Paul Michael London[7] (born April 16, 1980) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he performs as a wrestler and a producer. He is best known for his tenure in WWE.
London was born in Austin, Texas, and has two older brothers, Daniel and Jonathan. In 1996, Daniel was killed by a drunk driver at the age of nineteen.[1][8] Jonathan is a music video director.[9] London attended Westlake High School in Texas.[1] He helped create the school's first-ever wrestling team where he was the captain, first varsity letterman and previously held the record for the fastest pinfall time of 7.4 seconds but was broken by 2x State Champion and Austin Westlake Great Justin Wood at 6.9 seconds.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (2000–2003)
After graduating from high school, London trained at several wrestling schools, including a trailer park in West Memphis, Arkansas and a school run by Ivan Putski in North Austin, Texas. He debuted in 2000.[1] London made his first appearance at WCW Greed on March 18, 2001, as an audience member during the Diamond Dallas Page and Scott Steiner WCW World Heavyweight Championship match. He later enrolled in Shawn Michaels' wrestling school, the Texas Wrestling Academy, where he was trained by Rudy Gonzales.[10] Early in his career, London made brief appearances in Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Zero-One (Zero1) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). London competed in Zero1 for several months on a match-by-match basis, beginning in January 2003, before turning down a contract.[1] London was contacted by TNA after ROH's one-year anniversary show, and told that they were interested in him doing some matches on a try-out basis.[11] On February 12, 2003, he made his TNA debut in a Gauntlet match against Jerry Lynn, which he lost.[12][13] London competed mainly in the company's X Division, even earning shots at the NWA TNA X Division Championship.[14] His last appearance in TNA was on June 18, 2003, at the TNA Anniversary show.[15] He wrestled X Division Champion Chris Sabin for the title, only to lose due to interference from CM Punk.[15] London has said that he viewed his time in TNA as a "stepping stone", but knew that he did not want to be there long-term.[11] London also made several appearances for East Coast Wrestling Association and won the 7th Annual ECWA Super 8 Tournament.[5]
Ring of Honor (2002–2003; 2013–2014)
He made his debut in Ring of Honor (ROH) on March 30, 2002, in a match against Chris Marvel.[16] He began a lengthy feud with Michael Shane during a tag team match for ROH contracts on July 27, 2002. During the bout, both Shane and London made simultaneous pinfalls on their opponent's partners. The referee only counted for Shane, giving his team the victory, which led to London and Shane brawling.[17] The two continued to feud over the next several months in matches such as Street Fights (where the crowd chanted "please don't die" due to London's high-risk offense), a Triple Threat match and a Gauntlet match.[18][19][20]
On December 7, 2002, London won a tournament to capture the ROH Number One Contender's Trophy, guaranteeing a match for the ROH Championship.[21] He lost the match three weeks later to then-champion Xavier.[22] On February 8, 2003, London competed in a Triple Threat match for the Number One Contender's Trophy, pinning A.J. Styles for the win.[23] After the match, Xavier informed London that he would compete for the title immediately.[23] London again lost to the champion.[23] London's final match in ROH was for the title against Samoa Joe on July 19, 2003, in which he lost.[5][24]
London then began a tag team with Billy Kidman on January 29, 2004.[32] On the July 8 episode of SmackDown!, the duo won the WWE Tag Team Championship from the Dudley Boyz.[33] They defended the title against the Dudleys and the Basham Brothers on several occasions before losing the championship to René Duprée and Kenzo Suzuki on September 9, due to Kidman leaving London to fight by himself.[34][35][36] Kidman's heelturn led to a feud between the two, which culminated at No Mercy where Kidman defeated London with a shooting star press. After the match, London was bleeding from the mouth and being stretchered when Kidman pulled him back into the ring with the stretcher and delivered another shooting star press to London's injured ribs.[37] This storyline was put in place after London had broken his nose wrestling Booker T and needed time off to recuperate.[38]
Return and Cruiserweight Champion (2004-2005)
London returned on November 27, wrestling on Velocity until the end of the year.[39] On March 10, 2005, London became the number one contender for Chavo Guerrero's WWE Cruiserweight Championship, which he later won in a cruiserweight battle royal.[40][41] Guerrero challenged London for the title at Judgment Day, where London emerged victorious.[42] During another title match with Guerrero on June 23, The Mexicools stormed the ring, attacking both London and Guerrero.[43] On the July 14 episode of SmackDown!, London teamed with Scotty 2 Hotty and Funaki to face The Mexicools. The ending of the match saw Juventud perform the 450° splash on London for the win, but landed his knee onto London's face and legitimately broke his nose in the process.[44][45] London lost the Cruiserweight Championship on the August 6 episode of Velocity to Nunzio.[46] Later in the night, London cut a heel promo encouraging the fans to protest his title loss.[47] London went on a losing streak before returning as a face and teaming with the newly rehired Brian Kendrick.[48]
