Rycklon Stephens
Encyclopedia
Rycklon Stephens is a Guyanese
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...

 bodybuilder
Bodybuilding
Bodybuilding is a form of body modification involving intensive muscle hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. In competitive and professional bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their...

 and professional wrestler
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

. He is signed to WWE, working on its SmackDown brand
WWE Brand Extension
WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...

 under the ring name
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...

 Ezekiel Jackson, where he was WWE Intercontinental Champion
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand...

 and a one time world champion, having won the ECW Championship
ECW World Heavyweight Championship
The Extreme Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...

, and is recognized by WWE as the final champion.

Florida Championship Wrestling (2007–2008)

Stephens signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment in March 2007 and debuted in Florida Championship Wrestling
Florida Championship Wrestling
Championship Wrestling from Florida was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as Florida Championship Wrestling...

 (FCW) in late June. In his debut match on June 27, he teamed with Keith Walker
Keith Walker
Keith Walker is an American professional wrestler who competes in North American and international promotions including Ring of Honor, Harley Race's World League Wrestling and Pro Wrestling Noah....

 to defeat Kofi Kingston
Kofi Kingston
Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah , is a Ghanaian American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Kofi Kingston. He is currently signed to WWE and works on its Raw brand where he is one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with Evan Bourne as Air Boom...

 and Eric Pérez
Eric Perez
Eric Alexander Pérez is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler who currently performs under the ring name Eric Escobar. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment , where he spent most of his career in developmental territories...

. He continued to compete in the promotion
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...

 in both tag team and singles matches. On February 8, 2008 he competed in a match with tag partner Bryan Kelly in a losing effort against Steve Lewington
Steven Lewington
Steven Paul Lewington is an English professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment where he competed as DJ Gabriel.- All Star Promotions and Ohio Valley Wrestling :...

 and Heath Miller in a mini-tournament to face WWE Tag Team Champions
WWE Tag Team Championship
The WWE Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship in WWE. It was established as a second title for tag teams in WWE in 2002 to complement the original World Tag Team Championship...

 John Morrison and
John Morrison and The Miz
John Morrison and The Miz were a professional wrestling tag team and former WWE Tough Enough contestants. The team worked for World Wrestling Entertainment on its ECW brand, but also appeared on the SmackDown and Raw brands due to ECW's talent exchanges with those brands during their tenure as a team...

 The Miz. On May 6, 2008, Stephens wrestled his final match in FCW before being called up to WWE's main roster.

SmackDown (2008–2009)

After being trained in FCW, Stephens debuted on the July 18, 2008 episode of SmackDown under the name Ezekiel, as bodyguard to The Brian Kendrick
Brian Kendrick
Brian David Kendrick is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under his real name. Before joining TNA he spent several years wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment, where he wrestled under his name, as Spanky, and finally as "The" Brian Kendrick...

. On the August 8, 2008 edition of SmackDown, his ring name was tweaked to Ezekiel Jackson, and he was revealed as being Kendrick's "advisor". He then began interfering in Kendrick's matches against Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy
Jeffrey Nero "Jeff" Hardy is an American professional wrestler, who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where he is a former two–time TNA World Heavyweight Champion...

, Finlay
Dave Finlay
David John "Fit" Finlay Jr. is a Northern Irish professional wrestler and road agent. He is perhaps best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling and WWE as an active wrestler and later as a road agent...

, and WWE Champion
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...

 Triple H
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...

. On the October 17 episode of SmackDown, Jackson made his official in-ring debut by quickly defeating Super Crazy
Super Crazy
Francisco Islas Rueda is a Mexican professional wrestler, or Luchador, best known by his ring name Super Crazy. Islas is most known for his three year run in the original ECW...

, after replacing a supposedly sick Kendrick. In late 2008, Jackson began teaming
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...

 with Kendrick and both began feuding
Feud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...

 with the WWE Tag Team Champions
WWE Tag Team Championship
The WWE Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship in WWE. It was established as a second title for tag teams in WWE in 2002 to complement the original World Tag Team Championship...

 The Colóns
The Colóns
The Colóns were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of real-life brothers, Carlito and Primo. The team worked for World Wrestling Entertainment...

