Steven Paul Lewington[1] (born 25 February 1983)[1] is an English professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment, where he performed under the ring name DJ Gabriel on the ECW brand. Lewington currently wrestles independently as "The Swole-verine" Bronson.
| Steven Lewington | |
|---|---|
 Lewington in Hodgenville, Kentucky in February 2007 | |
| Birth name | Steven Paul Lewingston |
| Born | 25 February 1983[1] Wokingham, Berkshire, England[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Bronson DJ Gabriel Gabriel[1] Jack Gabriel[1] Mr. FCW[2] Steve Lewington[1] Steve Sonic[1] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 174 lb (79 kg; 12.4 st)[1] |
| Billed from | Wokingham, Berkshire, England Preston, England |
| Debut | 2004[1] |
| Retired | 2010 |
Professional wrestling career
editAll Star Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling (2003–2005)
editAfter graduating from Senior School Sixth Form at the Forest School Winnersh, Lewington attended Farnborough College of Technology where he earned a Higher National Diploma in Aeronautical Engineering.
After developing an interest in professional wrestling, however, Lewington applied and was accepted to attend an Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) tryout in America between 23 and 28 February 2003. Lewington's official training began 8 months later in the beginners' class at the Old Davis arena.
Lewington would return to England in late 2004 where he would work with All Star Wrestling. Throughout early 2005, Lewington would train and appear with ASW as well as becoming the subject of an episode of UKTV People's Secret Life of the Gym.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2005–2010)
editWhile WWE was touring England in 2005, Lewington would make three appearances on its main programming, once as a jobber on Carlito's Cabana interview segment, again as a jobber to Kurt Angle after Angle disrespected England and once as part of the WWE security squad that helped keep the warring Raw and SmackDown! wrestlers apart.[3] Other British wrestlers including Robbie Brookside and Thunder were a part of the security team.
After his appearances in WWE programming in 2005, Lewington stayed in the United Kingdom to compete for the All Star Wrestling (ASW) promotion, under the ring name Steve Sonic.[1] On 17 January 2006 in Croydon, Sonic faced Drew McDonald in a ladder match for the ASW British Heavyweight Championship, and won. Sonic would remain champion for several months before relinquishing the title to return to WWE's developmental promotion in July 2006.
Developmental territories (2006–2008)
editDuring April 2006, WWE would once again tour England allowing Lewington to make another appearance on Raw on 24 April, losing to Umaga.[4] His performance in this match would earn Lewington a developmental deal.[1] After receiving his contract, Lewington was sent to OVW and formed a tag team called "Terminal Velocity" with Chet the Jett.[1][5] After Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) opened, however, Terminal Velocity was moved down to the new territory. After a brief run in FCW, Terminal Velocity was called back up to OVW and won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship for the first time, giving Lewington the first tag team championship of his career. On 26 September 2007, Lewington and Chet lost the championship to The James Boys (KC James and Kassidy James).[6] After their title loss, both members of Terminal Velocity were moved back down to FCW. After their return to FCW, however, Terminal Velocity split up when Chet renamed himself Mariouz Jablonski and developed an in-ring persona based on his Polish ancestry.
Lewington later began teaming with Heath Miller and both advanced to the finals of a tournament to crown the inaugural FCW Florida Tag Team Champions, but they were defeated by The Puerto Rican Nightmares (Eddie Colón and Eric Pérez).[7] Lewington and Miller defeated Brandon Groom and Greg Jackson and The Thoroughbreds (Johnny Curtis and Kevin Kiley) en route to the finals.[8][9] On 4 March 2008 he changed his name to "Jack Gabriel".
ECW (2008–2009)
editOn 18 November 2008, Lewington made his debut as a face in ECW, under the ring name "DJ Gabriel", with a dancing persona, and was managed by Alicia Fox.[10] He defeated local wrestler Sal Rinauro in his debut match for the brand. Over the next weeks, he defeated several jobbers, before defeating Paul Burchill on the last episode of ECW in 2008.[11] On 13 January 2009 episode of ECW, Gabriel and Fox defeated The Burchills, Paul and Katie Lea, in a mixed tag team match.[12] On 24 February, Lewington suffered his ECW first loss since coming to the brand against Mark Henry.[13] Several weeks later Gabriel lost to Tyson Kidd in a singles match, which was his last televised match on the brand. On 15 April 2009, Fox returned to the SmackDown brand as a part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft, leaving Gabriel on his own.[14]
Departure (2009–2010)
editAfter Fox returned to SmackDown, Lewington was sent back to FCW and developed a new character of a "true British man", while his ring name was tweaked to simply Gabriel. After losing a match and, in storyline, being suspended from FCW, Lewington then began wrestling under a mask as Mr. FCW.[2] Lewington would eventually "win" back his place on the FCW roster, and would alternate between his Gabriel and Mr. FCW characters before being released from his contract in January 2010.[15]
Independent circuit (2010)
editAfter leaving WWE, Lewington continued the DJ Gabriel gimmick working for American Combat Wrestling in Florida from March to April 2010. He retired afterwards.
Championships and accomplishments
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Steve Lewington Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
- ^ a b Martin, Adam (2 November 2009). "News and notes on WWE's FCW". WrestleView. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
- ^ "WWE SmackDown! Results – April 28, 2005". Online World of Wrestling. 28 April 2005. Retrieved 25 March 2009.
- ^ Plummer, Dale (25 April 2006). "Raw: Getting into the Backlash Spirit". Slam! Sports. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Buescher, Josh (21 April 2007). "April 21, 2007–Ohio Valley Wrestling in Cincinnati, Ohio". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
- ^ "September 26, 2007–OVW TV Tapings in Louisville, Kentucky". Online World of Wrestling. 26 September 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
- ^ "February 23, 2008–Florida Championship Wrestling in New Port Richey, Florida at the Jewish Community Center". Online World of Wrestling. 23 February 2008. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
- ^ "February 19, 2008 FCW results" (in German). Cagematch.de. 19 February 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
- ^ "February 23, 2008 FCW results" (in German). Cagematch.de. 23 February 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
- ^ Burdick, Michael (18 November 2008). "Survivor showdown". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
- ^ Bishop, Matt (30 December 2008). "ECW: Hardy, Henry renew rivalry". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Bishop, Matt (13 January 2009). "ECW: Jack Swagger, the new face of Extreme". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Bishop, Matt (24 February 2009). "ECW: Christian goes for Swagger's silver". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "2009 WWE Supplemental Draft results". World Wrestling Entertainment. 15 April 2009. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
- ^ Meltzer, Dave (9 January 2010). "SAT. UPDATE: Doc funeral, Southern star passes away; wrestling wedding & engagement; Lesnar; Foley". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
Steve Lewington (D.J. Gabriel) was released by WWE.
- ^ "British Heavyweight Championship history".
- ^ "OVW Southern Tag Team Championship history". Archived from the original on 1 July 2009.
- ^ "Complete PWI 500 list for 2008". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Wrestling Inc. Archived from the original on 21 October 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2008.