to win the title from Rollins in a fatal four-way match on August 31 at
Clash in Paris also involving Punk and
Jey Uso. Knight then took part in the "Last Time is Now Tournament" to determine
John Cena's final opponent, defeating
Matt Cardona (reprising his Zack Ryder gimmick) in the first round,
The Miz in the quarter-finals, and Jey Uso in the semi-finals, before losing to
Gunther in the finals. At the
Royal Rumble on January 31, 2026, Knight entered at #21 eliminating
Brock Lesnar,
Austin Theory, and
Bronson Reed but was eliminated by
Cody Rhodes. == Professional wrestling persona and popularity ==