 (Carlito
Carly Colon
Carlos Edwin "Carly" Colón, Jr. is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler better known internationally by his ring name Carlito. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Entertainment , but was released from his contract on May 21, 2010. In his native Puerto Rico, he is known as both...

 and Primo
Eddie Colon
Edwin "Eddie" Carlos Colón is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is currently signed by WWE wrestling on its Raw brand as Primo. He is the son of Carlos Colón, Sr. and the younger brother of wrestlers Stacy and Carly Colón, better known as Carlito in WWE...

), although Kendrick and Jackson failed to win the championship. He suffered his first defeat on the February 13, 2009 episode of SmackDown, when he lost a singles match to R-Truth
Ron Killings
Ronald Aaron "Ron" Killings is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to WWE working on its Raw brand. Since working for the company, he has been a one time United States Champion under the ring name R-Truth and a two time Hardcore Champion under the ring name K-Kwik...

. Jackson made his final appearance on the SmackDown brand in a losing effort against Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy
Jeffrey Nero "Jeff" Hardy is an American professional wrestler, who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where he is a former two–time TNA World Heavyweight Champion...

 on the April 3, 2009 episode.

ECW and last ECW Champion (2009–2010)

On April 15, 2009, Jackson was drafted to the ECW brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft, therefore breaking up the team of himself and Kendrick. Jackson returned to FCW for further training, however, without making an immediate appearance for the brand. He made his ECW debut defeating Jack Meridol on the July 9, 2009 episode. Jackson then began an angle with Vladimir Kozlov in which, week after week, after one of them had squashed a local competitor, the other would come out and hit their finishing move on the fallen opponent in a game of one-upmanship
One-upmanship
One-upmanship is the art or practice of successively outdoing a competitor.The term originated as the title of a book by Stephen Potter, published in 1952 as a follow-up to The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship and Lifemanship titles in his series of tongue-in-cheek self-help books, and film ...

. On the August 18 episode of ECW, Jackson formed an alliance with Kozlov and William Regal after betraying the ECW Champion
ECW World Heavyweight Championship
The Extreme Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...

, Christian, during a tag team match to side with them, and attacking Christian at Regal's request. Kozlov and Jackson aided Regal in his feud with Christian over the ECW Championship, but Regal was unable to capture the title.

On the November 24 episode of ECW, Jackson attacked both Regal and Kozlov after Kozlov accused Jackson of costing Regal a match. The following week, Jackson once again betrayed Kozlov and Regal by walking out on Kozlov during a tag team match against Christian and Shelton Benjamin
Shelton Benjamin
Shelton James Benjamin is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment. Benjamin has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling in high school and at the University of Minnesota. In addition, Benjamin has acted...

. Jackson, however, realigned himself with Regal, when he was aided by Regal in defeating Kozlov on an episode of ECW. On the January 12, 2010 episode of ECW, Jackson won the ECW Homecoming battle royal to earn a match for the ECW Championship. He faced Christian for the ECW championship at the Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (2010)
Royal Rumble was the twenty-third annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on January 31, 2010 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands...

 pay-per-view but was unsuccessful. On the final episode of ECW on February 16, Jackson defeated Christian to win the ECW Championship in an Extreme Rules match
Hardcore wrestling
Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling that eschews traditional concepts of match rules in favor of matches that take place in unusual environments, using foreign objects that are not normally permitted...

. He is credited by WWE as the final ECW Champion.

Brand switches and injury (2010)

On the February 19 episode of SmackDown, a video package aired, promoting Jackson's return to the brand. He made his return on the March 5 episode of SmackDown without Regal, who instead joined Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...

, and defeated Jimmy Wang Yang
James Yun
James Carson Yun is an American professional wrestler and actor, best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Jimmy Wang Yang, in World Championship Wrestling as one-third of the Jung Dragons as Yang, and in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and the independent circuit...

. On April 10, 2010 at a house show in Glasgow, Scotland, Jackson suffered a tear in his right quadriceps muscle during a match against Kane
Kane (wrestler)
Glenn Thomas Jacobs is a Spanish-born American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name, Kane. He is signed to WWE, appearing on its SmackDown brand, but is currently inactive due to injury....

, and was expected to be inactive for approximately six months.

