The Career Profile On British Wrestler Neville.
This Geordie wrestler has had a remarkable career, and since his return from injury, it has sky rocketed, including winning his first main roster title as he joined up with the new Cruiserweight Division.
But how did he get to where he is?
Born with the birth name of Benjamin Satterley in Newcastle in the year 1986, he is definitely one of the most high-profile British-born wrestlers in the WWE today.
British Wrestlers that have been in the WWE that made their name are people like William Regal, who is currently the general manager of NXT, former WWE star Wade Barrett, who was the winner of NXT season 1 and first leader of the formiddable faction Nexus and current WWE Cruiserweight competitor Jack Gallagher, who was impressive recently with his Royal Rumble performance.
At the age of 30, Neville made his in-ring debut at the age of 18 in Newcastle, England based promotion Independent Wrestling Federation in 2004, who was downed by the wrestler named Assassin.
It wasn’t long after Neville, known at the time by the ring name Pac, was caught in a feud with fellow WWE star Finn Balor, then wrestling under his real name Fergal Devitt in the year of 2005.
Neville was clearly impressive, and he soon started competing throughout British and European promotions, including Spanish Promotion Nu-Wrestling Evolution, where he was given the ring name Jungle Pac.
Neville started to wow on the indie shows before he agreed to signing with WWE, though it was more than likely hard not to consider him with the the calibre of wrestlers he fought.
In his first three matches in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, he faced stars such as AJ Styles, El Generico (currently under the name Sami Zayn), Kevin Steen (currently under the name of Kevin Owens), and he also won tag team titles with current NXT star Roderick Strong.
He also enjoyed a brief stay in the promotion Ring of Honor, where he wrestled stars like Daniel Bryan (at the time he wrestled under ring name Bryan Danielson).
Joining The WWE
The British wrestlers first NXT match was an untelevised match, where he faced off in a bout against Colin Cassady in October of 2012, with his on-screen debut coming in a win over Sakamoto two months after.
Neville soon later formed a tag-team with another British born star in Oliver Grey, and the duo took up the name British Ambition, who became inagural NXT Tag champions after defeating Erick Rowan and Luke Harper in the finals of the NXT Tag Team Title tournament.
He also had a second reign this time with one of WWE current commentators Corey Graves. Soon after he joined the NXT Title picture, in which he defeated the champion at the time Bo Dallas for the belt in a Ladder Match at first NXT PPV known as NXT Arrival, Neville held the strap for 287 days; a record until Balor’s 293-day reign.
Neville was soon promoted to WWE’s main roster on the following night to WrestleMania 31. A few weeks later, he managed to reach the finals of the King of the Ring tournament, defeating names like Luke Harper and also Sheamus before losing out to former-WWE star Wade Barrett in the final match.
Neville also was involved with matches against big names such as John Cena and Seth Rollins, and also managed to win Breakout Star of the Year Slammy Award in 2015.
His career was put to a hold in March of 2016 when he suffered a fractured ankle. This year, Neville got drafted to Raw in July, and shortly after returned later on in the summer.
Why Was He Called Neville When Joining WWE?
According to Newcastle’s Evening Chronicle, Neville chose his own ring name due to him being a big fan of ska music, in particularly the work of Specials singer Neville Staple.
Before joining the main roster, Neville wrestled under the ring name Adrian Neville in NXT, but has since lost the first part of his name. The same thing happened with WWE superstars (Alexander) Rusev and (Antonio) Cesaro.
