Bailey Matthews (born 30 December 1996) is an English-American
professional wrestler. He is currently signed to
WWE where he performs on their
NXT brand under the ring name Charlie Dempsey. He is the leader of the
No Quarter Catch Crew
The No Quarter Catch Crew (NQCC) is an American professional wrestling stable currently performing in WWE on the NXT brand, while also making appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah. The group currently consists of le ...
stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...
and is the current
NXT Heritage Cup
The NXT Heritage Cup is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is a specialized championship for NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The title is defended just like any other champ ...
Champion in his second reign.
Professional wrestling career
Training and independent circuit (2018–2022)
On 9 February, 2018, Matthews made his wrestling debut for
All Star Wrestling as Joe Bailey, where he was defeated by Tony Spitfire. Throughout 2019 and 2020, Bailey made appearances in
Progress Wrestling,
Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), and
Evolve.
In 2020, Matthews joined
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as a Young Lion. Although he would never end up appearing for the company, as he later left for
WWE.
In 2022, Matthews returned to Progress Wrestling, under his Charlie Dempsey ring name. He competed in the
Super Strong Style 16 Tournament, where he defeated Charles Crowley in the first round and was defeated by Chris Ridgeway in the quarterfinal.
WWE
NXT UK (2021–2022)
In January 2021, Matthews signed with WWE, where he was assigned to the
NXT UK brand. Matthews later reverted to the ring name Charlie Dempsey. Dempsey made his debut on 25 February edition of ''
NXT UK'', where he was defeated by
Tyler Bate. Dempsey later joined
Teoman and Rohan Raja to form Die Familie
and began a feud with
Gallus, establishing himself as 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 ...
in the process. On the 18 November edition of ''NXT UK'', Die Familie defeated
Gallus in their first ever match as a team.
Die Familie also started a feud with
A-Kid
Carlos Ruiz (born May 9, 1997) is a Spanish professional wrestler known under his ringname A-Kid. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on NXT as Axiom. He has also performed in NXT UK, where he was the inaugural NXT UK Heritage Cup Ch ...
. On the 10 March 2022 edition of ''NXT UK'', Dempsey defeated A-Kid. Dempsey was later challenged by A-Kid to a
British Rounds Rules match. This took place on the 21 April edition of ''NXT UK'', where Dempsey won 2–1 in the sixth round. Dempsey competed in a tournament for the
NXT United Kingdom Championship, where he lost to
Oliver Carter in his final match for NXT UK.
NXT (2022–present)
In August 2022, Dempsey moved to the
NXT brand. On the 14 February, 2023 edition of ''
NXT'', Dempsey started associating with
Drew Gulak, where Gulak served as a teacher for Dempsey. On the 18 April 2023 edition of ''NXT'', Dempsey challenged
Wes Lee for the
NXT North American Championship
The NXT North American Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is primarily defended as the secondary men's championship of the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental ...
, which he lost. In the following months, Dempsey and Gulak formed
No Quarter Catch Crew
The No Quarter Catch Crew (NQCC) is an American professional wrestling stable currently performing in WWE on the NXT brand, while also making appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah. The group currently consists of le ...
(NQCC), where they would later be joined by
Myles Borne
David Bostian III (born May 25, 1999) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring name Myles Borne on the NXT brand and is a member of the No Quarter Catch Crew stable. He is currently the only ...
and
Damon Kemp
Robert Steveson Jr. (born March 20, 1999) is an American professional wrestler known in his time in the WWE under the ring name Damon Kemp. He is a former collegiate wrestler who competed at the University of Minnesota, where he is a former N ...
. Throughout August and September, Dempsey competed in the
NXT Global Heritage Invitational to crown a #1 Contender for the
NXT Heritage Cup
The NXT Heritage Cup is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is a specialized championship for NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The title is defended just like any other champ ...
. Dempsey came up empty-handed as he lost to the likes of
Axiom
An axiom, postulate, or assumption is a statement that is taken to be true, to serve as a premise or starting point for further reasoning and arguments. The word comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning 'that which is thought worthy or f ...
(formerly A-Kid), Tyler Bate, and
Butch
Butch may refer to:
People
* Butch (nickname), a list of people
* Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch, an Old West outlaw gang
*Barbara Butch, French lesbian DJ and activist
* Butch Miller (wrestler) (born 1944), ring name of New Zealand professional wr ...
. On the 13 December 2023 edition of ''NXT'', Dempsey was involved in a
triple threat match for the NXT North American Championship with
Joe Coffey and the NXT North American Champion
Dragon Lee, who retained his title.
On the 27 February 2024 edition of ''NXT'', Dempsey defeated
The Meta-Four
Meta-Four is a professional wrestling Stable (professional wrestling), stable that performs in WWE on the NXT (WWE brand), NXT WWE brand extension, brand. The stable is led by Israelis, Israeli-Scottish people, Scottish Noam Dar and includes Swiss ...
