Jonah (wrestler)

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Jonah
Jonah Rock making his NJPW debut.jpg
Jonah in 2021
Birth nameJermaine Haley
Born (1988-08-25) August 25, 1988 (age 33)
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Bronson Reed
J-Rock
Jermaine Hailey
Jonah
Jonah Rock
Billed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Billed weight330 lb (150 kg)[1]
Billed fromAdelaide, South Australia
Black Forest, South Australia[1]
Trained byDamian Slater
Hartley Jackson
Debut2007

Jermaine Haley (born 25 August 1988) is an Australian professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Impact Wrestling under the ring name Jonah (stylized in all capital letters). He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Bronson Reed, and is a former one-time NXT North American Champion.

Professional wrestling career[]

Early career (2007–2018)[]

Debuting in 2007 under the ring names Jonah Rock and J-Rock, he spent 11 years working throughout the Australian independent circuit. While wrestling in Australia, Rock earned numerous titles. He is a former three-time Wrestle Rampage Australian National Champion, former one-time Explosive Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champion, former one-time Pacific Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship, former one-time Heavyweight Champion, former one-time Professional Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Champion and a former one-time Melbourne City Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion, one-time Intercommonwealth Champion and one-time Tag Team Champion.

Rock's early work was not limited to solely appearing in Australian promotions. He also appeared in Japan's Pro Wrestling NOAH promotion, the British promotions Revolution Pro Wrestling and PROGRESS Wrestling, the German promotion Westside Xtreme Wrestling and the American independent promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.

Jonah In 2013
Jonah In 2017

WWE (2019–2021)[]

In January 2019, Haley's signing was announced along with 11 other recruits where he would report to the WWE's developmental territory NXT. On March 9, he would make his debut on an NXT live event wrestling under his real name losing to Riddick Moss. In June, his ring name was changed to Bronson Reed. On the July 17 episode of NXT, Reed made his official televised debut competing in the NXT Breakout Tournament where he defeated Dexter Lumis in the first round but was defeated by Cameron Grimes in the quarter-finals. On the August 21 episode of NXT, Reed was defeated by his former TMDK stablemate Shane Thorne. On the February 5 episode of NXT, he was attacked by Undisputed Era backstage after trying to come to the aid of Kushida. The following week, he challenged Roderick Strong to a match but was defeated.[2] On the June 3 episode of NXT, Reed was defeated by Grimes. Following the match, he was attacked by Karrion Kross. On the June 17 episode of NXT, Reed defeated Leon Ruff and called out Kross challenging him to a match for the next week.[3] The following week, Reed was defeated by Kross.[4]

Next, Reed would enter a short feud with newcomer LA Knight, defeating him in a singles match. After gaining momentum, he focused on the NXT North American Championship. At NXT: Takeover XXX, Reed was unsuccessful in winning the title. The next year, on Night 1 of NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver, Reed won a Six-man Gauntlet Eliminator match, to become the #1 contender for the North American Championship. On Night 2 of the event, Reed faced the reigning champion Johnny Gargano in a losing effort, but defeated him on the May 18 episode of NXT in a steel cage match to win the title, becoming the first Australian and non-American wrestler to hold the NXT North American Championship. At NXT TakeOver: In Your House, Reed teamed with the NXT Tag Team Champions, MSK to successfully defend their titles against Legado Del Fantasma in a winner take all match. On the June 29 episode of NXT, Reed dropped the title to Isaiah "Swerve" Scott after interference from Hit Row, ending his reign at 42 days.[5] On the July 27 episode of NXT, Reed was defeated by Adam Cole in what would be his final WWE match. On August 6, Reed was released from his WWE contract.[6]

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2021–present)[]

At Battle in the Valley on November 13, 2021, Haley, using the ring name Jonah, made his New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) debut, attacking FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson).[7]After his debut, Jonah would go on short lived winning streak defeating Lucas Riley in his NJPW in-ring debut and then a month later defeating David Finlay. On January 15, 2022, Jonah suffered his first NJPW loss in a tag team match against FinJuice as he teamed with Bad Dude Tito.

