Kevin Kiley, Jr.
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Kevin Robert Kiley Jr. (born April 28, 1981) is an American professional wrestler and commentator best known for his time with WWE under the ring name Alex Riley. He was a participant in the second season 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 spi ...
''.


Professional wrestling career


World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE


Florida Championship Wrestling (2007–2010)

In 2007, Kiley signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was assigned to their
developmental territory In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...
, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). On October 30, 2007, he debuted in a losing effort to Shawn Osbourne under his real name Kevin Kiley, and later faced off with wrestlers like Sebastian Slater and Jack Gabriel. In September 2008, he changed 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 ...
to Carson Oakley. As Oakley, he began teaming with
Scotty Goldman Scott Colton (born May 6, 1980), better known by the ring name Colt Cabana, is an American professional wrestler, color commentator, and podcaster. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and as a coach, and he performs the same d ...
, and the pairing unsuccessfully challenged TJ Wilson and DH Smith for the Florida Tag Team Championship in November. In early December, he underwent another name change, calling himself Alex Riley and developing the
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 ...
of a university jock, complete with a
letterman's jacket In sports or activities in the United States, a letterman is a high school or college student who has met a specified level of participation or performance on a varsity team. Overview The term comes from the practice of awarding each such parti ...
as a part of his attire. He gained Beverly Mullins as a
manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...
, and to fit with his jock gimmick, Mullins adopted the gimmick of a prom queen. In 2009, he joined FCW General Manager Abraham Washington's cabinet, being called Washington's "top draft pick", and as a result, was named the number one contender to Tyler Reks' FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship in July. In August, he lost in a triple threat match including Reks and
Johnny Curtis Curtis Jonathan Hussey (born July 22, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) under the ring name Dirty Dango. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name ...
. In mid-2009, he competed in several
dark matches 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 ...
prior to ''
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 ...
'' and '' SmackDown'', wrestling against Jamie Noble, Montel Vontavious Porter and
Jimmy Wang Yang James Carson Yun (born May 13, 1981) is an American professional wrestler and actor of Korean and German descent. He is also best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Ente ...
, and also appeared at
house show A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...
s. On the August 30 episode of ''FCW'', Riley dropped Mullins as his manager, calling her "dead weight". On March 18, 2010, Riley defeated Justin Gabriel and Wade Barrett in a triple threat match to win the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship. After his title win he called out Barrett and paid him for his services as a hired help. At the July 22 FCW tapings, Riley lost the title to Mason Ryan in a triple threat match, also involving Johnny Curtis. At the television tapings on September 22, Riley faced Ryan in a rematch, but lost by submission.


NXT and alliance with The Miz (2010–2011)

