Gabriel Angels (born March 24, 1988) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Xtreme Wrestling Association (XWA) on its Mayhem brand, where he is one half of the XWA Tag Team Champions along with Alex Firecracker.
Early life[]
Gabriel Angels was born on a family trip in Oslo, Norway, on March 24, 1988. Gabriel grew up with his family in Charlotte, North Carolina. After finishing high school at the age of 18, Gabriel decided to follow his dream of becoming a professional wrestler.
Early Career[]
Gabriel's father, who is of Norwegian descent, got him into the wrestling school of the Norwegian Wrestling Federation (NWF), where he was quickly noticed as a big talent. After living in Norway and wrestling for NWF for about one year, Gabriel was noticed back in his home country by the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and was signed to a developmental deal. Despite working hard on WWE's developmental brand, FCW, for ten months, he was then dismissed by the WWE management, who didn't see enough potential in him to become a main brand superstar. Throughout the following year, Gabriel wrestled for numerous small indy promotions, before his talent was eventually discovered by XWA.
Xtreme Wrestling Association (May 2009-Present)[]
Debut and Instant Success[]
In the middle of May 2009, Gabriel made his XWA debut under the name Gabriel "Blaze" Angels. Gabriel's debut was booked on XWA's developmental show, Adrenaline #8. Although it was a low profile match, Gabriel gave his best during the match, defeating the powerhouse Knight Shawn Raje, instantly getting over with the fans. Adrenaline's General Manager Razor Xtreme was very impressed by Gabriel's performance in his debut match, resulting in Gabriel being booked in the main event of Adrenaline #9 the following week, facing off against the more established Tyler Lawson. Gabriel went on to defeat Tyler Lawson in an even match, where both men put on great performances. Consequently, both Gabriel and his opponent were informed directly after the match that they would be moved up to XWA's main brand, Vendetta.
Vendetta Brand (June-August 2009)[]
Gabriel was moved up to the Vendetta roster by Vendetta's General Manager, "Notorious" Megaman, who wanted to spice up the main show with some fresh talent. Exactly one month after his XWA debut, Gabriel found himself booked against Tommy O'Leary at Vendetta #13 in a first round match of the Rising Star Division Tournament. For the first time in his career, Gabriel saw gold on the horizon, but his road toward the Rising Star Division Championship was cut short, however, as he devastatingly lost his match against O'Leary. That loss would leave Gabriel holding a grudge for O'Leary, and he requested a rematch at the next show, but was unsuccessful at getting one. Gabriel still hopes to meet O'Leary in the ring again one day in order to avenge what could have been a golden road to his first championship. However, Gabriel would get another chance at getting into a championship match as he got booked against Big Daddy Punk, Deadman, Kjki Mitchell, Serial and for the second time Tyler Lawson at Vendetta #14 in a 6-man Gauntlet match, in which the winner would get a shot against Hall for the XWA Hardcore Championship. Gabriel and Lawson became the last two men to face off in the match, and Gabriel proceeded to win the match by disqualification due to outside interference by Kjki Mitchell, whom Gabriel had previously eliminated from the match. The damage he received from Mitchell's brutal assault left Blaze worried about his physical condition going into his first championship match at "Revolutionary Wars 2" Main Event, where he would face Hall in a Hardcore match for the coveted Hardcore Championship. Hall's power and experience proved to be too much to handle for Gabriel, as he went on to lose his first title match. Despite the grueling loss, Gabriel's night wasn't all wasted as he joined forces with one of his XWA idols, Alex Firecracker, forming the New Age Icons stable. And if that wasn't enough for one night, Gabriel got a huge surprise prior to the show as he during his recovery at the local hospital received an anonymous delivery, with a note posted on it:
"Gabriel
Hell of a job out there tonight. You nearly won… I won’t be needing this. But I do want someone who deserves another chance at something bigger to have this!
Good luck in the future…"
The delivery shockingly turned out to be the Money in Hell briefcase, which Hall had been holding since he won it at XtremeMania 1, now officially belonging to Gabriel. The shock eventually settled, and Gabriel went on to be booked on the first Pay-Per-View of his career, as he found himself in a Monster's Ball match at the prestigious Revolutionary Wars 2 facing off against Deasert Eagle, Deadman and Max Taylor. Gabriel won the match in extreme fashion, eventually pinning Deasert Eagle for the victory to once again become the number one contender for the Hardcore Championship. In the match, Gabriel appeared to have been smashed with a car at high speed at the hands of Deadman, and then blown up in the explosion following the crash, before somehow returning to the ring to pick up the victory. Gabriel later published that his partner Alex Firecracker and then-New Age Icons member Jason Sparks had pulled him away from the car's path to save his life, as verified by a well-placed parking lot security camera.
Following the Pay-Per-View, a whole new brand known as Mayhem were introduced into the landscape of XWA, after the Adrenaline brand had been disbanded. The Mayhem brand were to be the secondary brand to Vendetta, instead of a developmental brand like Adrenaline used to be, and therefore a huge XWA Draft took place, featuring every single superstar in XWA. The Draft would determine what brand XWA's wrestlers would be performing on for the time to come, and Gabriel was drafted to Mayhem by General Manager Razor Xtreme as the eight draft pick. Gabriel's time at Vendetta were over for now, but got positively topped off when he received the award for Next Big Thing at the 2009 XWA Slammy Awards.
