Ashton Smith (wrestler)

Ashton Trent Smith (born 15 December 1988) is a Jamaican-English professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed on the NXT UK brand under his real name. He is a former NXT UK Tag Team Champion.

Ashton Smith
Birth nameAshton Trent Smith
Born (1988-12-15) 15 December 1988 (age 35)
Kingston, Jamaica
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)D-Rok
Derice Coffie
Ashton Smith
Billed fromManchester, England[1]
Debut11 February 2007

Professional wrestling career

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Early career (2007–2013)

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Smith made his debut in British wrestling on 11 February 2007 with Triple X Wrestling, which he lost to Zack Sabre Jr. He wrestled his last match in the promotion on 7 October, losing to Spud. From 2007 to 2013, Smith wrestled for independent British promotions such as SAS Wrestling, Pro Championship Wrestling, Alternative Wrestling World, One Pro Wrestling, International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom, Frontier Wrestling Alliance, Pro Evolution Wrestling and Devon Wrestling Association.

Preston City Wrestling (2014–2018)

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Smith debuted at PCW Who Dares Wins on 28 March 2014, competing in a 30-man Royal Rumble for the Preston City Wrestling Heavyweight Championship. Throughout 2015, Smith competed for the PCW Cruiserweight, PCW Tag Team, and PCW Heavyweight titles, but he did not win these titles. While at PCW, Smith had the opportunity to face off against Cedric Alexander and Team War Machine (Hanson and Ray Rowe). On 9 December 2016, Smith challenged and defeated reigning champion Bubblegum to win the PCW Cruiserweight Championship for the first time. On 17 June 2017, Smith lost the title to Dean Allmark. During this time, he also performed for other promotions such as FutureShock Wrestling, Grand Pro Wrestling and Insane Championship Wrestling.

WWE (2018–2022)

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Smith debuted on 8 June 2018 during NXT At Download 2018 and competed in a #1 Contenders match for the NXT UK Championship. After defeating Joseph Conners, he progressed one round. He returned two nights later and teamed with Dave Mastiff to defeat the Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake). On 18 June, he was eliminated from the tournament after losing to Travis Banks. He made his debut for NXT UK on 28 July. Since then he has contested several individual and tag team matches, some of which he was able to win.[2]

On the 2 June 2022 episode of NXT UK, Carter and Smith won the NXT UK Tag Team Championship by defeating previous champions Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) and Die Familie (Teoman and Rohan Raja) in a triple threat match.[3][4] On the 23 June episode of NXT UK, Carter and Smith were set to defend their titles against NXT 2.0's Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen, but Smith suffered a knee injury and had to vacate them.[5]

On 18 August 2022, Smith was released from his WWE contract.[6]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ "Ashton Smith". WWE.
  2. ^ Gronemann, Markus (14 November 2018). "NXT UK results: Wolfgang vs. Ashton Smith". F4WOnline.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  3. ^ "WWE "NXT:UK #198" Ergebnisse & Bericht aus London, England, Vereinigtes Königreich vom 02.06.2022". Wrestling-Infos.de. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  4. ^ Currier, Joseph (2 June 2022). "New Tag Team Champions crowned on NXT UK". F4WOnline.com. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  5. ^ Faria, Colby (23 June 2022). "NXT UK Results (6/23): Oliver Carter and Ashton Smith Defend Tag Titles Against Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen, More". Fightful. Archived from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  6. ^ Powell, Jason (18 August 2022). "WWE conducting NXT UK talent cuts". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
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