Robert Evan Lee Cox (born September 29, 2000), better known by 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 ...

Evan Golden, 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 ...

. A second generation wrestler, he is the son of

Eddie Golden Harold Edward Cox (born November 4, 1973) is a semi-retired American professional wrestler and trainer better known by his ring name Eddie Golden. He was one of the top junior heavyweights in the Southern United States during the 1990s and won nu ...

and the third member of the Golden wrestling family.

Early life

Robert Evan Lee Cox was born on September 29, 2000, in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

. His father,

Eddie Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

, worked as a professional wrestler, touring the

Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

. Cox attended Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College where he graduated a member of the

National Society of Leadership and Success National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

and the

International Thespian Society The International Thespian Society (ITS) is an honor society for high school and middle school theatre students. It is a division of the Educational Theatre Association. Thespian troupes serve students in grades 9–12; Junior Thespian troupes s ...

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2021–2022)

Golden debuted on December 18, 2021, for the Asheville-based promotion Uprise Pro Wrestling, accompanied to the ring by his father,

. Golden was provided training from his dad alongside

E.Z. Money Jason Broyles (born April 27, 1973) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) under the ring name E. Z. Money. He also briefly wrestled for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in ...

and Jeff Connelly. Golden defeated Connelly in a student vs teacher match on October 22, 2022 at a fundraising event.

National Wrestling Alliance (2023–present)

Early appearances (2023–2024) Golden unsuccessfully challenged

Kerry Morton Kerry Morton (born April 4, 2001) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) where he is the current NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion in his first reign. He is a second-generation professional ...

for the

NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship The NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Created in 1945, the title is competed for by junior heavyweight wrestlers. History The first NWA World Junior ...

Mountain City, Tennessee Mountain City is a town in and the county seat of Johnson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,383 at the 2000 census and 2,531 at the 2010 census. It is the northeasternmost county seat in Tennessee. In addition, at an elevatio ...

on May 17, 2023. Immediately after the match, Golden tagged alongside Jeff Paul against Morton and Bryan Montgomery in an impromptu tag team match. Golden competed at SOM Live and the

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 ...

's ''Monsters of the Midway'' event on July 28, 2023. Golden retained the SOM Hybrid Championship against Victor Andrews, Blade Gibson, and Jackson Black. Golden retained the championship in a defense against Kirk Cazana on August 8, 2023. The Guiding Light (2024–present) On February 9, 2024, Golden debuted for National Wrestling Alliance Joe Cazana Promotions Southeast, the official southeastern territory for the

NWA NWA or Nwa most commonly refers to: * N.W.A ("Niggaz Wit Attitudes"), a hip hop group from Compton, California, US * National Wrestling Alliance, a professional wrestling organization NWA or Nwa may refer to: Music * New Weird America, a subgenr ...

. Golden teamed alongside Michael Gabriel as ''The Guiding Light'' in a losing effort to The Country Gentlemen, AJ and KC Cazana.

Professional wrestling style and persona

Evan Golden at a Piledriver Pro Wrestling event in 2022

Golden utilizes the somersault neckbreaker as his finisher, known as the ''Afterburner''. Golden inherited the finisher from his trainer

, who innovated the move in

ECW ECW may refer to: Professional wrestling * Extreme Championship Wrestling (originally Eastern Championship Wrestling), a professional wrestling promotion that operated from 1992 to 2001 * The Alliance (professional wrestling) (originally the WCW/E ...

and

WCW World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nationa ...

. Golden occasionally employs a diving neckbreaker variation of the move called the ''Super Afterburner''. Golden also inherited the ''Pendulum of Pain'' from Money, a rocking horse Boston crab. Golden uses a variety of different

moonsault A moonsault, moonsault press, or back flip splash is a professional wrestling aerial technique. It was innovated by Mando Guerrero. Much of its popularity in both Japanese and American wrestling is attributed to The Great Muta, despite it being u ...

variations, most notably the top rope moonsault and the standing moonsault.

Music career

On March 19, 2020, Golden debuted his first single as a musician on

streaming platform An over-the-top media service is a streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms, the companies that traditionally act as a controller or distributors of ...

s. Golden released the following single, "Walk", a year later. Golden released his third single titled "Jet Lag" in collaboration with MecHeoN on May 28. Golden released his fourth single titled "Huntin' for Myself" alongside James Tate on July 10, 2021.

Other media

Video games

Discography

Singles

As lead artist

Championships and accomplishments

Professional_wrestler_Evan_Golden_as_SOM_Hybrid_Champion_in_2023

* SOM Live **SOM Hybrid Championship (1 time) **SOM East Tennessee Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – with KC Cazana and Michael Gabriel **SOM Awards (1 time) *** Breakout Star of the Year (2023)

References

External links

* * *
Evan Golden
at

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Golden, Evan 2000 births Professional wrestlers from North Carolina Living people American male professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers Sportspeople from Asheville, North Carolina Welch Family