Thomas Matera (born December 13, 1978) 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 ...
and
personal trainer
A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for apparently healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, p ...
, 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 ...
Antonio Thomas. He is best known for his stint with
World Wrestling Entertainment
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 va ...
on the
Raw
Raw is an adjective usually describing:
* Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made
* Raw food, uncooked food
Raw or RAW may also refer to:
Computing and electronics
* .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
as one half of
The Heart Throbs
The Heart Throbs, also known as The Heartbreakers, is the name of a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Antonio Thomas and Romeo Roselli, currently wrestling on the independent circuit. Thomas and Roselli are billed as being popular "wi ...
.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (2001–2005)
Matera made his debut in late 2001 under the name Antonio Thomas, and quickly became a mainstay on the
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...
.
Over the next few years, he wrestled for several
promotions, including
New England Championship Wrestling
New England Championship Wrestling (NECW) is an independent professional wrestling promotion based in the Northeastern United States that has promoted events since 2000. Currently owned and operated by Sheldon Goldberg, is one of the top indepe ...
,
Chaotic Wrestling
Chaotic Wrestling (CW) is an American independent wrestling promotion, which has been operating throughout New England since 2000; with its current home base in North Andover, Massachusetts.
Chaotic Wrestling is known for producing successful, ...
, and the Eastern Wrestling Alliance (EWA).
In early 2003, Thomas began training with
Rick Harrison
Richard Kevin Harrison (born March 22, 1965) is an American businessman, reality television personality, and owner of the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop which is featured on the History series ''Pawn Stars''. Harrison and his father, Richard Benjamin H ...
, and began working for Bradley's Wrestling Federation of America (WFA) promotion. There he won the WFA Heavyweight Championship, and held it throughout most of 2003-2004.
Thomas then began teaming with his long-time friend
Romeo Roselli
Giovanni "Johnny" Roselli (born September 23, 1980) is a professional wrestler and actor better known as Romeo Roselli. He is best known for his work with World Wrestling Entertainment, on its RAW brand, as one half of the tag team "The Heart Thr ...
, who was wrestling as Johnny Heartbreaker, and the pair formed a
tag team
Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...
called The Heartbreakers.
On January 23, 2004, The Heartbreakers defeated Cueball and Nick McKenna to become the EWA Tag Team Champions.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2005–2006)
In July 2004, Thomas signed a developmental contract with
World Wrestling Entertainment
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 va ...
(WWE) and was sent to
Ohio Valley Wrestling
Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former developmental promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is currently run by Al Snow and Matt Jones and Louisville mayor elect, Craig Greenberg.
...
(OVW).
In OVW he continued to team with Heartbreaker, but it was not until February 2005 that Heartbreaker was officially signed to a developmental contract with WWE.
On April 18, 2005,
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 t ...
and
Tajiri successfully defended the
World Tag Team Championships against the debuting
Heart Throbs
''Heart Throbs'' was a romance comic published by Quality Comics and DC Comics from 1949 to 1972. Quality published the book from 1949–1957, when it was acquired by DC. Most issues featured a number of short comics stories, as well advice colum ...
(Thomas and Heartbreaker, now known simply as Antonio and Romeo respectively).
They went on to participate in a Tag Team Turmoil match for the World Tag Team Championship at the 2005
Backlash
Backlash may refer to:
Literature
* '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi
* ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston
* Backlash (Marc Slayton), comic book character
* ''Backla ...
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
, although they were unsuccessful.
The Heart Throbs, who have portrayed
heels
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 leg.
Structure
To distribute the compressive forces exert ...
, mainly appeared on the ''Raw'' B-show, ''
Heat
In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...
''. They had short-lived feuds with
Eugene and William Regal,
The Hurricane and Rosey
The Hurricane and Rosey (also known unofficially as The Super Heroes) were a professional wrestling tag team in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) based on the Raw brand. While in the WWE, their ring personas were those of a duo of superhero ...
