Matt Bentley

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Matt Bentley
Statistics
Ring name(s) Matt Bentley
Maverick Matt
Michael
Michael Shane
Omega Griffin
The Pit Bull
Billed height 6 ft 0 in (185 cm)
Billed weight 227 lb (100 kg)
Born December 10, 1979
Clinton, Iowa
Resides Tampa, Florida
Billed from San Antonio, Texas
Trained by Paul Diamond,
Rudy Boy Gonzales,
Shawn Michaels
Texas Wrestling Academy
Debut 1999

Matthew James "Matt" Bentley (born December 10, 1979 in Clinton, Iowa), formerly known by the ring name "Michael Shane", is an American professional wrestler. He is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in its X Division and Tag Team Division.

Contents

[edit] Career

A former Ring of Honor wrestler, Bentley's breakout match was against Paul London at Unscripted that concluded with London hitting the shooting star press off a ladder. His cousin is Shawn Michaels, and he took the name Michael Shane as a play on that name. He also briefly worked for ECW before its demise from December 2000 through January 2001 usually as a jobber or a face at house shows he used the name Michael Shane.

[edit] Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Bentley joined TNA in 2003. He competed in the X Division, holding the TNA X Division Championship on one occasion, before forming a stable with Shane Douglas and Traci known as The New Franchise. The stable disbanded in 2004, and Bentley formed a tag team with Frankie Kazarian (informally known by the portmanteau of their last names, Shazarian) which split in 2005 when Kazarian left TNA.

Bentley claims to be the pioneer of the Ultimate X match, and has won Ultimate X matches twice, both times winning the TNA X Division Championship. He won the first Ultimate X on August 20, 2003. The second time, on July 28, 2004, he and ally Frankie Kazarian both landed on the mat while holding the X Division title belt. It was ruled that they both were winners, and they both were considered TNA X Division Champions, having defeated then-champion A.J. Styles.

Bentley was forced to refrain from using the "Michael Shane" alias, which he had used for his entire career, in 2005 following threats of legal action from WWE, the employers of Mike Shane (who had trademarked his name, something which Bentley had neglected to do). Shane would make his WWE debut alongside his brother Todd Shane as The Gymini, and not The Shane Twins.

Bentley was removed from television on August 15, 2005, during a period of contract renegotiations. After signing a new contract, he made his return on September 11 at Unbreakable, attacking Chris Sabin and Petey Williams after their match, and announcing his intention to bring the Ultimate X match to Bound For Glory on October 23. The match, along with the number one contendership to the TNA X Division Championship, was won by Williams after the "X" suspended above the ring spontaneously fell into his arms as Sabin and Bentley fought one another. As a result of the controversial ending, Director of Authority Larry Zbyszko forced Williams to defend his title shot on the November 3 episode of iMPACT! in an Ultimate X rematch, which he did successfully.

After his return to Unbreakable, Bentley and Traci (whom he reunited with at Hard Justice) were face up until a February 2006 edition of Xplosion. Bentley and his partner Lance Hoyt had some miscommunication during their tag team against the Diamonds in the Rough. After the match, Bentley snapped and attacked Hoyt after the match, thus turning him heel.

The next week on iMPACT! in an interview Bentley announced he was a "Maverick". Throughout Hoyt's match they referred to Bentley as "Maverick" Matt. Hoyt and Bentley faced off at TNA's Destination X, Lance Hoyt won the match. Bentley did not appear on TNA television for the next four months (due to problems with fellow TNA star Alex Shelley), returning on the July 20 edition of iMPACT!, teaming with his former partner Frankie Kazarian in a loss against The Naturals. On the October 26 edition of iMPACT!, Bentley appeared on "Raven's Perch" debuting a grunge gimmick similar to that of Raven. This is believed to be leading to the formation of a second version of The Gathering [1]

At TNA Genesis, Bentley, Kazarian & Johnny Devine had a match with the Voodoo Kin Mafia, which they lost due to Johnny Devine. The three dressed in Raven-like fashion and were assumed to be affiliated with Raven. After the match, Raven was revealed to be the redeemer of the three as he came down the entrance ramp with a Singapore cane. In the middle of the ring was Johnny Devine on his knees, who took multiple shots to the back for being responsible of their loss after being pinned. After conducting business, Raven left for the back as his men recollected themselves during this awkward moment that saw Devine leaving with welts and bruises on his back.

Weeks later, a video package was shown of Bentley with his partners Kazarian and Devine with a voiceover saying that they were different from anything seen in TNA, finishing with an image on the screen saying "Coming Soon - Serotonin"

At TNA Turning Point 2006, Serotonin lost to Ron "The Truth" Killings and Lance Hoyt after Kazarian suffered the Axe Kick from Killings. After the match, similar to the events at TNA Genesis, Kazarian took shots to the back with a Singapore Cane, courtesy of Raven.

[edit] In wrestling

  • Finishing and signature moves
  • Managers
  • Nicknames
  • The Maverick
Also nicknamed the "Red Fern"

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

[edit] Personal life

Bentley is currently engaged in real life to a woman named Nikki. Nikki has a son named Austin that Bentley acts as a father-figure for. He is also the cousin of Shawn Michaels.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../m/a/t/Matt_Bentley_3628.html"
In other languages