On June 1, 2010, The Miz announced that he would mentor Riley for the second season 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 spi ...
''. He made his ''NXT'' debut on the June 8 episode, but did not compete in a match. He made his in-ring debut on the following edition of ''NXT'', defeating
Kaval The kaval is a chromatic end-blown flute traditionally played throughout the Balkans (in Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Southern Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Northern Greece, and elsewhere) and Anatolia (including Turkey and Armenia). The ka ...
. Kaval returned the favor two weeks later, by pinning Riley in a
six-man tag team match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder m ...
. Later that night, Riley was ranked fourth in the first poll. In the second poll on the July 27 episode of ''NXT'', Riley moved up to third place, behind
Michael McGillicutty Joseph Curtis Hennig (born October 1, 1979) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Curtis Axel. Hennig signed with WWE in 2007 and wrestled at their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) and was ...
and Kaval. On August 9 the rookies appeared in a six-man tag team match on ''Raw'', in which Riley teamed with Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty to defeat
Lucky Cannon Jonathon David Emminger (born November 8, 1983) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring names Johnny Prime and Lucky Cannon. He is best known for his appearances for WWE, where he performed o ...
, Kaval and
Percy Watson Nicholas Christopher McNeil (born August 19, 1981), better known by his ring name Percy Watson, is an American professional wrestler, commentator, and former professional football player. He is best known for his time with WWE as a commentato ...
. The following night however, Riley's team lost a rematch, and he slipped to fifth place in the poll, narrowly avoiding elimination. Riley was eliminated from ''NXT'' in the season finale on August 31, ending up in third place overall. After Kaval was announced as the winner, Riley and the other eliminated rookies attacked him. He appeared on the September 6 episode of ''Raw'', when he tried to help his mentor The Miz, who had been placed in the LeBell Lock
submission hold A grappling hold, commonly referred to simply as a hold that in Japanese is referred to as ''katame-waza'' ( "grappling technique"), is any specific grappling, wrestling, judo, or other martial art grip that is applied to an opponent. Grapplin ...
by
Daniel Bryan Daniel Bryan may refer to: * Bryan Danielson (born 1981), American professional wrestler who formerly used the ring name "Daniel Bryan" * Dan Bryan (1900–1985), Irish soldier * Daniel Bryan (Big Brother), contestant on the British reality televi ...
, but ended up being placed in the hold himself. He appeared again the following week, replacing The Miz in a submission match against Bryan, but lost. On the September 20 episode of ''Raw'' The Miz announced that he had signed Riley to a "personal services contract", allowing Riley to accompany The Miz to ringside and continue to appear on ''Raw''. As The Miz's protégé, Riley interfered in his matches, including at the
Bragging Rights Boasting or bragging is speaking with excessive pride and self-satisfaction about one's achievements, possessions, or abilities. Boasting occurs when someone feels a sense of satisfaction or when someone feels that whatever occurred proves thei ...
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 ...
, where Riley unsuccessfully attempted to help The Miz's team win. The Miz also used Riley as a replacement for himself in matches, which led to Riley facing and losing to John Cena on November 15 and Ezekiel Jackson in a King of the Ring qualifying match on November 22 as a result. The following week, Riley interfered in the Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWE Championship between Jerry Lawler and The Miz, who had won the championship the week prior. Riley stopped Lawler from winning twice, before Lawler put him through a table. He helped The Miz to retain the championship again at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in a Tables match, during which he was put through a table by
Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor who is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand but is currently out of action due to a back injury. H ...
. On the February 28 episode of ''Raw'', John Cena challenged Riley to a match which, if Cena won, Riley would no longer be The Miz's apprentice. The Miz accepted the match on Riley's behalf, and later that night, Cena and Riley faced off in a steel cage match. Riley lost the match despite interference from The Miz. The angle was used to write Riley off television as he was scheduled to be sent back to Florida Championship Wrestling to be repackaged. Despite this, Riley appeared on the March 14 episode of ''Raw'', interfering in The Miz's match against The Great Khali. The following week, Riley announced that The Miz had re-hired him, this time as The Miz's VP of Corporate Communications. He accompanied The Miz to his match at WrestleMania XXVII against Cena where he interfered several times, throwing Cena into an exposed turnbuckle, attacking him with his briefcase, and distracting the
referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...
.


Singles competition (2011–2013)