On the December 16 episode of Velocity, London and Kendrick remade their image, wearing theatricalmasks to the ring and matching vests and shorts.[49] On the April 7, 2006, episode of SmackDown!, London and Kendrick defeated WWE Tag Team Champions MNM in a non-title match.[50] They developed a winning streak over the champions, including singles victories for both Kendrick and London over Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury, respectively.[51][52][53] London and Kendrick won the WWE Tag Team Championship at Judgment Day, marking consecutive victories for London and Kendrick over MNM.[54] On August 11, K. C. James and Idol Stevens defeated the champions in a non-title match, igniting a feud between the two teams.[55] During the rivalry, WWE DivaAshley Massaro began accompanying London and Kendrick to the ring to act as a valet and combat the actions of James and Stevens' manager Michelle McCool.[56][57]
They soon began a losing streak to the team of William Regal and Dave Taylor. Regal defeated both team members in singles matches and on the December 8 episode of SmackDown!, Kendrick and London lost a tag team match to the pair.[58][59][60] As a result, they were scheduled to defend the championship against Regal and Taylor at Armageddon; at the event, the match was changed to a four-way ladder match also involving MNM and The Hardys. London and Kendrick won the match and retained the championship.[61] On the January 12, 2007, episode of SmackDown! London and Kendrick successfully retained their championship against Regal and Taylor in a traditional tag team match.[62]
On February 2, London and Kendrick suffered a non-title loss to the rookie team Deuce 'n Domino.[63] A further tag team match loss and a singles loss for Kendrick to Deuce led to a championship match at No Way Out, in which London and Kendrick were victorious.[64][65][66] They retained the championship against MNM on SmackDown! on March 23, and then retained the championship against Deuce 'n Domino again on April 13, after Deuce 'n Domino were disqualified.[67][68] In a rematch the following week on the April 20 episode of SmackDown!, London and Kendrick lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to Deuce 'n Domino. During the match London missed a moonsault from the ring apron to the floor kayfabe injuring his ribs, leaving Kendrick to battle Deuce 'n Domino alone.[69] London and Kendrick's reign was the longest in the championship's history at 331 days until it was surpassed by The New Day in 2016.[70]Selling his storyline injured ribs, London was absent from physical action until the May 11 episode of SmackDown!, when he defeated Domino in singles competition.[71] London and Kendrick unsuccessfully competed for the titles on June 1 in a triple threat tag team match, which also involved Regal and Taylor, and lost a rematch on June 15 in a standard tag team match.[72][73]
Both London and Kendrick were drafted to the Rawbrand on June 17, 2007, during the Supplemental Draft.[74] They won their debut match on Raw against The World's Greatest Tag Team on June 18.[75] Throughout July and August, they wrestled against The World's Greatest Tag Team and Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch on Raw, and on September 3, they won a number one contender's match for Cade and Murdoch's World Tag Team Championship.[76][77][78] At a house show in South Africa on September 5, London and Kendrick defeated Cade and Murdoch to win the World Tag Team Championship, only to lose it back in a rematch three days later.[79][80] At the end of 2007, he was inactive due to a foot injury.[81] London returned on the February 4, 2008, episode of Raw, when he and Kendrick lost to the team of Carlito and Santino Marella.[82] On the March 17 episode of Raw, London and Kendrick faced Umaga in a handicap match. During the match, Kendrick walked out and left London to get pinned; no dissension came of the incident, and London and Kendrick continued to team together.[83][84] They unsuccessfully challenged Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes for the World Tag Team Championship on May 26.[85]
The team came to an end when Kendrick was drafted back to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft in June.[86] The following month, London was briefly involved in a storyline between Shawn Michaels, and Chris Jericho and Lance Cade, when Jericho and Cade used London as an example of what happened to those who idolized Michaels. London lost singles matches to both Jericho and Cade on Raw, before disappearing from television.[38][87][88] London was released from his WWE contract on November 7, 2008.[38][89]
Independent circuit (2009–2018)
London made his debut in Big Time Wrestling on February 28, 2009, defeating the BTW Champion Jason Styles by disqualification.[90] At the event, he also debuted a new gimmick, described as "a nerdy blend of 1970s band Devo and a nerdy Air Force cadet with flight jacket and goofy, oversized sunglasses".[90] On November 13, 2009, London defeated Jason Blade to win the Northeast Wrestling Championship.[91] On July 10, 2010, London defeated Joey Silvia in a two out of three falls match to become the new Pro Wrestling Xperience Heavyweight Champion.[92]
On March 26, 2010, London made his debut for Dragon Gate USA in a tag team match, where he and Jimmy Jacobs were defeated by Brian Kendrick and Jon Moxley.[93] After the match, Kendrick turned on Moxley and re-formed his team with London, which led to a Loser Leaves Company tag team match between London and Kendrick and Jacobs and Jack Evans at the following day's tapings of the Mercury Rising pay-per-view. In the end Jacobs forced Kendrick to tap out and as a result he was forced to leave Dragon Gate USA for good. After the match London was assaulted by Teddy Hart.[94]
In December 2010, London began working for Lucha Libre USA as the masked Sydistiko, taking over the role previously held by T. J. Perkins.[95] He teamed up with Rellik to defeat Dinastia (El Oriental and Tinieblas Jr.) on December 12, 2010. The pair participated in three way match to decide the new LLUSA Tag Team Championship but this time El Oriental and Tinieblas Jr. would get the better of the pair. As Sydistiko, he would go on to lose all his matches including LLUSA Championship number one contendership lucha roulette elimination.
