William Jason Massengale (born June 13, 1979) 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 ...

, better known by his

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 ...

, Jason Cross. He is best known for his appearances with

NWA Total Nonstop Action Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promoti ...

and

NWA Wildside NWA Wildside was an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in Cornelia, Georgia, with an office in Atlanta, Georgia, operating between September 1999 and April 2005. It was originally formed when National Championship Wrestlin ...

in the 2000s.

Professional wrestling career

NWA Wildside (2002–2005)

After training under his childhood friend, mentor, and perpetual superior John Phoenix (alias John Couch), Massengale made his professional wrestling debut with a local promotion in 1998 at Walter B. Williams Gymnasium in Milledgeville, GA. Jason Cross later appeared in

in mid-2001 where he, Adam Jacobs, John Phoenix and Prince Justice defeated

A.J. Styles Allen Neal Jones (born June 2, 1977), better known by his ring name AJ Styles (also stylized as A.J. Styles), is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Regarded as one of the best ...

Onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The c ...

Air Paris Frank Parris (born May 11, 1979) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his stint in World Championship Wrestling under ring name Air Paris. Professional wrestling career Debut On April 20, 1996, Parris made his professional ...

and Stone Mountain. Soon after his debut in Wildside, Cross became 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 ...

and was managed by Jeff G. Bailey, Styles' former manager. Cross' gimmick was that of a "clone" of Styles, in which Cross copied him in every aspect, such as attire and wrestling moves. After David Young defeated Styles for the Heavyweight Title, Cross left Bailey and became a

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 ...

before beginning a

feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one part ...

with Young over the championship. Three months later, he defeated Young for the championship on June 1, 2002. Cross held the title just under a month before losing it to Adam Jacobs. After losing to Jeremy V in a match for the vacant Television Championship on August 27, 2004, Cross began feuding with

over the Heavyweight Championship after Onyx won the title. On September 4, 2004, Cross defeated Onyx for his second and final Heavyweight Championship. Cross held the title for exactly one month before losing it to

Ray Gordy Terry Ray Gordy Jr. (born March 23, 1979) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) between 2005 and 2010, where he performed on its ''SmackDown'' brand under the ri ...

and remained within NWA Wildside until its closure in 2005.

NWA Total Nonstop Action (2002–2004)

In addition to wrestling for NWA Wildside, Cross also began competing for

. On January 15, 2003, Massengale, under his Jason Cross ring name, suffered a broken hand and a crushed knuckle in a losing effort against David Young. However, he recovered soon afterwards and he began appearing regularly in TNA as a part of its

X Division The X Division is a high-flying, high-risk, fast-paced style of professional wrestling seen in Impact Wrestling (formerly Total Nonstop Action Wrestling) and since then in various NWA member promotions. Its tagline is that "It's not about weight ...

. On February 26, Cross wrestled then- X Division Champion

Kid Kash David Tyler Cash (born July 31, 1969) better known by his ring name Kid Kash, is an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, best known for his tenures with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (T ...

in a match for the title, which Cross lost. After this, he wrestled in a few more matches sparingly throughout 2003. On August 11, 2004 at a weekly pay-per-view, Cross wrestled in a 22-man gauntlet match for the X Division Title, but was the sixth competitor eliminated as

Petey Williams Peter Williams III (born August 26, 1981) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE as a backstage producer. He is best known for his time in Impact Wrestling, where he is a two-time X Division Champion. He is also k ...

would go on to win the match and the title. He then wrestled in a few six-man tag team matches before competing in a 20-man gauntlet match at TNA's first-ever official pay-per-view event, Victory Road, which he lost.

Independent circuit (2005–2008, 2013)

After leaving TNA, Massengale began wrestling for various

independent promotions In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor league for pro wres ...

in his home state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

under his Jason Cross ring name, including Georgia Championship Wrestling, Dropkick Pro Wrestling, the Independent Wrestling Network and Rampage Pro Wrestling.

Personal life

Massengale is married to Tara Lyn Tapley.

Championships and accomplishments

*Georgia Championship Wrestling¹ **GCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **GCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with John Bogey **GCW Television Championship (2 times) **GCW United States Junior Heavyweight Championship (3 times) *New Alliance Wrestling **NAW Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

** NWA Wildside Heavyweight Championship (

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) *Northern Wrestling Federation **NWF Tri-State Championship (1 time) **NWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Nick Rivers *''

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 ...

'' **PWI ranked him #246 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 2003 ¹This Georgia-based promotion, which was eventually renamed Great Championship Wrestling, has no connection to the Georgia Championship Wrestling that was a prominent NWA affiliate until it was purchased by

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promot ...

in 1985.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Jason 1979 births American male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from Georgia (U.S. state) 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champions