As part of the 2011 Supplemental Draft on April 26, Riley was moved to the SmackDown brand, separating him from The Miz. Riley debuted on the April 29 episode of ''SmackDown'' by interrupting Randy Orton, but had an '' RKO'' performed on him before he could speak. Despite being drafted, Riley continued to appear on ''Raw'' alongside The Miz. On the May 2 episode of ''Raw'', The Miz chastised Riley not being at ringside at Extreme Rules the previous night when The Miz had lost the WWE Championship to Cena. Riley appeared alongside The Miz at the Over the Limit pay-per-view and attempted to help The Miz win his "I Quit" match against Cena, but The Miz was unsuccessful and failed to regain the WWE Championship. The following night on the May 23 episode of ''Raw'', The Miz's request for another WWE Championship match was immediately denied and The Miz blamed him. Riley proceeded to attack The Miz, and turning face in the process. The following week, Michael Cole announced that Riley had been rehired by the
Anonymous Raw General Manager The Anonymous Raw General Manager was a professional wrestling authority figure in WWE, who anonymously controlled the Raw brand from June 21, 2010 to July 18, 2011. The Anonymous General Manager controlled the show by sending emails to a laptop, ...
and he returned to Raw, as in storyline he had not been eligible to be drafted as he was under contract to The Miz, not WWE. Following an argument Riley attacked Cole, before chasing away The Miz who had tried to attack him from behind. On the June 6 episode of ''Raw'', Riley teamed with John Cena to face R-Truth and The Miz, with Steve Austin as the special guest referee but were defeated as Cena couldn't trust him. On the same show, it was confirmed that Riley would face The Miz at Capitol Punishment. At the pay-per-view, Riley defeated The Miz. The following night on ''Raw'', Riley teamed with John Cena and
Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor who is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand but is currently out of action due to a back injury. H ...
to take on The Miz, R-Truth and
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
in a six-man tag team elimination match. Riley was the first person eliminated, but his team went on to win the match. At Money in the Bank, Riley competed in a Money in the Bank ladder match which was won by Alberto Del Rio. The following night on ''Raw'', Riley was one of the eight men placed in the WWE Championship tournament but lost to The Miz in the first round, ending their feud. On the August 1 episode of ''Raw'', Riley began a feud with the United States Champion Dolph Ziggler, beginning with a verbal confrontation. Riley and Ziggler faced off the following week, with Riley winning by disqualification after Vickie Guerrero, Ziggler's manager, slapped him. On the August 15 episode of ''Raw'', Riley lost to Jack Swagger due to interference by Guerrero, who also managed Swagger. Riley defeated Swagger in a rematch the following week after Swagger was distracted by Guerrero and Ziggler arguing at ringside. At
Night of Champions Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends o ...
, Riley competed in a fatal four-way match for the United States Championship which also involved Ziggler, Swagger and
John Morrison John Morrison or Morison may refer to: In politics * John Morrison (Manitoba politician) (1868–1930), politician in Manitoba, Canada * John Morrison (Saskatchewan politician) (1872–1950), Canadian Member of Parliament * John Morrison (intelli ...
, in which Ziggler retained his title. In October, Riley suffered a legitimate hip injury that left him inactive for several weeks. For the remainder of 2011 after his return, Riley was largely relegated to appearing on ''
Superstars A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity. Superstar or superstars may also refer to: People * Warhol superstars, the associates of Andy Warhol * WWE Superstar, a branding term referring to a WWE wrestler * Superstar Billy Graham (born 1943) ...
'', defeating the likes of Drew McIntyre and JTG. In 2012, Riley had a 14-match losing streak, losing to the likes of
Brodus Clay George Murdoch (born February 21, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and cable news personality known by his ring/stage name Tyrus. As a wrestler, he is signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), where he is the reigning NWA Worlds ...
, Lord Tensai and Heath Slater. Riley entered the
2012 Royal Rumble The 2012 Royal Rumble was the 25th annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on January 29, 2012, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. As has been customary since 1993, the Royal ...
as the second entrant, and was eliminated first by The Miz. Riley claimed a rare victory on the May 2 episode of ''NXT'' when he teamed with Tyson Kidd to beat JTG and
Johnny Curtis Curtis Jonathan Hussey (born July 22, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) under the ring name Dirty Dango. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name ...
. After several months absence from television, he made his return on the July 3 episode of ''SmackDown'' in a World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank qualifying match against Dolph Ziggler, in a losing effort. Riley ended his singles losing streak on August 6 episode of ''Raw'' by defeating Ziggler with a roll-up after a distraction from Chris Jericho on commentary. On September 21, Riley announced that he was undergoing elbow and knee surgery. In January 2013, Riley teamed up with
Derrick Bateman Michael Hutter (born March 18, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and promoter better known by the ring name Ethan Carter III (or simply EC3). EC3 is a co-founder of Control Your Narrative. He also performs on the independent circuit. He ...
to take part in the NXT Tag Team Championship Tournament, and the two were defeated by
Kassius Ohno Cassius may refer to: People * Cassius, an ancient Roman family name, see Cassia gens **Gaius Cassius Longinus (died 42 BC), Roman senator and a leader of Julius Caesar's assassination ** Avidius Cassius (130–175), usurper Roman Emperor * Cassi ...
and Leo Kruger in the first round. On the January 21, 2013 episode of ''Raw'' (the final episode before the Royal Rumble), Riley made his first televised appearance in 5 months as part of a show-closing brawl. Riley next appeared on the April 17 episode of '' Main Event'', competing in an 11-man battle royal to determine the number 1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship and surviving until the final four when he was eliminated by
Primo Primo may refer to: People *DJ Premier (born 1966), hip-hop producer, sometimes goes by nickname Primo *Primo Carnera (1906–1967), Italian boxer, World Heavyweight champion 1933–1934 *Primo Cassarino (born 1956), enforcer for the Gambino cri ...
.


