Gregory James Bownds (born 20 February 1977), better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname 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 ...

TNT, is an Australian

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

and promoter, currently owning and promoting the Australasian Wrestling Federation. Bownds is the owner of the AWF promotions and has headlined for other independent promotions across Australia. Bownds has also wrestled in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, where he has worked for

Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max , often referred to simply as Zero1 and sometimes referred to as Pro Wrestling Zero1 Catch as Catch Can (stylized as ZERO1 and PRO WRESTLING ZERO1 CATCH AS CATCH CAN, respectively), is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001 ...

, and Dragon Gate, one of very few Australian wrestlers to do so. He also has studied Mexican

lucha libre ''Lucha libre'' (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term for the style of professional wrestling originating in Mexico. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has develope ...

wrestling whilst in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. He also organises wrestling shows Australia wide for the Supanova Pop Culture Expo.

Career

Beginning

Bownds wrestled as "Tommy the Cat" and then "TNT Kid" for World Wide Wrestling and Australian Championship Wrestling. He won the Australasian Tag Team Championship with Kiss before leaving the promotion after a backstage dispute and vacated the title. In 1998 Bownds defeated

Mark Mercedes Mark Mercedes is an Australian professional wrestler and promoter, currently owning and promoting the International Wrestling Australia he was one of the few Australians to wrestle for World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling All-St ...

for the ACW Australian Heavyweight title in

Fairfield, New South Wales Fairfield is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Being in the centre of the Cumberland Plain, Fairfield is located west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrat ...

when he was 21 years old. From here Bownds moved to

International Wrestling Australia Mark Mercedes is an Australian professional wrestler and promoter, currently owning and promoting the International Wrestling Australia he was one of the few Australians to wrestle for World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling All-St ...

in 1998 where he became a popular

face The face is the front of the 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 affect th ...

. An ankle injury put him out of action for six months in 1999 until he formed the

Australasian Wrestling Federation Gregory James Bownds (born 20 February 1977), better known by his ring name TNT, is an Australian professional wrestler and promoter, currently owning and promoting the Australasian Wrestling Federation. Bownds is the owner of the AWF promo ...

Australasian Wrestling Federation

1999 – 2005

In 1999 Bownds formed the AWF and toured Australia with the likes of Sabu, Marty Jannetty,

Super Dragon Daniel Caine Lyon (born June 8, 1980), better known by his ring name Super Dragon, is an American professional wrestler. Beginning his career in 1997, he has worked for companies such as All Pro Wrestling, Chikara, Combat Zone Wrestling, Ring ...

and

Chris Candido Christopher Barrett Candito (March 21, 1972 – April 28, 2005) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Candito is best remembered for his tenures with professional wrestling promotion, promotions such as World Championship ...

.Interview with Greg Bownds
/ref> Bownds has made his biggest impact here, he has wrestled in, and booked for, the promotion since its inception in 1999. In August 2001 Bownds (wrestling as TNT) was the winner of an eight-man tournament to become AWF Australasian Champion, defeating Lobo in the finals, holding the title for the next 12 months before losing it to Il Cognito. In November 2002, TNT regained the AWF

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

n Heavyweight Championship after defeating Il Cognito, in a 30-minute Iron Man match. Throughout late 2002 and early 2003, Bownds went to

and studied the Lucha libre wrestling style under Rey Misterio, Sr. and Phobia, two of the sports' most respected wrestlers. In April 2004, TNT attempted to regain the AWF Heavyweight Championship in a championship-crowning fatal fourway match after the title was vacated by the injured Il Cognito. In the match finale TNT was pinned by high flyer Mark Hilton. Throughout 2005 Bownds feuded with Hilton, Scotty Club and Dean Draven. He also toured Australia, wrestling as part of the

World Series Wrestling World Series Wrestling (WSW) is an Australian professional wrestling promotion. Originally founded in 2005, the promotion was in business for two years before going on hiatus, resuming operations in 2017. The company is founded, promoted and owne ...

events (marketed as ''International Assault''), defeating American stars

Frankie Kazarian Frank Benedict Gerdelman (born August 4, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and musician signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), performing under the ring name Frankie Kazarian. He is also known for his wo ...

and

in a triple threat match at the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

show.