Impact Wrestling (2021–present)[]

At Turning Point on November 20, 2021, Jonah made his Impact Wrestling debut, attacking Josh Alexander and leaving him bloodied.[8][9] His in-ring debut came on the December 2 edition of Impact!, where he soundly defeated local talent Jai Vidal. Post-match, Jonah explained his actions from Turning Point as he called out Josh Alexander as Scott D'Amore announced the two would face off at Hard To Kill. After defeating Jake Something on the January 6, 2022 edition of Impact!, Jonah was confronted and attacked by Josh Alexander which led to a brawl. At the Hard To Kill event, Jonah lost to Josh Alexander thus marking his first loss in Impact.[10][11]

Personal life[]

Haley is married to his high school sweetheart Paige, who made an appearance on NXT after he won the NXT North American Championship.[12] He is of Samoan descent.[13]

Championships and accomplishments[]

  • Explosive Pro Wrestling
    • EPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Marcius Pitt[14]
  • International Wrestling Australia
    • IWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[15][16]
  • Melbourne City Wrestling
    • MCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[17]
    • MCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Hartley Jackson[18]
    • MCW Intercommonwealth Championship (1 time)[19]
    • Ballroom Brawl (2017)[20]
    • Third Triple Crown Champion
  • NWA Australian Wrestling Alliance
    • NWA AWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[21]
    • Queensland Double Crown Championship (1 time)[22]
  • Pacific Pro Wrestling
    • PPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[23]
  • Pro Wrestling Australia
    • PWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[24]
  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    • Ranked No. 73 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2021[25]
  • Wrestle Rampage
    • WR Australian National Championship (3 times)[26]
    • WR Meltdown World Tag Team Championships (1 time) - with Hartley Jackson[27]
  • WWE

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Bronson Reed". WWE.
  2. ^ "WWE NXT Results - Adam Cole Headlines, Final Takeover Build, New #1 Contender, Bianca Belair, More". Wrestling Inc.
  3. ^ "WWE NXT Results - Io Shirai Attacks, Timothy Thatcher Training Session, Santos Escobar, More". Wrestling Inc.
  4. ^ "WWE NXT Results: Bronson Reed vs. Karrion Kross". The Overtimer. 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  5. ^ Moore, John (June 29, 2021). "6/29 NXT TV results: Moore's review of Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon vs. Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai vs. Io Shirai and Zoey Stark in a Triple Threat tag match for a shot at the NXT Women's Tag Titles, Xia Li and Boa vs. Mercedes Martinez and Jake Atlas in a mixed tag match, Cameron Grimes in action". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  6. ^ Jeremy Lambert (6 August 2021). "WWE Releases Bronson Reed, Leon Ruff, Bobby Fish, Mercedes Martinez, And More". Fightful. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  7. ^ Klyn, Parker (November 13, 2021). "NJPW Battle in the Valley live results: NEVER title match". f4wonline.com. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
  8. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (November 20, 2021). "JONAH Makes IMPACT Debut At IMPACT Turning Point, Attacks Josh Alexander". Fightful. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  9. ^ Impact Wrestling Staff (November 20, 2021). "Turning Point 2021 Results". Impact Wrestling. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  10. ^ Powell, Jason (January 8, 2022). "1/8 Impact Wrestling Hard To Kill results: Mickie James vs. Deonna Purrazzo in a Texas Death Match for the Knockouts Title, Moose vs. W. Morrissey vs. Matt Cardona for the Impact World Championship, Jonathan Gresham vs. Chris Sabin for the original ROH Championship, Josh Alexander vs. Jonah". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  11. ^ IMPACT Wrestling Staff (January 8, 2022). "Hard To Kill 2022 Full Results". Impact Wrestling. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  12. ^ Laughton, Max (16 August 2020). "Bronson Reed's surreal journey from not being able to afford training to the WWE big stage". Fox Sports Australia. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  13. ^ "World Heavyweight Championship to be defended in Australia". Major League Wrestling. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  14. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (November 2, 2013). "EPW Tag Team Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  15. ^ "IWA Heavyweight Title [International Wrestling Australia]".
  16. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (October 14, 2017). "IWA Heavyweight Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  17. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (August 5, 2017). "MCW Heavyweight Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  18. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (April 11, 2015). "MCW Tag Team Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  19. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (May 14, 2016). "MCW Intercommonwealth Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  20. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (August 5, 2017). "Ballroom Brawl (2017)". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  21. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "NWA AWA Heavyweight Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  22. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (November 22, 2014). "NWA AWA Grindhouse Wrestling 2.10: Mexican Christmas Fiesta - Event @ Globe Theatre in Fortitude Valley, Queensland, Australia". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  23. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (November 22, 2014). "PPW Heavyweight Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  24. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (June 16, 2018). "PWA Heavyweight Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  25. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2021". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. cagematch.net. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  26. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (June 10, 2014). "WR Australian National Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  27. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (July 12, 2014). "WR Meltdown World Tag Team Championships". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  28. ^ "NXT North American Championship". World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.

External links[]

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