, and V-Squared (
Val Venis
Sean Allen Morley (born March 6, 1971), better known by the ring name Val Venis, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) fro ...
and
Viscera
In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to act together in a ...
).
During the first episode of ''Heat'' in 2006 the pair turned
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 ...
and began educating the crowd by bringing two "hot chicks" into the ring and getting them to read a book.
On February 10, 2006, WWE announced that The Heart Throbs had been released from their contracts.
Independent circuit (2006–present)
![Antonio Thomas 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Antonio_Thomas_2.jpg)
After his release from WWE, Thomas returned to working on the New England independent circuit.
On May 27, 2006, Thomas debuted for MXW and pinned Jason Blade after the match was interrupted by
Romeo Roselli
Giovanni "Johnny" Roselli (born September 23, 1980) is a professional wrestler and actor better known as Romeo Roselli. He is best known for his work with World Wrestling Entertainment, on its RAW brand, as one half of the tag team "The Heart Thr ...
. At InterPromotional Incident on July 8, 2006, Thomas and Blade defeated the team of Roselli and
Xavier. On November 10, 2006, Thomas wrestled
Claudio Castagnoli
Claudio Castagnoli ( ; born 27 December 1980) is a Swiss professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is a member of the Blackpool Combat Club stable. Castagnoli also performs for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Ho ...
in one half of the main event at Capital Collision in Albany, NY. His most recent appearance for MXW was at Brass City Battle on November 12, 2006 where he took on
Slyk Wagner Brown
Wagner Brown (born September 5, 1979) is a Jamaican born professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, SWB or Slyck Wagner Brown. Brown currently wrestles on the Independent circuit in the Northeastern United States. Additionally, SWB was ...
.
In June 2007, Thomas toured
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
with the Nu-Wrestling Evolution promotion.
On February 22, 2009, Thomas competed in a
dark match
Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence o ...
for
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 ...
, teaming with Prince Jaleel in a loss to Andy Ridge and Alex Payne.
In May 2009, Thomas won the NECW Iron 8 Tournament.
On July 28, 2012, The Heart Throbs made their debut for
Chikara, teaming with
The Young Bucks
The Young Bucks are an American professional wrestling tag team and promoters, consisting of brothers Matthew and Nicholas Massie, who are known by their ring names Matt and Nick Jackson, respectively. They are signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW ...
(Matt and Nick Jackson) in an eight-man tag team match, where they were defeated by
Hallowicked
Robert Goodwin (born November 1, 1981) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Hallowicked. He performs primarily in the Chikara professional wrestling promotion, where he started his career in May 2002. His accomplis ...
,
Jigsaw
Jigsaw may refer to:
* Jigsaw (tool), a tool used for cutting arbitrary curves
* Jigsaw puzzle, a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of interlocking pieces
Arts and media Comics
* Jigsaw (Marvel Comics), a supervillain and arch-enemy of ...
,
Mike Quackenbush
Michael Spillane (born March 18, 1976), is an American podcaster, author, professional wrestling trainer, professional wrestling promoter, and retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Mike Quackenbush.
He has hosted several ...
and
UltraMantis Black
UltraMantis Black (born July 17, 1975) is a professional wrestler and musician, who performs primarily in the Chikara professional wrestling promotion. He is a former one-time Chikara Grand Champion and winner of the 2012 King of Trios tourname ...
.
The Heart Throbs returned to the promotion on November 18, losing to
1-2-3 Kid and
Marty Jannetty
Fredrick Martin Jannetty (born February 3, 1960) is an American professional wrestler who has worked for promotions including the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), World Championship Wres ...
in a tag team match.
[
On February 1, 2013 Thomas captured the vacant ]NECW Heavyweight Championship
The NECW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship was the top professional wrestling championship in New England Championship Wrestling. It was originally known as the NECW Heavyweight Championship until unified with the PWF Northeast and Mayhem cha ...
, defeating Johnny Thunder at NECW ''Snowbrawl''. The championship was vacated in the first place due to the previous title holder, Sean Burke, breaking his ankle during an NECW title defense with Antonio Thomas. Thomas and Burke would end in a time limit draw that night.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007)
On March 11, 2007, Thomas and Roselli appeared at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
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 promot ...