2006

In mid-2006 Greg toured Japan where he wrestled as Aussie Ozbone in

, he wrestled alongside TNA stars such as

Alex Shelley Patrick Kenneth Martin (born May 23, 1983), better known by the ring name Alex Shelley, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. He is widely known for his tenure ...

and

Chris Sabin Joshua Harter (born February 4, 1982), better known by the ring name Chris Sabin, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. After being trained by Scott D'Amore, Sabin debuted in 2000 f ...

2007

In January 2007, TNT defeated Steve Ravenous to win his third AWF Championship but lost it to Dragon Gate wrestler

Cima Cima may refer to: Acronyms *The Center for International Media Assistance, a media development organization in Washington, DC * Center for Italian Modern Art * Centre International de la Mécanique d'Art (International centre for Art Mechanics), ...

soon after, Bownds then regained the title the next night. In March 2007, TNT defeated

Steve Corino Steven Eugene Corino (born May 29, 1973) is a Canadian professional wrestling trainer and former professional wrestler. , he works for the American professional wrestling promotion WWE as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center and as a produ ...

in the suburb of Cardiff in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

to win the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship. However, the title would soon be returned to Corino and the title change negated when the "proper paperwork" could not be found. In May 2007 TNT and the AWF went to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

for two shows featuring

Bryan Danielson Bryan Lloyd Danielson (born May 22, 1981) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs on a part time basis. He is also known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under t ...

. TNT defeated Danielson on the second show's main event. In June 2007 TNT defended his AWF Heavyweight Championship at ''International Assault 2'' (a co-promotion of the AWF and World Series Wrestling)defeating

Kid Kash David Tyler Cash (born July 31, 1969), better known by his ring name Kid Kash, is an American mixed martial artist and retired professional wrestler, best known for his tenures with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Total Nonstop Action Wre ...

Austin Aries Daniel Healy Solwold Jr. (born April 15, 1978), better known by his ring name Austin Aries, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, TNA Wrestling, where he is a t ...

and

Billy Kidman Peter Alan Gruner Jr.(born May 11, 1974) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Billy Kidman. He works for WWE, where he is a producer. As a wrestler, Kidman is best known for his work with World Championsh ...

. TNT then toured Japan with the Dragon Gate Promotion. Whilst over there he wrestled three matches. TNT teamed with

Masaaki Mochizuki is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for Dragon Gate and Pro Wrestling Noah. Mochizuki is a former FIP World Champion and three-time Open the Dream Gate Champion. Professional wrestling career Early years A former karat ...

and defeated Super Shisa and Super Shenron, then teamed with

Ryo Saito (born August 15, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestling personality and semi-retired professional wrestler primarily working in Dragongate, where he is their general manager. He is a former member of numerous stables within Dragongate as bo ...

and defeated

Shingo Takagi (born 21 November 1982), known by the ring name Shingo Takagi (鷹木信悟, ''Takagi Shingo''), is a Japanese professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is a former member of the ''Los Ingob ...

and Jack Evans and finally teamed with K-ness and Lupin Matsutani and was defeated by the team of Taka Iwasa,

Akira Tozawa Akira Tozawa (戸澤陽, ''Tozawa Akira'', born July 22, 1985) is a Japanese professional wrestler. As of 2016, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand and is a member of the Alpha Academy St ...

and

Kenichiro Arai is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for his time with the Japanese promotion Dragon Gate. Biography Kenichiro Arai, also known as AraKen, is a second term graduate of Último Dragón's Toryumon Japan group, and has been a mainstay on ...

