Debut (1999–2001) A fan of
Extreme Championship Wrestling, Capiccioni was involved in
backyard wrestling before enrolling at the
Cleveland Pro Wrestling training school under the tutelage of J.T. Lightning. Upon completing his training, he took on the ring name M-Dogg 20, and began competing on the
independent circuit.
Early independent work (2001–2009) He wrestled for promotions including the Union of Independent Professional Wrestlers, where he defeated
Jerry Lynn to win the vacant UIPW Championship on October 11, 2003. He formed a regular
tag team with Piscura (who wrestled as
Josh Prohibition) known as Youthanazia, and the pair won Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling (CAPW)'s North American Tag Team Championship twice,
Xtreme Pro Wrestling's
World Tag Team Championship twice, the International Wrestling Cartel's Tag Team Championship twice, and the NWA Upstate Tag Team Championship once. M-Dogg 20 also won the CAPW Junior Heavyweight Championship on November 9, 2003, by defeating H8 Pac. Youthanzia also wrestled for the
Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South and
Jersey All Pro Wrestling in 2004. On February 16, 2007, M-Dogg unsuccessfully challenged Josh Prohibition for the UWA Canadian Championship, in a three-match also involving Sonjay Dutt. He defeated
PUMA to win the UWA Canadian Championship at the
Return of the Dragon show on July 28, 2007. Although he missed night one of UWA Hardcore's annual GP tournament, he made a surprise return on the second night of the tournament during the main event steel cage match. M-Dogg 20's return ultimately helped Osiris and
Jerry Lynn win the match over the Prohibition Wrestling Alliance, a
stable led by his former tag team partner Josh Prohibition. As a stipulation of the match, control of the company reverted from Prohibition back to Osiris, the original owner of the company. One month later at UWA's
Return of the Phoenix event, M-Dogg 20 lost the Canadian Championship to Prohibition in a
gauntlet match also featuring Rip Impact. show in April 2010 During November 2009, Capiccioni participated in the Hulkamania tour of Australia, using the ring name Spartan 3000 and took part in a best of three match series for a prize of US$25,000 with
Shannon Moore. Spartan won the first match on November 21, and Moore won the second on November 24. The rubber match ended in a
draw on November 26, resulting in a ladder match for the final match of the tour two days later, which Spartan won.
Combat Zone Wrestling (2002–2004) He made his
Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) debut in 2002, appearing at
Process of Elimination in April, and defeating Prohibition to qualify for the annual
Best of the Best tournament. At the tournament itself on June 8, M-Dogg 20 made it to the second round, where he was defeated by
Trent Acid, the eventual winner of the tournament. M-Dogg returned to CZW that September, and defeated Prohibition in a Tables and Ladders match at
Ultraviolent Freedom Of Expression. At
Night Of Infamy in November, a
tag team match between the team of M-Dogg 20 and
Nick Mondo and the team of Acid and
Johnny Kashmere ended in a
no contest. The following month, M-Dogg faced
Sonjay Dutt and
Ruckus in a
three-way match to determine the number one contender to the
CZW World Junior Heavyweight Championship, but the match was won by Dutt. At
Best of the Best 4 on July 10, 2004, M-Dogg 20 returned to CZW, attacking CZW Junior Heavyweight Champion Sonjay Dutt and stealing his championship belt. He attacked Dutt again at
Possession in August, before he teamed with
Jimmy Rave to defeat Dutt and
Amazing Red at
High Stakes 2: Always Bet On Black. At
Night of Infamy 3 in November, Dutt defeated both M-Dogg 20 and Rave in a three-way match. At
Cage of Death 6, M-Dogg lost to Dutt in a match for the World Junior Heavyweight Championship, forcing M-Dogg to leave the company per the pre-match stipulation.
Ring of Honor (2006–2009) Capiccioni, as Matt Cross, made his debut in
Ring of Honor (ROH) on October 7, 2006, at
Motor City Madness in a
six-man mayhem match, which was won by Pelle Primeau and also involved Jimmy Rave, Shane Hagadorn, and
Dave and Jake Crist. His second appearance came the following month, when he lost to
Christopher Daniels at
The Bitter End. He faced Daniels again at
The Chicago Spectacular Night 1 on December 8, in a
four-corner survival match, which was won by
B. J. Whitmer and also included
Davey Richards. The following night, Cross and Daniels teamed together in a loss to
Austin Aries and Roderick Strong. He returned to ROH in February 2007, losing a six-man mayhem match at
Fifth Year Festival: Dayton. The following night at
Fifth Year Festival: Chicago however, Cross won his first match in ROH when he was victorious in a four-corner survival match, defeating
Shingo,
CJ Otis, and
Trik Davis. Cross and Aries won the tag team encounter, but during the match Cross performed a
springboard plancha outside the ring, landing on the guardrail and sustaining several cuts. At the
Man Up pay-per-view taping the following night, Cross lost to NRC member Romero in a singles match. The next month, at the taping of
Undeniable, Cross and Stevens lost a tag team match to Romero and Richards.
