Tony Nese

Anthony Nese (born August 6, 1985) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling.

He also appears for AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor.

He is best known for his time in WWE, where he is a former one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion.

Nese made his wrestling debut on September 23, 2005, for the New York Wrestling Connection promotion in a #1 contender's battle royal match for the NYWC Interstate Championship, which was won by Rob Eckos.

On November 11, 2005, Nese made his in-ring debut under the ring name Matt Maverick in a losing effort against Spyder.

Nese won his first match on December 17, 2005, in a triple threat match defeating Spyder and Amazing Red.

Nese continued to wrestle for the promotion for several years, shortening his ring name to Maverick.

His independent wrestling career was jumpstarted after he competed in the 2008 ECWA Super 8 Tournament, where he won the first round around against Loca Vida but lost in the semi-finals to Aden Chambers.

Nese would then later on compete in various dark matches for Ring of Honor (ROH) in 2009.

Nese made his debut for Total Nonstop Action (TNA) on the July 7, 2011, episode of Impact Wrestling as part of the X Division Showcase tournament.

He was eliminated from the tournament after losing to Jack Evans in a three-way match that included Jesse Sorensen On August 18, TNA announced that Nese had signed a contract with the promotion.

On that evening's episode of Impact Wrestling, he took part in a gauntlet match to determine the #1 contender to the X-Division Championship which he would be eliminated early in the match.

Nese did not appear on television for a while after this.

He made his return on the December 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, where he would compete in a Best of Three Series with Zema Ion to determine the third and final challenger for the X Division Championship at Genesis.

Nese would lose the first match of the series.

On the December 22 edition of Impact Wrestling, Nese defeated Ion in the second round of the series.

Two weeks later, Nese lost to Ion in a Contract on a Pole match in the final round of the series.

Nese appeared on the March 22, 2012, episode of Impact Wrestling, competing in fatal-four-way match that included Austin Aries, Kid Kash, and Zema Ion which ended in a no contest.

This would also mark Nese's final appearance in company.

Nese was released from TNA on May 17, 2012, after asking permission to work a scheduled tag team match for Pro Wrestling Syndicate, which would include Nese teaming with Sami Callihan against The Great Muta and Kai.

Nese was offered his release from TNA which he accepted.

Nese returned for one night only for the company's One Night Only pay-per-view show, X-Travaganza on January 12 the following year competing in a tag team match in a losing effort.

After departing from TNA, Nese returned to the independent wrestling circuit continuing to appear for the New York Wrestling Connection promotion also competing in several independent wrestling promotions including Pro Wrestling Syndicate.

He started using his real name, Anthony Nese as his ring name.

Nese became the first PWS Tri-State champion and was undefeated.

He shortly feuded with Matt Hardy, defeating him in a match for the Tri-State title before eventually losing the title to Star Man on November 9, 2012, in a triple threat match.

On October 12, 2013, Nese defeated the FWE Tri Borough Champion Paul London in a non-title match.

In early 2013, Nese began working for Dragon Gate USA and Evolve.

On November 3, Nese began his first tour of Dragon Gate USA's Japanese parent promotion, Dragon Gate, unsuccessfully challenging Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! for the Open the Brave Gate Championship.

On November 9, 2013, at House of Hardcore 3, Nese defeated Alex Reynolds and Petey Williams.

On December 8, 2013, Nese won the Family Wrestling Entertainment's Openweight Grand Prix.

On September 14, 2014, at Evolve 35, Nese and Caleb Konley won the Open the United Gate Championship from The Bravado Brothers (Harlem and Lancelot) in a three-way match, also involving A. R. Fox and Rich Swann.

At FWE ReFueled day 1, Nese and Jigsaw defeated Adrenaline Express to win the FWE Tag Team Championship.

The following day, they lost the title to The Young Bucks.

On June 11, 2016, at Evolve 63, Nese defeated Lince Dorado, Drew Gulak, Johnny Gargano and T. J. Perkins to qualify for WWE's Cruiserweight Classic tournament.

The tournament began on June 23, with Nese defeating Anthony Bennett in his first round match.

On July 14, Nese was eliminated from the tournament by Brian Kendrick.

On the September 26 episode of Raw, Nese made his main roster debut, losing to Cruiserweight Champion T.J. Perkins.

On the October 3 episode of Raw, Nese won his first match on the main roster against Rich Swann.

Nese made his pay-per-view debut on the Hell in a Cell pre-show, teaming with Drew Gulak and Ariya Daivari in a losing effort to Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado and Sin Cara.