James Smith (born January 16, 1988) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

currently performing internationally under the ring name Bull James. He is best known for his time in

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

, where he performed on

NXT NXT may refer to: Professional wrestling * ''WWE NXT'', a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that began in 2010 ** NXT (WWE brand), WWE's Florida-based brand and former developmental territory * ''NXT UK'', the British spin- ...

, under the ring name Bull Dempsey.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2005–2013)

Smith made his debut on October 28, 2005, at East Coast Professional Wrestling event under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Donnie "The Body" Johnson, where he lost to Ace Wylde. Over the next five months, Smith wrestled in

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

as Baby Hughie. On September 26, 2009, at NWA New Jersey The Dennis Coralluzzo Invitational 2009,

The Powers of Pain The Powers of Pain are a professional wrestling tag team. History Paul Jones had previously managed The Barbarian (Sione Vailahi) in National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) territories during 1985–1987, while The Warlord (Terry Szopinski) and jo ...

( The Barbarian and The Warlord) defeated The Varsity Club (Baby Hughie and

Rob Eckos Robert Strauss (born October 1, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and manager. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand as a manager under the ring name Mr. Stone. He is best known for his time in Total Nonsto ...

). In 2010, Smith changed his ring name to Smith James. On July 21, 2011, James defeated Memphis Mofo in a TNA dark match. In 2012, James joined The New Age Wrecking Crew with Bill Carr, Stockade and Vince Steele. On March 10, 2012, Steele and James entered in a tournament to crown a new ACE Tag team Champions, but were defeated in the finals by The Movement. On March 9, 2013, James and Vince Steele won the American Championship Entertainment (ACE) Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles on May 11, 2013. On February 23, 2013, James and Bill Carr won the NYWC Tag Team Championship. However, they lost the title against

Mikey Whipwreck John Michael Watson (born June 4, 1973), better known by his ring name Mikey Whipwreck, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler working for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a trainer, and global ambassador. He is best known for his career w ...

and Stockade on June 23, 2013, his last match in the company.

WWE (2013–2016)

In June 2013, James signed a contract with

. He was assigned to the

WWE Performance Center The WWE Performance Center is the official professional wrestling school system of the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The promotion currently operates two Performance Center locations, which serve as training facilities for WWE wre ...

. On August 28, 2013, his name was changed to Bull Dempsey. Dempsey made his debut in ''

'' on September 12, 2013, where he was defeated by

Aiden English Matthew Thomas Rehwoldt (born October 7, 1987) is an American color commentator and retired professional wrestler who currently appears in Impact Wrestling where he performs under his real name. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he pe ...

. Throughout late 2013, he made sporadic appearances as an

enhancement talent In professional wrestling slang, a job is a losing performance in a wrestling match. It is derived from the euphemism "doing one's job", which was employed to protect information related to kayfabe from being revealed. The term can be used a numbe ...

. In the late spring to summer, Dempsey returned to ''NXT'' as a tweener, squashing various low carders and local talents. In August, Dempsey and

Mojo Rawley Dean Muhtadi ( ar, دين موهتادي; born July 17, 1986) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and former American professional football player. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Mojo Rawle ...

formed an uneasy tag team and participated in the

NXT Tag Team Championship The NXT Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental territory. Introduced on January 23 ...

tournament, where they were defeated by

The Vaudevillains The Vaudevillains were an American professional wrestling tag team in WWE, composed of Aiden English and Simon Gotch. Their gimmick was a pair of Vaudeville-era throwbacks. They also wrestled in WWE's developmental territory NXT, where they were ...

(

and

Simon Gotch Seth Lesser (born October 18, 1982) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Simon Gotch. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he held the NXT Tag Team Championship as one-half of The Vaudevillains along with A ...

) in the first round, prompting Dempsey to attack Rawley in the aftermath and establishing himself a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...

. On September 11 at the NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way event, Dempsey defeated Rawley in a squash with his new finisher The Diving Headbutt. On the September 25 episode of ''NXT'', Bull was victorious in the rematch. Following that, he embarked on a rivalry with

Baron Corbin Thomas Pestock (born September 13, 1984) is an American professional wrestler and former professional football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Baron Corbin. Pestock is a former offen ...

, another dominant wrestler who mostly squashed jobbers. The two competed to see how quickly they could defeat the "local talent", sometimes back-to-back. This eventually led to a match between the two on January 14, 2015, in which Dempsey's undefeated streak was broken by Corbin. Dempsey competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Qualification Tournament at

WrestleMania Axxess WrestleMania Axxess is a professional wrestling fan convention held by WWE during the week of WrestleMania. The event typically runs for four days—from Thursday to WrestleMania Sunday—and features WWE talent and alumni autograph signings, inte ...

