Drake Younger

Drake Wuertz (born September 10, 1984) is an American professional wrestling referee and retired professional wrestler.

Wuertz was born in Indianapolis on September 10, 1984.

In 2006, Drake, along with fellow Indianapolis natives Scotty Vortekz, Cliff Crunk, xOMGx, Poon-Loc & Diehard joined the R.A.A.G.E. Dojo, training under American Kickboxer, after already debuting for Insanity Pro Wrestling in Indianapolis.

In March 2006, Drake returned to Insanity Pro Wrestling in a losing effort to "Diehard" Dustin Lee.

In June 2006 Drake and Dustin Lee went at it once again but this time at IWA Mid-South's King of the Deathmatch tournament.

He defeated Dustin Lee in the 1st round in a cage match, but lost in round 2 against JC Bailey in a barefoot thumbtack deathmatch.

Drake debuted for Combat Zone Wrestling in July 2006 in the fifth annual Tournament of Death.

Drake lasted to the finals but was eliminated by Nick Gage.

The following year, he made it to the finals again and defeated Brain Damage to become the TOD 6 Champion.

In February 2007, Younger defeated Ian Rotten, Mad Man Pondo, 2 Tuff Tony, Mickie Knuckles and "Diehard" Dustin Lee in a Hardcore Rumble to become the new IWA Mid-South Deathmatch Champion.

On December 1, 2007, Drake Younger competed in the third IWA Deep-South Carnage Cup where he wrestled a Three Way Deathmatch against Viking and WHACKS.

In the match WHACKS dropped himself from the ceiling on Drake Younger who lay on a table with light tubes on top of him.

The shattering of the light tubes caused a big tear in Drake's left ear due to which he could not finish the tournament.

The injury caused him to wear ear protection for the next couple months.

On January 5, 2008, Drake defeated Carlton Kaz for the IPW Grand Heavyweight Championship (which Younger made into the IPW World Heavyweight Championship, by defending the Grand Title in Germany), making him a two-time champion by also winning the Jr. Heavyweight Championship a few years back.

On July 12, 2008, Younger defeated Nick Gage in a "Tangled Web" Deathmatch for the CZW World Heavyweight Championship, making him a dual champion as he also held the CZW Ultraviolent Underground Championship.

On October 11, 2008, Younger gave his CZW Ultraviolent Underground Championship to Danny Havoc at Decision'08.

On September 27, 2008, Younger defeated Sami Callihan and Claudio Castagnoli in the finals of the 2008 Ted Petty Invitational, to become the first wrestler to win both a technical wrestling and a deathmatch wrestling tournament.

On January 3, 2009, Younger lost his IPW World Heavyweight Championship to Jon Moxley at Animosity 09 in a Dog Collar Match.

On January 30, 2010, Drake Younger would lose his CZW World Heavyweight Title belt to B-Boy at High Stakes 4 - Sky's The Limit.

On February 13, 2010, at the CZW 11th Anniversary Show Fan Appreciation Deadly Doubleheader Younger would win the afternoon show defeating Drew Blood but would go on to losing at the night show to J.C. Bailey.

On April 10, 2010, at Swinging For The Fences, Drake Younger teamed with Eddie Kingston to win the CZW World Tag Team Champions by defeating The Best Around.

On July 10, 2010, Younger and Kingston were stripped of the CZW World Tag Team Championship, after Kingston quit the company.

On September 9, 2010, at CZW's "It's Always Bloody In Philadelphia" Drake Younger turned heel when he turned on the Suicide Kings and his friend Scotty Vortekz.

On September 17, 2011, Drake was crowned IWA Mid South's "King of the Deathmatches".

He is the only competitor to ever win both the Ted Petty Invitational and King of the Deathmatches tournaments.

Younger made his Pro Wrestling Guerrilla debut on July 21, 2012, at Threemendous III, PWG's nine-year anniversary event.

He wrestled and lost against long-time associate B-Boy.

Younger returned to PWG in September to compete in his first Battle of Los Angeles tournament, the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles.

He was eliminated in the opening round by Roderick Strong on September 1.

The next evening, Younger teamed with B-Boy and Willie Mack to defeat Kyle O'Reilly, Davey Richards, and Joey Ryan.

On December 1 at Mystery Vortex, Younger wrestled Sami Callihan in a losing effort.

He was a referee in WWE from 2014 to 2021.

Before that, he wrestled for a number of major independent promotions under the ring name Drake Younger, including Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), IWA Mid-South (IWA MS), EVOLVE, Dragon Gate USA (DGUSA), Chikara, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG).

Known for his deathmatch wrestling style, he retired from professional wrestling in April 2014 but came out of retirement following his release from WWE in 2021.

Wuertz filed as a Republican candidate for Florida's state house, district 30.

Wuertz lost in the Republican primary in 2022.

On April 12, 2014, after signing with WWE, Younger made his farewell appearance for CZW, winning the Best of the Best XIII.

He is the only competitor to ever win both the Best Of The Best Tournament and the Tournament Of Death.

On February 13, 2016, Younger returned to CZW and was inducted into their Hall of Fame.