Color commentary (2013–2015)

Following his lack of in-ring success, Riley transitioned to a color commentary role. At the June 24 ''Raw'' taping, Riley debuted as the new color commentator of ''
Superstars A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity. Superstar or superstars may also refer to: People * Warhol superstars, the associates of Andy Warhol * WWE Superstar, a branding term referring to a WWE wrestler * Superstar Billy Graham (born 1943) ...
''. Riley became a regular commentator for
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 spi ...
starting at the July 11 tapings. He also frequently served as color commentator on '' Main Event''. Following the launch of the WWE Network, Riley became known as "The Analyst" Alex Riley and adopted a persona similar to a sports commentator or agent. Riley was a regular member of the expert panel on both the ''Raw'' and ''SmackDown'' pre-shows on the WWE Network, and also made several appearances on pay-per-view in this role. In 2013 and 2014, Riley made occasional in-ring appearances at WWE
live events A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive ...
, picking up untelevised wins over the likes of Tyson Kidd, Curt Hawkins and Heath Slater.


Return to in-ring competition and departure (2015–2016)

Throughout late 2014 and early 2015, Riley started a Twitter campaign with the
hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
#FreeRiley, apparently in an attempt to get management to notice him and book him as an in-ring competitor, given that his last televised match was in 2013. After a storyline which involved him being harassed on commentary by NXT Champion Kevin Owens, Riley returned to televised competition on the March 11 edition 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 spi ...
'', defeating CJ Parker. After the match, Owens called Riley "the dumbest man in NXT" for returning to the ring and threatened to destroy his career. On March 29 at WrestleMania 31, Riley competed in the André The Giant Memorial Battle Royal but was eliminated by Damien Mizdow. Kevin Owens attacked Riley during an NXT taping on April 22, in which Owens kayfabe injured his knee. On May 1, it was announced that Riley would undergo surgery, to fix the legitimate degenerative arthritis in his knee. Riley made his return from injury on the January 27, 2016 episode of ''NXT'' after eight months of inactivity, sporting longer hair and beard, in a winning effort against
Bull Dempsey James Smith (born January 16, 1988) is an American professional wrestler currently performing internationally under the ring name Bull James. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed on NXT, under the ring name Bull Dempsey. Pr ...
, turning
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 ...
for the first time since 2011. In the next 3 weeks, he was defeated by Tye Dillinger in back-to-back matches. On March 31 episode of ''NXT'', he was defeated by Apollo Crews. On May 11 episode of NXT taping, Riley worked his last WWE match where he was defeated by
Shinsuke Nakamura is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, brand. Nakamura is known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where ...
. Riley was released from his WWE contract along with several other wrestlers on May 6, 2016.


Return to wrestling (2019–present)

In May 2019, Riley announced that he would be returning to wrestling through his Instagram.


Other media

Riley is a playable character in '' WWE '12 as well as appearing in WWE SuperCard'.''


Personal life

Riley's father, Kevin Kiley, Sr., is a sports reporter and commentator. His mother, Lauren (née Riley), is a former Miss Virginia. Riley attended Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, VA, where he played both
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and basketball. He then went to
Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
, where he majored in communications. He played for the
Boston College Eagles football The Boston College Eagles football team represents Boston College in the sport of American football. The Eagles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of ...
team, initially as a quarterback, before becoming a linebacker during the 2001 season. He has also played for the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes. Riley once had a job selling medical equipment. He is Catholic and has a tattoo of a Celtic cross on his back. He was arrested for
DUI Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...
in Florida in November 2010, yet the charges were dismissed in July 2011 after Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Dick Greco Jr. ruled that law enforcement did not have probable cause to stop Riley's vehicle and thus violated his fourth amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. Riley has stated that his career in WWE took a turn for the worse after standing up for himself backstage with John Cena, and saying Cena followed this by using the power he held backstage to negatively influence his career. In March 2021, Riley revealed on his Instagram that he suffers from Bipolar Disorder

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Filmography


Championships and accomplishments

* Florida Championship Wrestling ** FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship ( FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship#Title history, 1 time) * '' Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' ** Ranked No. 106 of the top 500 wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011


References


External links

* * *
Boston College Eagles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Alex 1981 births American male professional wrestlers Boston College Eagles football players Living people Professional wrestlers from Virginia Professional wrestlers from Washington, D.C. Professional wrestling announcers People from Fairfax Station, Virginia Catholics from Virginia Catholics from Washington, D.C. Robinson Secondary School alumni 21st-century professional wrestlers FCW Florida Heavyweight Champions