. TNT defeated

at the AWF ''Double Dragon Challenge'' in July 2007, he also defeated

to successfully retain his AWF Heavyweight Title. In August TNT once again toured with WSW and defended the AWF title against Kid Kash. Later that month the AWF ran a show in which TNT once again successfully defended the AWF Heavyweight Title against Lee Starr. TNT continued to successfully defend his AWF Australasian Heavyweight Championship throughout 2007 defeating a variety of opponents including Mana, Lebo Ceda, Billy Flyswat,

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

, Harry Hardshaw (of Irish Whip Wrestling) in Australia and against Sabu (which was a no-contest) and Super Shenron of Dragon Gate. During his tenure as champion he also teamed with

Raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

to defeat the Platinum Players and the Bastard Brothers on AWF shows. He was named AWFs wrestler of the year for 2007 and was also sought as a contender for the vacant AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship in late 2007.

2008

In 2008, TNT continued his title reign throughout

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and formed a group known as ''The New Detonation Crew'' with AWF wrestlers Billy Flyswat, Chris X and Powerhouse Theo. On 11 April 2008, at an AWF tour event at Penrith

TNT lost the AWF Heavyweight Championship to former WWE and TNA veteran

, by pinfall. He later regained the title on 18 April 2008, in Palmerston North, New Zealand. On 14 November, TNT traveled to

Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

where he attended AAW's Superclash and was able to win the AWA Australian Championship off former AAW wrestler Rave and became the second ever holder of the title. Bownds is the head trainer of the AWF School of Pro Wrestling and has trained over 50 active Australian professional wrestlers. He is currently the AWF's head booker.

2009

2009 saw TNT end his decade long feud with Il Cognito in a Steel Cage match at AWF Psychoticslam, capturing the Australasian Championship for a 6th time. The following night he defended his Australasian Championship against

Al Snow Allen Ray Sarven (born July 18, 1963) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Al Snow. He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation/ World Wrestling Entertainm ...

. After injuring his shoulder at

Florida Championship Wrestling Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) was a professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion based on the former National Wrestling Alliance member promotion, Championship Wrestling from Florida, which operated from 1961 until ...

he returned to Australia and vacated the Australasian Championship.

2010

In 2010, TNT began a heel faction called the Detonation Crew and was joined by Iron Ben Coles (aka Iron Jay) and Mighty Mel. Iron Ben Coles would go on to win the AWF Championship under TNT's guidance, a title he would hold till 2013.

2012

TNT returned to the ring after injury to take on

Adam Pearce Adam John Pearce (born June 24, 1978) is an American retired professional wrestler and executive employed by WWE as Director of Live Events, producer, trainer, and on-screen general manager of the Raw brand. Pearce is a former five-time NW ...

for the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professiona ...

and was defeated. TNT also made his first non-AWF Queensland Appearance when he faced Jade Diamond for the "Australian Heavyweight Championship" at GWE/PWAQ Summer Reign 2012 in December, making the rare decision to choose an interstate booking over AWF which held a show in Sydney on the same night.

2014

TNT won the Gojappe Pro Championship, the first time the title had changed hands in Australia. 2016 Defeated Dean Draven for the AWF Dual Championship (Australasian & Commonwealth Championships) on 3 December 2016 in Penrith, NSW, Australia.

Championships and accomplishments

*All Action Wrestling **AAW Australian Championship (1 time) *Australian Championship Wrestling **ACW Australian Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

**AWF Australasian Championship (6 times) **AWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Whissky Sixx **2014 OJ Fitzpatrick Cup Tournament Winner **PWW Australian Championship **Gojappe Pro Championship *World Wide Wrestling Australia **WWW Australasian Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kiss * All Action Wrestling/AAW Australia **AWA Australian Championship (1 time)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bownds, Greg 1977 births Living people Professional wrestlers from Sydney Sportsmen from New South Wales Australian male professional wrestlers Professional wrestling trainers Professional wrestling promoters