Daniel Riley (Wrestler)

Daniel Michael Riley (born October 1, 1986) is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE Resurrection.

Riley got his start doing various try out matches for United States promotion, ROH (Ring of Honor) while he was still in College. It was there where he was trained by CM Punk and AJ Styles two men who would go on to become mega stars.

After failing to earn himself a contract with ROH, Riley moved to Japan and trained more with New Japan Pro Wrestling founder and creator, Antonio Inoki. Riley spent three months training with Inoki before he was offered a contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) in December 2005. While in New Japan Pro Wrestling, Riley was a six-time IWGP World Heavyweight Champion as well as a two-time IWGP Tag Team Champion with Yujiro Takahashi and Hiroshi Tanahashi. Riley was known as a dare devil and was referred to as "Osore shirazu" which translates to fearless in Japanese. In August 2009 Riley won the annual G1 Climax Tournament held in Japan. Both Riley and Tastumi Fujinami hold the most reigns as IWGP Heavyweight Champion with six each.

Early life
Riley was born on October 1, 1986, in Miami, Florida. Son to Caroline and David Riley, he has one younger sibling—Nathan; his half brother and one older sibling—Thomas. Riley attended Miami Jackson Senior High School; after graduating from Miami Jackson in 2003 Riley attended Florida International University with a degree in Biology. While in college—Riley continued to pursue his dream of being a professional wrestler and after he failed to get himself a contract with Ring of Honor (ROH) — Riley dropped out of college and moved to Japan.

Riley lived on the streets for a bit before being taken in by legendary wrestling promoter—Antonio Inoki. There Inoki would begin training Riley and was like a father figure to him and managed to help him adapt to the Japanese culture.

Training and early career (2005–2007)
Riley was signed to a contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling in December 2005 and continued his training with NJPW founder, Antonio Inoki. After training for three months, Riley made his debut as a face in NJPW under the ring name—Riley Daniels. Riley would compete in matches against the likes of Yujiro Takahashi, Kota Ibushi, Yuji Nagata. That is when Riley earned the nickname, Osore shirazu meaning fearless as he would put on a show for the fans. Riley was involved in the Young Lion Cup however he came in third place next to Hiroyuki Ito and winner Hirooki Goto.

Riley following this started a rivalry with Black Tiger IV and would face him for his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at a live event however was unsuccessful. The two would continue the rivalry for the next two months before it was ended and Riley started a rivalry with Koji Kanemoto which lasted for eight months. Following his long and heated rivalry with Kanemoto, at a very special televised show Riley would go on to defeat at the time current IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Hiroshi Tanahashi.

IWGP Tag Team championship reign and feud with Apollo 555 (2007–2009)
Riley formed an alliance with Yujiro Takahashi and soon the two began racking up tag team victories so they were placed in a match with the at the time reigning Tag Team Champions, Manabu Nakanishi and Takao Omori and were able to score a non-title win over them. A few weeks later the two teams faced off again this time in a brutal ladder match with Riley able to climb the ladder and grab the titles capturing his first championship since joining NJPW.

Riley and Takahashi would go on to hold the titles for five months before losing them to Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko. After losing the titles a feud ignited between the two former teammates and lasted for months with Riley coming out on top. Riley would former another alliance with Tetsuya Naitō and the two would challenge Giant Bernard and Travis Tomko for the Tag Team Championships on a few occasions however they were unsuccessful.

After this Riley started a rivalry with Ryusuke Taguchi and the rest of the members of the stable, Apollo 555 which would last for the rest of the year and ended with Ryusuke Taguchi being victorious over Riley.

G1 Climax; IWGP Heavyweight Champion and heel turn (2009–2010)
Riley continued his run as a singles competitor and announced his involvement in the G1 Climax tournament. Riley would go on to win all nine of his matches and would win the Tournament defeating Togi Makabe in the finals. After winning the tournament, Riley began a feud with Shinsuke Nakamura over the vacant IWGP Heavyweight Championship. In what is being billed as one of Riley's best matches to date he was able to defeat Shinsuke Nakamura and capture his first IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

Riley would hold onto the championship for well over two months before losing the title to Togi Makabe. Riley would change his ring name to Michael Riley shortly after this would make the transition into a narcissistic and self-centered villain. Riley would defeat Makabe to regain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and would hold onto it for five months before he was defeated by Satoshi Kojima. Riley would win the title for a third time a month later defeating both Satoshi Kojima and Togi Makabe in a triple threat match. Riley would go on to hold the title a total of two more times before taking a hiatus from the ring.

