Paul Bilbo (born October 15, 1991), 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 ...

Pretty Boy Smooth, is an American

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 ...

, actor, and philanthropist. He is currently making appearances for the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

Early life and education

Born in

Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) on Long Island, in New York, United States. The town's combined population was 793,409 at the 2020 census. It occupies the s ...

, Bilbo started at St. Dominic High School in

Oyster Bay, New York The Town of Oyster Bay is the easternmost of the three Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns that make up Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York (state), New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is ...

, where he helped lead the Bayhawk team to a 52–24 record in his last three seasons. Bilbo played Division I

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...

with former future Golden State Warriors 2011 second round draft pick, Charles Jenkins. Bilbo finished his collegiate career at Division II college

Mercyhurst University Mercyhurst University is a private Catholic university in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. History On September 20, 1926, Mercyhurst College opened its doors just a few blocks away from the city's southern boundary. It was founded by the S ...

He received a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in organizational leadership.

Professional wrestling career

Smooth began training as a professional wrestler for Pro Wrestling Rampage in Erie, PA under head trainer Aaron Draven. When the school closed, he trained under WWE's

Johnny Gargano John Anthony Nicholas Gargano (born August 14, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. , he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand and is one-half of #DIY with Tommaso Ciampa. Gargano is known for his time in NXT, where ...

at the Absolute Intense Wrestling School in Cleveland, Ohio, then later with AEW's The Blade at Grapplers Anonymous in Buffalo, NY. Smooth's official professional wrestling debut was March 13, 2016. Smooth is currently a feature talent for the National Wrestling Alliance, both for

NWA POWERRR ''NWA Powerrr'' is a professional wrestling streaming television program produced by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that premiered on October 8, 2019. , the series streams on X. Beginning July 29, 2025, the program will move to The Roku C ...

, and the first of the new NWA territories, NWA Exodus. On May 11, 2024, Pretty Boy Smooth accompanied by Pastor C-Lo, defeated Brandon Day, Cristiano Argento, and Kal Herro in a Fatal Four Way Elimination Match to become the inaugural NWA Midwest Champion, the heavyweight title for the Exodus territory that is officially sanctioned by the

. Smooth held the title for 252 days with 20 title defenses across 10 different wrestling promotions before eventually losing the title to Dante Casanova on January 18, 2025 at NWA Exodus: Begin Again. Smooth was also a mainstay at AIW and won several titles on the independent wrestling circuit, including an eight-month AIW tag team title run with

Hornswoggle Dylan Mark Postl (born May 29, 1986) is an American professional wrestler and YouTuber. He is best known under the ring name Hornswoggle. He is signed to WWE under a legends contract and performs on the independent circuit, sometimes under the ...

, and a victory over

Tracy Williams Tracy Williams (born December 18, 1988) is an American professional wrestler. Best known under his nickname "Hot Sauce", he currently performs for Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Tag Team Champion and former ROH World Telev ...

for the AIW Absolute Championship, a victory over Wardlow of

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...

Revenge Heavyweight Championship, and more recently winning the RYSE Grand Championship with a win over 6 competitors in one night, including Colin Delaney. Smooth appeared on

AEW Collision ''AEW Collision'', also known as ''Saturday Night Collision'' or simply ''Collision'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It airs live every Saturday at 8 p.m. ...

on September 16, 2023 tagging with Wes Barkley vs

Aussie Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events every year, held befor ...

on TBS.

Professional wrestling style and personas

Standing at tall and , "The Urban Playboy" Pretty Boy Smooth is a well-kept man with playboy energy, who uses his size to fight with monstrous intensity. His "powerhouse" wrestling style focuses on slams from incredible height & delivering powerful strikes. His signature moves include the Hoss Cross (knockout punch) and The Penthouse (standing blue thunder bomb).

Filmography

Personal life

Smooth lives in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...

. In 2020, Smooth founded the ''PB Provides Scholarship Fund'' which is awarded yearly to an African American student who is interested in obtaining a communications degree at Mercyhurst University. In 2025, Smooth became a sponsored athlete for Gaspari Nutrition.

Championships and accomplishments

*RYSE Wrestling **RYSE Wrestling Grand Championship (1 time) * Absolute Intense Wrestling **AIW Absolute Championship (1 time) **AIW Future Cup (2017) **AIW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

NWA Exodus Pro Midwest NWA Exodus Pro Midwest, also known as Exodus Pro Wrestling, is an American independent professional wrestling promotion, founded on July 17, 2023 by EC3. It serves as the Midwestern territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). History ...

**NWA Midwest Heavyweight Championship (1 time, inaugural) *Expect The Unexpected Wrestling **ETU Atlantic Tag Team Championship (1 time, inaugural, current) – with J Boujii **Title Wave Tournament (2025) – with J Boujii *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

'' **Ranked No. 262 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

'' in 2021 *Pro Wrestling Rampage **Pro Wrestling Rampage Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Colby Redd *Revenge Pro Wrestling **Revenge Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smooth, Pretty Boy Living people American male professional wrestlers African-American professional wrestlers 1991 births People from Hempstead, New York Professional wrestlers from Pennsylvania Actors from Erie, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Erie, Pennsylvania