31, but lost to

Tyler Breeze Matthew Clement (born January 19, 1988) is a Canadian professional wrestler and professional wrestling trainer. He is currently signed to WWE under the ring name Tyler Breeze as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center. From 2010 to 2012, he per ...

in the first round. Soon after this, Dempsey's

gimmick A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...

was tweaked to that of an overweight, out of shape wrestler who eats too much, which also saw him turn

face The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

in the process. After several vignettes aired to promote "Bull-Fit", Dempsey debuted his new gimmick on the August 26 episode of ''NXT'', where he defeated Elias Samson. On the February 24 episode of ''NXT'', he was defeated by

Tommaso Ciampa Tommaso Whitney (born May 8, 1985) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Tommaso Ciampa. Whitney began his career in 2005, working on several independent pro ...

. On the March 23 episode of ''NXT'', he and his supposed opponent

Danny Burch Martin Harris (born 31 December 1981) is an English professional wrestler best known for his time with WWE, where he performed on the NXT brand under the ring name Danny Burch. He is a former one time NXT Tag Team Champion with Oney Lorcan. He ...

both got beaten down by

Samoa Joe Nuufolau Joel Seanoa (born March 17, 1979), is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Samoa Joe who is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Joe is currently a double champion - in his first reign both as AEW ...

, before they even started the match, this led to a match between Dempsey and Joe on the following weeks episode. Dempsey lost in a quick squash match by disqualification because Joe kept his finisher, the Coquina Clutch, on Dempsey prompting NXT General Manager

William Regal Darren Kenneth Matthews (born 10 May 1968), better known by the ring name William Regal, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is known for his over 20 years spent in WWE, as both a performer and an on-screen authority, and for his ti ...

to try to stop him. Samoa Joe's insubordination would bring NXT Champion Finn Bálor to the ring to "rescue" Dempsey. The following week Dempsey lost to Joe in a squash match, this was Dempsey's final appearance for ''NXT''. On February 5, 2016, Dempsey announced on the social network

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that he had been released from WWE.

Independent circuit (2016–present)

James began wrestling on the independent circuit following his release from NXT, using the name Bull James, a combination of his NXT name and his birth name. James announced that he was set to debut in

Combat Zone Wrestling Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent wrestling promotion. In 1998, John Zandig and five of his students, Ric Blade, T.C.K, Lobo, Nick Gage and Justice Pain, along with trainer Jon Dahmer, began to run professional wrestling sh ...

, stating that he was coming after

Sami Callihan Samuel Alton Johnston (born September 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by the ring name Sami Callihan, currently signed with Impact Wrestling and is a former Impact World Champion. He also wrestled for Luch ...

, also known as Solomon Crowe, facing him on March 1. On February 25, 2017, James won the NYWC Heavyweight Championship at Psycho Circus XV. On February 24, 2018, James lost the title to Alex Reynolds at Psycho Circus XVI only to regain it on March 31, 2018, at Aftermath. James lost the title to King Mega on June 30, 2018, at Going The Distance. On March 11, 2017, James won the SWF Cruiserweight Title at SWF Legacies Never Die.

Ring of Honor (2016)

On September 18, 2016, James made a surprise debut in

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...

Honor Rumble The Honor Rumble is a periodically held battle royal promoted by the U.S.-based professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor. This battle royal differs from a standard version of the match in that the contestants do not all begin in the ring at ...

, making it to the final four. On October 21, 2016, James faced

ROH World Champion The ROH World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by Ring of Honor (ROH). It is considered the most prestigious title in the promotion. The current champion is Claudio Castagnoli, who is in his second ...

Adam Cole Austin Kirk Jenkins (born July 5, 1989) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Adam Cole. He is also known for his tenures with WWE and Ring of Honor (ROH). Col ...

, in a losing effort. The following day James teamed up with Mr. Wrestling III losing to

B. J. Whitmer Benjamin Whitmer (born January 25, 1978), better known by the ring name B. J. Whitmer, is an American professional wrestler, producer, trainer, and color commentator. He is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a producer. He is bes ...

and

Punisher Martinez Luis Martínez (born September 26, 1982) is an American professional wrestler of Puerto Rican descent. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Damian Priest, and is a member of the stable The Judg ...

. James was defeated by

Silas Young Caleb DeWall (born August 9, 1979) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Silas Young. He was last contracted for Ring of Honor, where he is a two-time ROH World Television Champion, although he has not appeared on R ...

Championships and accomplishments

*American Championship Entertainment **ACE Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Vince Steele *Atomic Wrestling Revolution **AWR Next Level Championship (1 time, current) * Independent Wrestling Federation ** IWF American Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * New York Wrestling Connection **NYWC Heavyweight Championship (2 time) **NYWC Fusion Championship (1 time) **NYWC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bill Carr *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

'' **Ranked No. 187 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishi ...

'' in 2014 *Superstars of Wrestling Federation **SWF Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dempsey, Bull 1988 births American male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from New York (state) People from Greenpoint, Brooklyn 21st-century professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from New York City