Foreign excursion (2005–2008) In March 2005, M-Dogg 20 traveled to
Ireland, where he wrestled for the
Irish Whip Wrestling promotion, competing against
Jonny Storm,
Jody Fleisch, Darren Burridge, and
Red Vinny. In 2008, Capiccioni began competing for the
Italy-based Nu-Wrestling Evolution as "Spartan 3000 b.C.", a
Spartan warrior inspired by the popular movie
300. He was eliminated from the competition in the second week.
Later independent work (2010) On April 24, 2010, Capiccioni, under his Matt Cross ring name, made his debut for Philadelphia-based
Chikara. In his first match, a four-way elimination match in the
Rey de Voladores (King of the Fliers) tournament, Cross defeated Flip Kendrick, Malachi Jackson and
Amasis to advance to the finals. The following day, Cross was defeated in the finals by
Ophidian. On March 2, 2012, Cross' former tag team partner Josh Prohibition came out of retirement to reform Youthanazia, and together they defeated Aeroform (Flip Kendrick and Louis Lyndon) to win the Absolute Intense Wrestling Tag Team Championship. Cross debuted for UK promotion
Progress Wrestling in May 2016 at their annual Super Strong Style 16 tournament. He lost to
Sami Callihan in the first round and later participated in the ten man scramble redemption match on Night 2. At Chapter 38, Cross was victorious over
Mark Andrews, gaining the number one contendership for the Smash Wrestling Championship. On September 1, 2018, Matt Cross wrestled in the opening contest of independent wrestling super-show
All In against
Maxwell Jacob Friedman.
Lucha Underground (2014–2019) In September 2014, it was reported that Capiccioni had signed with the
El Rey network's new television series,
Lucha Underground. He assumed a masked character by the ring name of
Son of Havoc, and wrestled during the first episode of
Lucha Underground on October 29, defeating
Sexy Star. The following weeks, Havoc was defeated by Mascarita Sagrada and Pimpinela Escarlata, asking for real competition. On January 17, Havoc was defeated by Angélico and by Johnny Mundo. Finally, on January 25, Havoc broke up with Ivelisse and defeated Angélico, his first singles win since his debut. On February 8, 2015, Son of Havoc,
Angélico and
Ivelisse won a tournament to become the inaugural
Lucha Underground Trios Champions. On the May 20 episode of
Lucha Underground, Ivelisse, Havoc and Angélico successfully retained their championships in a
ladder match against The Crew (
Cortez Castro, Mr. Cisco and
Bael). They lost the titles to The Disciples of Death on the first night of
Ultima Lucha, but managed to regain them in the show's second season before losing them again in the finals of another
Trios Tournament. On June 13, 2018, Lucha Underground Trios champion Dante Fox did not appear, and was pronounced 'Missing in Action', Havoc was named champion in his place, alongside The Mack and Killshot.
National Wrestling Alliance (2019–2021) Cross appeared at a
National Wrestling Alliance event on January 5, 2019. He wrestled
Willie Mack at
NWA New Years Clash for the
NWA National Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort. Cross returned to the National Wrestling Alliance on January 24, 2020, at their
Hard Times PPV, competing in the
TV Title tournament.
Juggalo Championship Wrestling (2024–present) In 2024, Cross wrestled heavily for
Juggalo Championship Wrestling. He wrestled multiple times for the
JCW Heavyweight Championship, winning the title on August 16, 2024, at
Bloodymania 17 in
Thornville, Ohio by defeating
Willie Mack. Successful title defenses followed against opponents including
James Storm,
Kongo Kong and
Mecha Wolf, and
Simon Gotch, before dropping the title back to Willie Mack in a 3-way match that included Mecha Wolf, on October 30, 2024, at the ''Devil's Night'' pay-per-view in
Detroit, Michigan. == Other media ==