Mayhem Brand (September 2009-Present)[]
In the beginning of September 2009, Gabriel got the opportunity to realize one of his huge dreams; to become a world champion, as he got booked in the main event of Mayhem #1 in a Steel Cage match against McNugget and Hall, a match which would crown the first ever XWA Champion. After a long and grueling fight inside the cage, the match eventually climaxed when Gabriel and McNugget found themselves on top of the cage wall. Gabriel would then perform the Angels Wings on McNugget, sending both men off the cage crashing through the announce table, rendering both men unconscious. At that time, Hall would almost reach the floor through the cage door, but Alex Firecracker came to Gabriel's rescue again as he ran to the scene and pulled his body down to the floor for him to win the match and become the first ever XWA Champion, that being the first championship win of his career. The following week at Mayhem #2, Gabriel would go on to face McNugget in a singles match, where if McNugget won he would become the number one contender for Gabriel's XWA Championship. Gabriel lost the match, and was informed that the title match with McNugget would take place at the upcoming Pay-Per-View, Xtreme Champions. However, Gabriel had another hard challenge before that, as he got booked at "Xtreme Champions" Main Event in a 6-tag team King of the Mountain match for the esteemed XWA Tag Team Championship, teaming with his partner Alex Firecracker in a match for the first time. The New Age Icons duo proved to be a success as they went on to win the match and become the XWA Tag Team Champions, defeating the former champions New World Dominance (Caleb Spires & McNugget), Death Sentence (Evan Flare & JHalc), Xtreme Annihilators (Nate Insano & Razor Xtreme), and two teams of Starship Pain (Prototype & HHH619 and JKX & Ashley Sky).
Now holding both the XWA Championship and the XWA Tag Team Championship, Gabriel was starting to build some respect among his fellow superstars in the locker room, and he had another high profile match coming up at Xtreme Champions, where he would put his XWA Championship on the line against McNugget and Nate Insano, who got introduced into the match by his tag team partner Razor Xtreme. The match was an Ultimate HellRazor match, and the challenge proved too much for Gabriel, who even though being close to securing the victory on several occasions eventually got pinned by McNugget to lose the XWA Championship, making his first title defense an unsuccessful one. However, Gabriel had his mind on regaining the title as he automatically became the number one contender due to his rematch clause. At Mayhem #3, Gabriel would go head to head with McNugget's tag team partner and World Heavyweight Champion Caleb Spires in a Street Fight. Few people believed Gabriel would walk out victorious from the match with Vendetta's world champion, but Gabriel proved the critics wrong and defeated Spires, ending his 8-month XWA undefeated streak in singles competition in the process. Prior to the match, it looked like Gabriel was going to cash in his Money in Hell briefcase on Spires' world championship, but it was avoided by an appearance from McNugget, who forced Gabriel not to cash it in at that day. This became McNugget's last XWA appearance for a while, as an injury forced him to take a break from the ring, forcing him to relinquish the XWA Championship, which Gabriel was the number one contender for. Due to this, Gabriel needed a new opponent to face for the title, so on Mayhem #4, Gabriel faced off against DC Hennig, a man who was undefeated since his return to XWA and who had defeated McNugget the previous week, in a singles match, where if DC Hennig won, he would become the second number one contender and face Gabriel for the XWA Championship at the upcoming Pay-Per-View, King Of The Xtreme. After putting on one of the greatest matches in Mayhem history, Gabriel would go on to win the match by disqualification due to outside interference by CJ Hardy. However, Razor Xtreme decided to restart the match, making the previous result unofficial, and this time DC Hennig would pick up the victory, securing another match between the two at King Of The Xtreme for the XWA Championship.
At Mayhem #5, Gabriel will face off against one of the men he defeated to win the XWA Tag Team Championship and the other losing part of the XWA Championship match at Xtreme Champions; Nate Insano, in a singles match.
In Wrestling[]
- Finishing Moves
- Pressure Point (Shooting star press)
- Angels Wings (Spinning lifting sitout double underhook facebuster)
- Signature Moves
- Slipstream (450 Splash)
- Angels Blaze (Dragonrana)
- Upshift (Double jump moonsault)
- Split-legged moonsault
- Leaping leg lariat
- Rolling cutter
- Nicknames
- "Blaze"
- "The Chosen"
- "The Fallen Angel"
- Entrance Themes
- "Stratofortress" by Stratovarius (May-November 2009)
- "Deep Unknown" by Stratovarius (December 2009-Present)
Championships and Accomplishments[]
- Xtreme Wrestling Association
- XWA Championship (1 time)
- XWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Alex Firecracker
- XWA Mayhem #3 Match of the Night (vs Caleb Spires)
- XWA Mayhem #4 Match of the Night (vs DC Hennig)
- XWA November 2009 Match of the Month (vs Caleb Spires)
- XWA December 2009 Match of the Month (vs DC Hennig)
- Slammy Award for Next Big Thing (2009)
- Was the first man to hold the XWA Championship
- XWA Xtreme 5/Xtreme 15 Rankings
- Ranked #4 on the XWA Vendetta #14 Xtreme 5
- Ranked #5 on the XWA "Revolutionary Wars 2" Main Event Xtreme 5
- Ranked #4 on the XWA Revolutionary Wars 2 Xtreme 5
- Ranked #1 on the XWA Mayhem #1 Xtreme 5
- Ranked #2 on the XWA "Xtreme Champions" Main Event Xtreme 5 – with Alex Firecracker
- Ranked #2 on the XWA Mayhem #3 Xtreme 5
- Ranked #8 on the XWA December 19, 2009 Xtreme 15