's
Noam Dar 2–1 in a British Rounds Rules match to become the new NXT Heritage Cup Champion.
At
''NXT'': Roadblock, NQCC announced that the NXT Heritage Cup will be defended by the whole stable under the "
Catch Clause". Under the Catch Clause, NQCC as a whole referred to themselves as the NXT Heritage Cup Champions but WWE only recognize Dempsey as the official champion. The Catch Clause was invoked on the 19 March episode of ''NXT'', with Gulak defeating
Chase University
Chase University (often known as Andre Chase University and Chase U) is an American professional wrestling stable consisting of Andre Chase, Duke Hudson and Thea Hail. They are currently signed to WWE, where they perform on NXT. The group's cha ...
's
Riley Osborne
Josh Terry (born 27 March 1998) is a British professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring name Riley Osborne on the NXT brand and is a member of the Chase University stable.
Early career
Terry began train ...
2–1 to successfully defend the Cup. On the 16 April episode of ''NXT'', The D'Angelo Family leader
Tony D'Angelo
Joseph Arriola (born June 9, 1995) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Tony D'Angelo.
Professional wrestling career
On the October 5, 2021 episode of NXT, Ariola ma ...
revealed that his Family were hired by NQCC to (
kayfabe) eliminate Gulak. In reality, Gulak was written off following allegations from
Ronda Rousey that Gulak grabbed her pants' drawstrings backstage in 2022. Gulak subsequently left WWE on 3 May. D'Angelo demanded payment for the job but NQCC refused, causing a brawl between the two factions
and resulting in a
six-man tag team match between the two factions at Week 1 of ''
Spring Breakin''', which was won by The D'Angelo Family (D'Angelo,
Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo
Mitchell Lavalley (born March 3, 1997) is an American professional wrestler now signed to WWE where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and is a member of The D'Angelo Family stable as the underboss of the te ...
and
Luca Crusifino
Roman Macek (born November 16, 2000) is an American professional wrestler and former American football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Luca Crusifino. He is a member of The D'Angelo Fa ...
). On the 7 May episode of ''NXT'', Dempsey and Borne faced Tyson DuPont and Tyrek Igwe in a tag team match. Before the match started, the match referee was declared "unavailable" and Stacks was announced as the
special guest referee, costing Dempsey and Borne the match through a fast count. After the match, an irate Dempsey gave D'Angelo a title shot at the NXT Heritage Cup as payment due to the D'Angelo Family and invoked the Catch Clause, which was nullified when D'Angelo and his Family kidnapped Kemp and Borne later that night. One week later, D'Angelo defeated Dempsey 2–1 to win the Cup, ending Dempsey's reign at 76 days. After the loss of the Cup, Dempsey declared that the stable needs structure and a chain of command and assumed a leadership role. He then ordered Kemp to face D'Angelo in a rematch for the Cup but Kemp lost the match 0–2 on the June 4 episode of ''NXT''. On the August 13 episode of ''NXT'', Dempsey defeated Tony D’Angelo 2-1 to win the NXT Heritage Cup for the second time after some outside interference from new stablemate
Wren Sinclair
Madison Dombkowski (born May 25, 1995) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where she performs under the ring name Wren Sinclair on the NXT brand and is a member of the No Quarter Catch Crew stable. Dombkowski was previou ...
.
All Japan Pro Wrestling (2023–2024)
Dempsey made his return to Japan with
All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) on 31 December, 2023, where he teamed up with
Yuma Anzai to face LEONA and
Tatsumi Fujinami in a victorious effort. At AJPW’s New Year Giant Series, Dempsey challenged
Katsuhiko Nakajima for the
Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, which Nakajima won.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2024–present)
Dempsey made his
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) debut on the 4 July 2024 episode of
''TNA Impact!'' where he attacked
Leon Slater and
Trey Miguel during their match. After the attack, Miguel's tag team partner Zachary Wentz (who formerly wrestled in NXT as
Nash Carter), challenged Dempsey to a match. On the following week, Dempsey defeated Wentz in his TNA in-ring debut after interference from Myles Borne.
Personal life
Matthews is the son of English retired professional wrestler
Darren Matthews, who is best known as William Regal.
Championships and accomplishments
* Ultimate British Wrestling
** UBW Infinity Championship (2 times)
*
WWE
**
NXT Heritage Cup
The NXT Heritage Cup is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is a specialized championship for NXT, the promotion's developmental brand. The title is defended just like any other champ ...
(
2 times, current)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dempsey, Charlie
1996 births
21st-century male professional wrestlers
American male professional wrestlers
English male professional wrestlers
Living people
Professional wrestlers from Georgia (U.S. state)