Face turn; final IWGP Heavyweight championship reign and departure (2010–2011)
Riley returned six months later and would save current IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Hiroshi Tanahashi from an attack by Apollo 555 thus turning him back into a fan favourite. The two would align and be involved in a series of matches with Apollo 555's Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi. The two would defeat them in a match with Tanahashi's IWGP Heavyweight title on the line as well as the Tag Team titles starting Riley's second reign as Tag Team Champion. Tanahashi and Riley would hold onto the titles for a few months before losing them back at Apollo 555. Over the course of the next month or so it was known that Riley was planning on leaving Japan to go and wrestle in the United States after his contract expires not long after that he was offered a contract from World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). So Riley started a feud with Hiroshi Tanahashi over the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and would engage in a series of matches over the next four months and just two months before Riley's contract was up he captured his record–tying sixth IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Riley would hold onto the title until his contract expired, thus vacating the title.

Florida Championship Wrestling (2011–2012)
Following signing a contract with the WWE in July 2011, Riley was sent down to their developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling where he debuted as a fan favorite. Riley's first televised match in the United States was against Gabriel Walker on July 17th, 2011 in a loss. Eager to impress the American fans who didn't get to see much of what he was capable of in his loss he was able to achieve his first victory over Jason Saracen albeit via Disqualification. On the August 7th, 2011 edition of FCW, Riley was able to get a victory over Chaser. On the August 14th, 2011 edition of FCW Riley suffered a loss to reigning FCW Champion, Cole Brennan in a non-title contest. On the August 21st, 2011 edition of FCW, Riley picked up a win over Miguel Calleja.

Riley was given his first main event push and was placed into a rivalry with Ciaran O'Donnell who had recently turned heel, it all started when the two exchanged words backstage regarding O'Donnell's attitude change. On the September 11th, 2011 edition of FCW, Riley confronted O'Donnell backstage once more which led to yet another war of words between the two. Riley would go on to be victorious in his match against Daniel Carter, however following the match he would be attacked by a hooded figure who revealed himself to be Ciaran O'Donnell, thus sending a message to Riley and thus igniting the rivalry even further.

Later in the night during the main event, O'Donnell would defeat Anton Taylor and Joel Lawrence to become the FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion. On the September 25th, 2011 edition of FCW, Riley tried to get a measure of revenge on O'Donnell however the champion would scurry out of the ring before Riley could get his hands on him. On the October 9th, 2011 edition of FCW Riley was able to defeat Anton Taylor, Joel Lawrence and Flynn Drake to become the number one contender for O'Donnell's FCW Heavyweight Championship. On the October 16th, 2011 edition of FCW Riley was able to continue his winning streak with a pinfall victory over Nathan Blake. Riley's winning streak came to an end on the October 23rd, 2011 edition of FCW however not without controversy as he was ready to get the win over Trista Anderson what appeared to be a fan, hopped over the barricade and distracted him allowing Anderson to roll him up for the win.

Following the match the fan hopped the barricade again and this time entered the ring only to hit Riley with the Sick Kick which is Ciaran O'Donnell's signature maneuver, so many people assumed that it was Ciaran who had attacked Riley. Later in the night Riley attempted to get even with O'Donnell however it didn't exactly work as Ciaran was able to pick up a win over Alexandra the Great. FCW ended with Ciaran walking back up the entrance ramp as Riley stood in the ring obviously wanting a fight. On the October 30th, 2011 edition of FCW the show opened with Ciaran O'Donnell trying to clear his name and stated that he had nothing to do with Riley being attacked the week prior which brought out Riley who rushed to the ring only for O'Donnell to bail out once again. Riley was then attacked again by the same fan thus clearing O'Donnell's name however it is still aware that O'Donnell has something to do with this mysterious fan attacking Riley.