's Destination X
Destination X is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event held by Impact Wrestling currently in the month of August. The event primarily revolves around the X-Division, the 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2010 events had Ultimate X matches.
It w ...
pay-per-view as Christy Hemme
Christina Lee Hemme ( ; born October 28, 1980) is an American former professional wrestler, singer and model. She is best known for her time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (now known as Impact Wrestling) as a ring announcer and one of the o ...
's mystery team. Renamed "The Heartbreakers", they lost to The Voodoo Kin Mafia ( B.G. James and Kip James
Monty Kip Sopp (born November 1, 1963), better known by his ring name Billy Gunn, although he is currently finding renewed popularity under the ring name Daddy Ass, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wr ...
).
Japan
Thomas has wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling
(AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...
. Thomas and Akebono were defeated by Rene Dupree and Big Daddy Voodoo. Ryota Hama, Masayuki Kono and Shuji Kondo
is a Japanese professional wrestler. Prior to becoming a pro wrestler, he played rugby. After starting his career in Toryumon, Kondo eventually joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he became one of the promotion's top junior heavyweig ...
defeated Masakatsu Funaki
is a Japanese actor, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler known professionally as , who has previously wrestled in All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi (PWFG), Newborn UWF (UWF), ...
, Akebono and Antonio Thomas.
Italy
On September 12, 2012, he has been nominated as head trainer for the Italian promotion Rome Wrestling Academy.
Other media
Matera appeared on the September 7, 2008 edition of Sox Appeal.
He was on the wrestling observer live show.
Personal life
Matera is a certified personal trainer, and plans to obtain a Master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in Exercise Science and Strength and Conditioning. He grew up in Ludlow, Massachusetts
Ludlow is a New England town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,002 as of the 2020 2020 United States Census, census, and it is considered part of the Springfield Springfield me ...
and attended Ludlow High School
Ludlow High School is the public high school of Ludlow, Massachusetts, United States, located at 500 Chapin Street. It is next to Ludlow Town Hall. The high school is the only public high school in the town and services all of its residents. L ...
, after attending Birchland Park Middle School in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. As of 2020, he was married on 10/31/2020 and living in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Championships and accomplishments
* CyberSpace Wrestling Federation
**CSWF Tag Team Championship
The NWA Shockwave Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship in NWA Shockwave (NWA-SW) and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). It was the original title of the CyberSpace Wrestling Federation promotion and was lat ...
(1 time) - with Aaron Morrison
*Eastern Wrestling Alliance
**EWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**EWA New England Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**EWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Johnny Heartbreaker
*Green Mountain Wrestling
**GMW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
*New England Championship Wrestling
New England Championship Wrestling (NECW) is an independent professional wrestling promotion based in the Northeastern United States that has promoted events since 2000. Currently owned and operated by Sheldon Goldberg, is one of the top indepe ...
**NECW Tag Team Championship
The NECW Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling tag team title in New England Championship Wrestling. The title was later unified with the PWF Mayhem Tag Team title. NECW closed on November 6, 2010, and the championship was retained b ...
( 1 time) - with Chad Storm
**Iron 8 Tournament (2009)
**NECW Heavyweight Championship
The NECW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship was the top professional wrestling championship in New England Championship Wrestling. It was originally known as the NECW Heavyweight Championship until unified with the PWF Northeast and Mayhem cha ...
( 1 time)
*New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame
The New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and Fan Fest is an American professional wrestling hall of fame. It was established in January 2008 to honor select wrestling personalities who have made significant contributions to professional wrestli ...
**Class of 2019
*No Limit Pro Wrestling
**NWA Liberty States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*Wrestling Federation of America
**WFA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Notes
External links
Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Antonio
1978 births
American male professional wrestlers
Living people
Sportspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts
Professional wrestlers from Massachusetts
People from Ludlow, Massachusetts