James Drake (wrestler)

James Dowell (born 4 March 1993) is an English professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name James Drake. He is a former NXT UK Tag Team Champion alongside Zack Gibson.

James Drake
Drake in April 2019
Birth nameJames Dowell[1]
Born (1993-03-04) 4 March 1993[1]
Blackpool, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)James Drake
JD Sassoon[2]
Billed height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3]
Billed weight181 lb (82 kg)[3]
Billed fromBlackpool, England[3]
Debut2010[2]

Professional wrestling career

In January 2017, Drake participated in the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament to crown the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion, losing to Joseph Conners in the first round.[4]

Progress Wrestling (2016–2019)

In 2017, Drake and Zack Gibson formed a villainous tag team called Grizzled Young Veterans in Progress Wrestling. Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Chris Brookes and Kid Lykos of CCK to become the Progress tag team champions.[5] They successfully defended the titles against Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) at Progress Chapter 59.[6] At Chapter 61, Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate and Trent Seven) to retain their championships.[7]

NXT UK (2017-2020)

In January 2017, Drake participated in the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament to crown the inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion, losing to Joseph Conners in the first round.[8] On 12 January 2019 Drake and Gibson defeated Moustache Mountain in a tournament final at NXT UK's debut TakeOver event in Blackpool, to become the inaugural NXT UK Tag Team Champions.[9] Grizzled Young Veterans would defend their titles against, Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch, Amir Jordan & Kenny Willams, & Moustache Mountain before losing it to Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster at NXT UK Takeover: Cardiff in a triple-threat tag team also involving Gallus. On the Sept 11 episode of NXT UK, Grizzled Young Veterans unsuccessfully challenged Andrews & Webster in a rematch. On the Nov 7 episode of NXT UK, during the Grizzled Young Veterans match against Andrews & Webster, Gallus and Imperium interfered. On the Nov 28 episode of NXT UK, Grizzled Young Veterans and Andrews & Webster interfered during Gallus' title match against Imperium and Grizzled Young Veterans took the titles and ran but the general managers came and announced that Gallus would defend their titles at NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool II against Grizzled Young Veterans, Andrews & Webster and Imperium for the titles in a ladder match. At the event, Grizzled Young Veterans lost the match. Grizzled Young Veterans also competed in the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Classic and they defeated Kushida & Alex Shelley in the quarterfinals and NXT Tag Team Champions the Undisputed Era in the semifinals due to a distraction by Imperium.

NXT (2020-present)

On the February 19, 2020 episode of NXT, the Grizzled Young Veterans joined the NXT brand, defeating Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde before announcing their intent to take over NXT's tag team division, establishing themselves as tweeners.[10]

Championships and accomplishments
Drake as NXT UK Tag Team Champion

References
  1. "James Drake News, Pictures, Videos and Biography". Wrestling Inc.
  2. "James Drake « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
  3. "James Drake". WWE.
  4. https://www.pwtorch.com/site/2017/01/14/souceks-wwe-uk-championship-tournament-report-114/
  5. "PROGRESS Chapter 58: Live Your Best Life". Cagematch. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  6. "PROGRESS Chapter 59: Whatever People Say We Are, That's What We're Not". Cagematch. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  7. "PROGRESS Chapter 61: Don't Touch Me ... Don't ... Don't Touch Me". Cagematch. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  8. https://www.pwtorch.com/site/2017/01/14/souceks-wwe-uk-championship-tournament-report-114/
  9. "Moustache Mountain battles Zack Gibson & James Drake to crown the first-ever NXT UK Tag Team Champions". WWE.
  10. Garretson, Jordan (February 19, 2020). "The Grizzled Young Veterans def. Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde". WWE. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  11. http://www.profightdb.com/pwi-500/2019.html
  12. "NXT UK Tag Team Championship". WWE. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
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