On the November 6th edition of FCW, Riley interrupted O'Donnell for the second week in a row and was finally able to get his hands on O'Donnell attacking him as he had him lined up and ready for the Hell's Revolt when the "fan" interfered and manage to get Ciaran out of harm's way. Riley however would pursuit O'Donnell all the way backstage. Later in the night when O'Donnell was talking with Vickie Guerrero regarding what had happened earlier he was attacked once again by Riley who pummeled the FCW Champion in front of Vickie Guerrero, only for Ciaran to once again get away.

In the main event Riley teamed up with Alexandra the Great to take on O'Donnell and Seraphina Valentine. Through out the course of the match, Alexandra turned on Riley revealing herself to be the mysterious fan as Ciaran would pick up the win thanks to Alexandra. Following the match the two would attack Riley and leave him laying in the middle of the ring as Ciaran held the title up high above his head to close the show for the second week in a row. On the November 13th, 2011 edition of FCW, Riley finally got his opportunity at the FCW title and after a hard fought battle, Riley came up just short and suffered a loss to his longtime rival, Ciaran O'Donnell ending the feud as O'Donnell would be forced to vacate the title as he would be moved up to SmackDown.

On the November 27th, 2011 edition of FCW, Miles Barrington along with Maverick Wade started a two on one assault on WWE Superstar, Tyler Chandler who had made an appearance on FCW to confront Wade however Riley would run down for the save as both Barrington and Riley went at it thus starting a rivalry between the two. Riley would be placed into a feud with Alexandra the Great who became the new FCW Heavyweight Champion on the November 27th, 2011 edition of FCW. On the December 11th, 2011 edition and last FCW of 2011 despite interference from Miles Barrington Riley defeated Alexandra the Great in a tables match to become the FCW Heavyweight Champion for the first time in his career. Following this the planned feud between Alexandra and Riley was thrown out as Riley continued his rivalry with Barrington.

On the January 22nd, 2012 edition and first FCW of 2012, Riley opened the show talking about him becoming the new FCW Heavyweight Champion only to be interrupted by Miles Barrington who congratulated the new champion before making it known that he wanted to be the first to challenge Riley for the title. This brought out Vickie Guerrero who proceeded to deny Barrington a chance to compete for the title before firing him. Thus ending the rivalry between Barrington and Riley. Michael then started making fun of Vickie saying that every time she comes on the air the show loses ratings and that she is boring. In the main event of the night Cassie Powers was victorious in a Fatal Five Way match that included the champion. On the January 29th, 2012 episode of FCW, Riley was able to gain a victory over Drake Darkness. Later in the night it would be revealed that Riley would defend the title in a Championship Scramble match at the Royal Rumble PPV. At the 2012 Royal Rumble in a rare FCW appearance Riley lost the FCW Heavyweight Championship in a Championship Scramble match to Rylan Jett. On the February 19, 2012 episode of FCW, Riley made it known that he was cashing in on his rematch clause the following week against Rylan Jett, wanting a No Disqualifications match. Later in the night he suffered a loss to Trenton York. On the February 26th, 2012 episode of FCW, Riley was unsuccessful in his attempts to regain the FCW Championship. After his loss, Riley sent out a very cryptic tweet as it merely read 'Done', Riley also said the same cryptic message on his Facebook page.

RAW; Heel Turn, The Nexus and feud with AJ Styles (2012)
On February 27th, 2012 WWE announced that they were severing ties with Florida Championship Wrestling once again and that all members of the current roster were being move up to either RAW or Smackdown much like what had happened back in 2009. With this despite Riley's cryptic tweet and unknown status, he was moved up to Monday Night RAW. Riley made his official debut as a RAW Superstar at the Cyber Sunday PPV on March 4th, 2012. Riley ranted about how he has been treated due to his then relationship with actress, Kate Beckinsale and that he was done taking all the crap from his fellow superstars. Riley even singled out Women's Champion, Mar as one of the main contributors to the heat he was receiving. Through out the promo there were signs shown of a heel turn from Riley as he said things very out of character.