On July 30, 2011, London competed at Vanguard Championship Wrestling (VCW)'s Liberty Lottery 2011 event. He faced John Kermon, the VCW Liberty Champion, and defeated him to become the Liberty Champion.[96] On February 16, 2013, London defeated Brian Kendrick at Family Wrestling Entertainment's No Limit, winning a title match against the Tri-Borough Champion Damian Darling. The same night, London defeated Darling, winning the title. On June 21, 2013, London defeated Akio to retain the title. The next day, London and Kendrick were defeated by The Young Bucks at House of Hardcore 2.[97]
London spent the majority of 2014 wrestling abroad, including in Australia, Europe, and South America.[10] In Scotland's Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW), London and Brian Kendrick won the ICW Tag Team Championship in October 2014. After a 28 day reign, they lost the championship to Polo Promotions (Mark Coffey and Jackie Polo) on November 2.[98] Following this title loss, London would then unsuccessfully challenge Kenny Williams for the ICW Zero-G Championship.[99]
On November 19, 2016, London wrestled for Target Wrestling, where he answered Shady Nattrass' High Octane Division Championship open challenge. London defeated Nattrass in the match and subsequently won the title. On April 20, 2017, London vacated the title due to a knee injury sustained while wrestling in San Diego.
On July 29, 2017, it was announced that he would return to Target on August 18 to face Turbo Josh Terry for the High Octane Division Championship he vacated in April.[100]
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2009–2010; 2013)
London made his return to the independent circuit by making his Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) debut on February 21, 2009, at Express Written Consent.[90] He wrestled in a six man tag team main event where he and The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) defeated The Dynasty (Joey Ryan, Scott Lost and Karl Anderson). He later formed an alliance with Bryan Danielson and Roderick Strong, known as the "Hybrid Dolphins". On January 30, 2010, London re-formed his partnership with Brian Kendrick in PWG and together the two of them defeated the PWG World Tag Team ChampionsGeneration Me in a non-title match.[101]
On April 10, 2010, London defeated PWG mainstay El Generico in a singles match.[102] On May 9, the two men teamed up to form a duo introduced as ¡Peligro Abejas! (literally translated as The Danger Bees) in the fourth annual DDT4 eight-team tag tournament. After defeating "The Professional" Scott Lost and Chuck Taylor in the first round and Jay and Mark Briscoe in the semifinals, London and Generico defeated the Young Bucks in the finals of the tournament to win both DDT4 and the PWG World Tag Team Championship.[103] Later in the year on December 11, 2010, ¡Peligro Abejas! successfully defended the PWG World Tag Team Championship against the ROH World Tag Team ChampionsThe Kings of Wrestling (Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli). On April 9, 2011, London was forced to miss a PWG event, during which El Generico and London's replacement, Ricochet, lost the PWG World Tag Team Championship back to The Young Bucks.[104]
After a two-year absence from PWG, London returned to the promotion on March 22, 2013, defeating Kevin Steen during the first night of the All Star Weekend 9.[105] During the second night, he defeated Trent? in another singles match.[106] At PWG's tenth anniversary show TEN he teamed with long-time partner Brian Kendrick in a loss to Chuck Taylor and Johnny Gargano.
Lucha Underground (2016–2019)
On November 23, 2016, London debuted in Lucha Underground, appearing on the program's third season. He is the leader of the Trios Team known as "The Rabbit Tribe", together with Mala Suerte and Saltador. Their gimmick is a psychedelic drug take on the 1865 novelAlice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.[107] During the third season, the Rabbit Tribe considered Mascarita Sagrada as their God "The White Rabbit". On Episode 20 of Season 3, the Rabbit Tribe defeated Worldwide Underground to win three of the Aztec Medallions.
Impact Wrestling (2019)
In 2019, London returned to TNA, now known as Impact Wrestling. It was reported in September that he worked backstage as a producer on Impact television tapings in February.[108]
Return to wrestling (2022–present)
London made his return to wrestling on September 24, 2022.
On August 19, 2023, London appeared at Imperial Pro Wrestling in Bristol, Tennessee. He wrestled up and comer Axton Ray in a losing effort.
On December 14, 2023, London appeared at Timebomb Pro in Fargo, North Dakota, wrestling for the Timebomb Pro Sanctuary title in a losing effort to Connor Hopkins. London made his entrance singing the theme to James Bond movie Thunderball.
^"NWA:TNA Notes: Hennig, Sandman/Corino, Jarrett, More". LordsofPain.net. February 15, 2003. Archived from the original on November 23, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2007. Paul London and Jerry Lynn had a fantastic back and fourth (sic) battle this past Wednesday night[...] London was reportedly quite nervous about his TNA debut[...]
^PWI Staff (2007). "Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents: 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts". Wrestling’s historical cards. Kappa Publishing. p. 116.
^"Velocity results – December 16, 2005". Rajah.com. December 18, 2005. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved July 9, 2007. London and Kendrick are sporting new matching ring attire and theatrical themed mimist masks.