Training and early career (2006–2009) Griffiths began training to be a
professional wrestler in 2006 after attending a wrestling show with a friend where the
promoter and referee
Orig Williams recommended he start wrestling. He trained at a
professional wrestling school in
Birkenhead. After signing with
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Griffiths had his final show in Wales in October 2008 in
Porthmadog, when he won a
singles match and
battle royal.
World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2009–2014) Florida Championship Wrestling (2009–2011) in 2010 In 2009, Griffiths signed a five-year contract with
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). On 22 July, Ryan won a
triple threat match against defending champion
Alex Riley and
Johnny Curtis by
pinning Riley to win the
FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship for the first time. Over the next few months, Ryan successfully defended the championship against wrestlers including
Bo Rotundo,
Richie Steamboat, and Eli Cottonwood. At the tapings of FCW television on 2 September, Ryan successfully defended the championship against
Johnny Curtis when FCW commentator
Byron Saxton interfered and aided him. On 3 February 2011, Ryan lost the Florida Heavyweight Championship to Bo Rotundo, ending a six-and-a-half month reign.
Raw (2011–2012) in 2011 Griffiths, as Mason Ryan, made his WWE television debut on 17 January 2011 episode of
Raw by interfering in a match between
CM Punk and
John Cena. Following his interference, Punk presented him with a '
Nexus' armband, inducting him into the group. Ryan then participated in the
2011 Royal Rumble match. On 7 February 2011, he had his debut match on
Raw, losing to
R-Truth via
disqualification. In late February, it was announced that Punk would face
Randy Orton at
WrestleMania XXVII, with each member of The Nexus facing Orton to win the right to accompany Punk to the ring in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania. Ryan was the final member to face Orton, but lost on 14 March episode of
Raw. Following the match, Orton
punted Ryan in the head. He was absent from television for nearly a month, making his return on 11 April on
Raw with the other New Nexus members, attacking Orton and preventing him from earning a WWE Championship match. On 2 May, Ryan lost to
Kane by disqualification following interference from Punk, and went on to attack both Kane and
Big Show. At the
Over the Limit pay-per-view on 22 May, Ryan and Punk challenged
Big Show and Kane for the
WWE Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful. The following month, Ryan suffered an injury and was absent from television to recuperate. Ryan returned from injury at a
house show in
Jackson, Mississippi in late August. He made his television return on 8 September episode of
WWE Superstars, defeating
JTG. On 26 September, on
Raw, Ryan was chosen by
Vickie Guerrero as the partner for
Jack Swagger and
Dolph Ziggler in a
six-man tag team match against
Zack Ryder and Air Boom (
Evan Bourne and
Kofi Kingston), but Ryan turned on Swagger and Ziggler turning Ryan
face, allowing Ryder to pick up the victory for his team. The following week on
Raw, Ryan teamed with Air Boom,
Sheamus,
CM Punk, and
John Cena in a
12-man tag team match to defeat the team of
Alberto Del Rio,
Christian,
Cody Rhodes,
David Otunga, Ziggler, and Swagger. Ryan began feuding with Ziggler, with the pair trading wins via disqualification. Ryan was part of Team Orton at the
Survivor Series pay-per-view in November, where he was eliminated by Cody Rhodes.
NXT (2012–2014) He appeared only sporadically on television throughout 2012, and he then rejoined the rebranded developmental system
NXT. He returned to the ring in November for house shows and debuted on the rebooted
WWE NXT show and began his singles winning streak on 30 January 2013, by defeating
Sakamoto. Ryan then entered into a feud against Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady; although he easily defeated them in singles matches, he lost to them in a handicap match. Mason was then rarely used on WWE television until he had his final televised match on 24 April 2014 episode of NXT, in a losing effort to number one contender for the NXT Championship. On 30 April 2014, it was reported that Ryan had been released by WWE.
Independent circuit (2014–2015) After his release from WWE, Griffiths began wrestling on the
independent circuit, still using his WWE name. His first appearance was for the American Pro Wrestling Alliance promotion, where he became the new APWA Tri State Champion on 31 May. Mason made his debut for the WrestleSport promotion on 16 August where he defeated
Adam Pearce to become the first WrestleSport Heavyweight Champion. On 5 September, at
Full Impact Pro's
Fallout, Ryan along with
Michael Tarver and
Shaun Ricker participated in a trios tournament, but were defeated by the Full Impact Puerto Ricans (
Lince Dorado, Jay Cruz, and Jay Rios). On 5 June 2015, Ryan was defeated by then-Full Impact Pro Heavyweight Champion,
Rich Swann. On 11 October 2014, Ryan won the UPWA Heavyweight Championship in
Shallotte, North Carolina. His last wrestling appearance to date, was in the
United Kingdom for Pro Wrestling Pride on 1 November 2015, he was on the losing team in an 8-man tag team match.
TNA appearance (2015) On 16 February 2015, Ryan took part in a dark match before the
TNA One Night Only's Gut check event defeating
Shaun Ricker.
Inoki Genome Federation (2015) On 20 February 2015, Griffiths, working under the ring name Mason Williams, made his debut for the Japanese
Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) promotion, losing to
Shogun Okamoto. ==Cirque du Soleil career==