Kenny Sanchez Marquez (born October 5, 1994), known by his ring name Jake Atlas, 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 ...
known for his time in
All Elite Wrestling
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE.
AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, w ...
(AEW) and
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 ...
.
Professional wrestling career
As a native resident of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, Sanchez Marquez trained at the local Santino Bros. Wrestling Academy, making his in-ring debut on August 6, 2016, under the ring name Jake Atlas against Robby Phoenix, a match that he won via Disqualification. He went on to appear in numerous California promotions including Orange County Championship Wrestling,
Empire Wrestling Federation
The Empire Wrestling Federation (EWF) is an independent wrestling promotion based in Covina, California. It is owned and operated by Jesse Hernandez. The EWF is also tied to Hernandez's wrestling school, ''The School Of Hard Knocks''. The EWF is t ...
, Baja Star's USA,
All Pro Wrestling
All Pro Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion and training school, based in Hayward, California. The company was founded by Roland Alexander and managed by him until his death on November 5, 2013. It is located 45 miles so ...
, Gold Rush Pro Wrestling and
Championship Wrestling from Hollywood
Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (CWFH) is an American professional wrestling promotion and television program that airs on KDOC-TV Los Angeles and carried in first-run syndication in the United States. The television series premiered on ...
among several other promotions between 2016 and 2017. In some promotions, he competed in tag team matches with fellow wrestler Lucas Riley, calling themselves Aerial Instinct, due to their high-flying style of wrestling. During his career, Atlas won titles including Santino Bros. Wrestling's SBW Championship and All Pro Wrestling's Universal Heavyweight and Junior Heavyweight Championships.
Atlas' earliest association with
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 ...
occurred as early as 2018, when he first appeared with
Stephanie McMahon
Stephanie McMahon Levesque (born Stephanie Marie McMahon; ; September 24, 1976) is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is the current chairwoman and co-chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the world's largest profe ...
on an episode of ''
Celebrity Undercover Boss
''Celebrity Undercover Boss'', also known as ''Undercover Boss: Celebrity Edition'' is the ninth season of the American reality television series ''Undercover Boss''. It premiered on May 11, 2018.
Unlike previous seasons (and contrary to its name) ...
''. Atlas reportedly received $25,000 as a down payment for a house and was hired as an ambassador for the WWE. During July of that year, Atlas worked a "Be A Star" program in the Boston, Massachusetts area. On October 23, 2019, Atlas officially signed with WWE. On the April 1, 2020 episode of ''
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- ...
'', Atlas was defeated by
Dexter Lumis
Samuel Robert Shaw (born January 17, 1984) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Dexter Lumis. He is also known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestli ...
in his debut. On April 12, Atlas was named a participant in the Interim
NXT Cruiserweight Championship
The NXT Cruiserweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that was created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. Before its retirement, it was defended across the NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live brand divisions, which were d ...
round-robin tournament
A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero ...
. Atlas defeated
Drake Maverick
James Michael Curtin (born 30 January 1983) is an English former professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE as a writer on Raw. During his time as an on screen performer in the company, he worked under the ring name Drake Maverick. He ...
in his first match in the tournament and
Tony Nese
Anthony Nese (born August 6, 1985) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he is a former one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion.
Professional wrestling career
Indep ...
in his second match but lost to
Kushida
is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, better known by his mononymous ring name Kushida. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as well as Impact Wrestl ...
. After Maverick defeated Kushida on the May 20 episode of NXT, a Triple Threat match was set up between Maverick, Kushida and Atlas for the following week as all three men were tied at 2–1. Maverick won the match after pinning Atlas albeit in a controversial fashion. On the June 19 episode of 205 Live, Atlas made his debut on the brand defeating
Gentleman Jack Gallagher
Oliver Westfield Claffey, better known by the ring name Jack Gallagher, is an English professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed on the NXT and 205 Live brands, mostly under the ring ...
. In October 2020 he would begin a feud with
Santos Escobar
Jorge Luis Alcantar Bolly (born April 30, 1984), is a Mexican second-generation ''luchador'' (professional wrestler). He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Santos Escobar.
Before his WWE ca ...
over the
Cruiserweight Championship but every time he was defeated. In January 2021, Atlas entered the
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is an annual professional wrestling tag team tournament held by the American promotion WWE, and is featured on its NXT brand, having first been established in 2015. In subsequent years, wrestlers from the NXT UK and ...
tournament, where he was paired with
Isaiah "Swerve" Scott
Stephon Strickland (born September 30, 1990) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Swerve Strickland and is a former AEW World Tag Team Champion (with Keith Lee). ...
, but the two were eliminated from the tournament by the eventual winner
MSK (
Nash Carter
Zachary Green (born April 29, 1994) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed on the NXT brand under the ring name Nash Carter and in Impact Wrestling under the ring name Zachary Wentz (or simp ...
and
Wes Lee
Deveon Everhart Aikens (born November 2, 1988) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Wes Lee, and is the current NXT North American Champion in his first reign ...
) and following the match, argued with one another. On August 6, 2021, Atlas was released from his WWE contract.
On September 3, 2021, it was announced that Atlas would appear at Ring of Honor's
Death Before Dishonor XVIII
Death Before Dishonor XVIII was a professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by Ring of Honor (ROH). It was the eighteenth event in the Death Before Dishonor chronology. It took place on September 12, 2021. The show was originally supposed to ...
in a special showcase match against fellow recent WWE release
Taylor Rust. At the event, Atlas was defeated by Rust. Not long after, Atlas announced his retirement from professional wrestling, citing mental health reasons. On the December 28, 2021 taping of
AEW Dark AEW or aew may refer to:
* Airborne early warning, airborne radar system for detecting aircraft
* Aerosvit Airlines, an airline based in Kyiv, Ukraine (ICAO airline designator: AEW)
* AEW Capital Management, a property investment management company
...
, Atlas came out of retirement and made his in ring return and AEW debut defeating Serpentico. He had his televised debut on the January 7th edition of
AEW Rampage
''AEW Rampage'', also known as ''Friday Night Rampage'' or simply ''Rampage'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It airs every Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern Time ( ...
, where he lost to
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 ...
. During the match he suffered a knee injury. Atlas was released from AEW following a May 2022 domestic violence arrest.
Personal life
Sanchez Marquez is openly
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
. He is of Mexican descent.
On May 23, 2022, Sanchez Marquez was arrested in
Orange County, Florida
Orange County is located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,429,908, making it Florida's fifth most populous county. The county seat is Orlando. Orange County is the central county ...
and charged with
domestic
Domestic may refer to:
In the home
* Anything relating to the human home or family
** A domestic animal, one that has undergone domestication
** A domestic appliance, or home appliance
** A domestic partnership
** Domestic science, sometimes cal ...
battery
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
.
The charges were dropped on June 28.
Championships and accomplishments
*
All Pro Wrestling
All Pro Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion and training school, based in Hayward, California. The company was founded by Roland Alexander and managed by him until his death on November 5, 2013. It is located 45 miles so ...
**APW Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**
APW Universal Heavyweight Championship
The APW Universal Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship contested in All Pro Wrestling. It was introduced on October 12, 1996, when Robert Thompson became the first champion.
Title history
Combin ...
(1 time)
*PCW Ultra
** PCW Ultra Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
* ''
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. 169 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 2020
* Santino Bros. Wrestling
** SBW Championship (1 time)
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atlas, Jake
1994 births
Living people
People from El Monte, California
Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California
Professional wrestlers from California
American male professional wrestlers
American professional wrestlers of Mexican descent
Gay sportsmen
LGBT professional wrestlers
American LGBT sportspeople
LGBT people from California