On Twitter, Riley continued to show signs of a heel turn stating: 'And now I'm getting heat for it from my "fans", funny thing is I didn't need you guys in the first place. Only am I in control of my career, not you.' On the March 12th, 2012 episode of Monday Night RAW Riley had a gimmick change which is somewhat based off of his personal life, with him being an avid partier and christened himself as the 'Party Starter', Riley once again singled out Mar and also made it clear that his relationship with Kate Beckinsale had tarnished his once great career and that it was time for him to put an end to that, thus the reasons behind the ending of his relationship with her, following this he got major heat from the crowd, thus completing his heel turn and turning heel for the first time in his career. Riley would also join the Nexus along with Wade Barrett and Heath Slater. Riley would also announce his intentions to tag team with Slater and would set their sights on the WWE Tag Team Championships and current champions, The Motor City Machine Guns. Shortly after Riley joined the Nexus, he was able to recruit fan favourite Travis Kooper who would turn into a villainous character. After this the Nexus began to crumble as Heath Slater would be released from his contract along with Daniel Bryan. Wade Barrett would be taken out backstage by an unknown assailant and both Riley and Kooper stated they were going to get to the bottom of it.

Following this Riley was placed into a rivalry with AJ Styles stemming from when they were both in Ring of Honor where Styles helped train Riley and was a mentor for him. The rivalry recently just got personal as Riley paid a visit to Styles' ex wife and his three children. Shortly after this as part of his gimmick change Riley dropped the 'Michael Riley' name and began going under his real name. On the April 9th episode of RAW Travis Kooper turned on Riley revealing that he had been the one to attack Wade Barrett and that his intentions were to destroy the Nexus from the inside out.

Riley would sit Wrestlemania 28 out despite it being his hometown of Miami, Florida, through out the week prior to Wrestlemania Riley was very vocal about not having a match at Wrestlemania feeling as though he was being disrespected by not being on the card when it was in his hometown and that he deserved to be on the card. The following night on RAW Riley suffered a loss to Clark Gabriel.

Move to Smackdown; feud with Trista Anderson and departure (2012)
Following his loss to Clark Gabriel, Riley was quietly moved to Smackdown so he could be closer to his real life girlfriend; Smackdown Diva, Eve Torres. Riley is currently set to replace former rival Ciaran O'Donnell on the SD World Tour who is moving to RAW in his place.

Riley made his debut on the May 4th episode of Smackdown interrupting Travis Kooper and proceeded to assault him with a microphone before hitting him with the Final Eclipse. In that same night he made fun of Smackdown diva, Trista Anderson showing signs of a possible feud between the two. The following week on the May 11th episode of Smackdown Riley suffered his first loss since joining the Smackdown roster to Jon Moxley. That same night Riley once again made fun of Trista Anderson along with her boyfriend, Jimmy Jacobs. On the May 18th episode of Smackdown Riley teamed up with his girlfriend, Eve Torres to face Travis Kooper and Mickie James however the two were unsuccessful in getting a win after Kooper pinned Riley. That night it was revealed that Riley would face Trista Anderson in a Tables Match at Extreme Rules. At the PPV Riley would lose to Trista and following the match would be assaulted by debuting Aaron Jacobs and would be put through another table. This was done to write Riley off as he his contract was expiring the next day and he had chosen not to resign.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2012)
On June 28, 2012 Riley, working under the ring name Riley Daniels, made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), losing to Sonjay Dutt in a TNA X Division Championship tournament qualifying match on Impact Wrestling. On July 8 at Destination X, Riley got another opportunity to earn his way back into the tournament, but was defeated by Mason Andrews in a four-way Last Chance match, which also included Dakota Darsow and Lars Only.

Monday Night RAW (2012–present)
On September 30, 2012 Riley signed a contract with WWE Resurrection and is scheduled to make his debut on the October 8, 2012 episode of RAW.



Personal life
Outside of the ring, Riley is known as a bit of a Playboy and has been known to party quite a bit. Riley has an older brother, Thomas Riley who is a singer who's collaborated with such artists as Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull. Riley was previously in a relationship with model Danielle Higgins, but the two have since broken up.

Riley has also been linked to Kate Beckinsale. They began dating in mid October 2011, but ended their relationship in early March 2012.

