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 o ...

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 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

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 ...

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 (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

independent circuit. 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 independ ...

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 ...

, 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

(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, although they were unsuccessful. The Heart Throbs, who have portrayed heels, 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 ...

''. They had short-lived feuds with Eugene and William Regal, The Hurricane and Rosey, 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 f ...

). 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)

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

. 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 ...

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, 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,

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 Sean Michael Waltman (born July 13, 1972) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his appearances for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under the ring names 1–2–3 ...

and Marty Jannetty in a tag team match. On February 1, 2013 Thomas captured the vacant NECW Heavyweight Championship, 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 promo ...

's Destination X pay-per-view as Christy Hemme's mystery team. Renamed "The Heartbreakers", they lost to The Voodoo Kin Mafia ( B.G. James and Kip James).

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, United States. The population was 21,002 as of the 2020 census, and it is considered part of the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Located just northeast of Springfield a ...

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 (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) *

** NECW Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Chad Storm **Iron 8 Tournament (2009) ** NECW Heavyweight Championship ( 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