Riley is very close friends with former FCW Superstars Anton Taylor and Gabriel Walker as well as fellow Smackdown Superstar Travis Kooper. On December 6th, 2011 Riley was involved in an altercation with Kate Beckinsale's ex-husband, Len Wiseman which lead Riley ending up punching Wiseman in the jaw. Wiseman intended to file a lawsuit against Riley however it was later dropped.

Riley briefly dating WWE diva Eve Torres however the two have since broken up. In 2012 after his release from WWE, Riley met Rachelle Woods at an FCW Autograph signing; Woods was there training to become a WWE diva. The two started dating shortly afterward. The couple got engaged in July 2012 while vacationing in Hawaii. On September 16, 2012, they were married on the grounds of Church Estates Vineyards in Malibu, California.

Tattoos
Riley has numerous tattoos on his body his most known one is the word "Fearless" in black kanji lettering down the right side of his body. Riley also has the words "Osore shirazu" in signature tribal lettering along his upper back. Riley's first ever tattoo which he got shortly after graduating from college is on his left forearm of the words "Wrestling is My Life" in script lettering.

Every single tattoo that Riley has symbolizes something in his life, with the kanji lettering of fearless being his identity and defines him. His forearm tattoo also has a lot of meaning to him as it symbolizes his love for wrestling and how far he has come since beginning in 2005.

Riley recently got two new tattoos, one of an angel on his right bicep and the second is his father's initials followed by the year he was born and the year he died. When explaining this most recent tattoo, Riley states that the two tattoos are actually linked together and have a lot of meaning to him perhaps the most meaning out of any of his tattoos. Riley's newest tattoo he got following his wedding is of his wife's name along his right forearm and the word forever written underneath.

In wrestling
Finishing moves
 * Final Eclipse - (Springboard 450 Splash – 2011–2012 / Rolling cutter – 2012–present)
 * Pelé Kick (Backflip Kick) – (adopted from AJ Styles)

Signature moves
 * Touched by an Angel – (Reverse STO followed into a Koji clutch)
 * Saving Grace – (STO backbreaker followed by a Downward Spiral)
 * Phenomenon – (Standing moonsault side slam)
 * Kutajihami – (Standing shiranui into a Dragon sleeper)
 * Hell's Revolt – (Fireman's carry dropped into a knee strike to the face) - used as a tribute to CM Punk.
 * No Fear (Springboard flying forearm smash)
 * Multiple kick variations
 * Shattered – (Springboard)
 * Drop
 * Enziguri
 * Shining wizard
 * Gamengiri
 * Multiple DDT variations
 * Snap
 * Reverse
 * Tornado
 * Fearless Edge – (Springboard moonsault onto a standing opponent floated over into an inverted)
 * Written in Blood– (Swinging reverse STO)
 * Springboard Flying Hurricanrana
 * Multiple Clotheslines
 * Snap Suplex
 * Snap Scoop Powerslam
 * Cobra Clutch
 * Superman – (Fosbury Flop to the outside)
 * Double Jump Moonsault

Nicknames
 * The Fearless One (NJPW)
 * The Best Wrestler in the World Today (NJPW)
 * FCW's Angel of Mercy (FCW)
 * Osore shirazu (NJPW / FCW)
 * The Man Known as Fearless (FCW)
 * The Man Without Fear (FCW)
 * The Human Highlight Reel
 * The Highlight of the Night
 * The Evolution of Professional Wrestling
 * Mister Miami 305
 * D'Ry

Entrance themes
 * "Overcome" by Creed (FCW) (October 16th, 2011 — February 2012)
 * "Figure 0.9" by Linkin Park (February 2012 — April 2012)
 * "Young" by Hollywood Undead (2012; Used while a part of the Nexus)
 * "Hostage" by Digital Summer (May 4th, 2012 — Present)

Championships and accomplishments

 * Florida Championship Wrestling
 * FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * New Japan Pro Wrestling
 * IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (6 times)
 * IWGP Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Yujiro Takahashi (1), and Hiroshi Tanahashi (1)
 * G1 Climax (2009)
 * World Wrestling Entertainment