During his injury, Jackson was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2010 WWE Supplemental Draft. Jackson made his return to the ring on September 13, 2010, defeating Zack Ryder
Zack Ryder
Matthew Joseph Cardona, Jr. better known by his ring name Zack Ryder, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE and works on the Raw brand as a wrestler and the SmackDown brand as an assistant to SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long.Cardona wrestled mostly with his tag...

 in a dark match prior to the Raw tapings. He returned to television on the October 18 episode of Raw, this time as a face where he was revealed as a member of Team Raw for the Bragging Rights
Bragging Rights (2010)
Bragging Rights was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , that took place on October 24, 2010 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was the second and final Bragging Rights event. Seven matches took place at the event...

 pay-per-view. At Bragging Rights, Jackson was one of the final two remaining members of Team Raw, but they lost to Team SmackDown. On the November 22 episode of Raw, Jackson qualified for the 2010 edition
King of the Ring (2010)
King of the Ring was a special edition of World Wrestling Entertainment's television program, Raw. The episode was held on November 29, 2010 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...

 of the King of the Ring
King of the Ring
King of the Ring is a professional wrestling single-elimination tournament held by WWE. The tournament was held annually from 1985 to 2002, with the exception of 1990 and 1992, and from 1993 to 2002 the tournament was produced as a pay-per-view event....

 tournament by defeating Alex Riley
Alex Riley
Alex Riley is a TV and radio presenter.Born and brought up in Sheffield, Riley started performing with the city's Crucible Youth Theatre during which time he originated, and appeared in, dozens of sketches and devised pieces, as well as appearing in a number of plays and farces at the Library...

, who replaced Jackson's original opponent The Miz. He faced Drew McIntyre in the quarter-finals, but the match ended in a double countout, so neither advanced.

Return To Smackdown: The Corre and Intercontinental Champion (2011)

In December 2010, Jackson returned to the SmackDown brand. On the January 12, 2011, taping of the January 14 edition of SmackDown, Jackson turned heel, and joined Wade Barrett
Wade Barrett
Wade Barrett is a retired American soccer player. He is currently an assistant coach at Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo-College:...

, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater in assaulting The Big Show, appearing to form an alliance with the three. The following week the group was named The Corre. At WrestleMania XXVII
WrestleMania XXVII
WrestleMania XXVII was the twenty-seventh annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , held on April 3, 2011 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia...

, The Corre were defeated in an eight-man tag team match by the team of Kingston, The Big Show, Kane
Kane (wrestler)
Glenn Thomas Jacobs is a Spanish-born American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name, Kane. He is signed to WWE, appearing on its SmackDown brand, but is currently inactive due to injury....

, and Santino Marella.

On the May 6 episode of SmackDown, Jackson defeated The Big Show in a singles match, and refused to celebrate with the other members of The Corre afterward. Backstage, his teammates attacked him in retaliation, this turned Jackson face once again. Jackson went on to face Barrett for the Intercontinental Championship
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand...

 at Over the Limit
Over the Limit (2011)
Over the Limit was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE, which took place on May 22, 2011 at the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington. It was the second Over the Limit event...

, and won by disqualification, which meant that Barrett retained the championship.
Jackson continued to gain a DQ win over Heath Slater when his Corre cohorts interfered again on the May 27 episode of SmackDown. The next week on SmackDown, Jackson gained a countout win over Wade Barrett
Wade Barrett
Wade Barrett is a retired American soccer player. He is currently an assistant coach at Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo-College:...

 and fought off Slater and Gabriel's post-match attack. On the June 10 episode of SmackDown, Jackson would team with The Usos
The Usos
The Usos are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of twin brothers Jimmy and Jey Uso. The Usos appear in WWE, competing on the SmackDown brand. The pair were previously managed by Tamina...

 to defeat The Corre and was also the end of the group. On June 19, 2011 at Capitol Punishment
WWE Capitol Punishment
Capitol Punishment was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE, which took place on June 19, 2011 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C....

, Jackson defeated Barrett in a rematch to win the Intercontinental Championship
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand...

. Jackson retained the title against Barrett on the following edition of Smackdown and also successfully defended it against Ted DiBiase
Ted DiBiase, Jr.
Theodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase Jr. is an American professional wrestler and actor signed with WWE, where he appears on its SmackDown brand...

 on the July 15th edition of Smackdown.

On August 12, episode of SmackDown, Jackson lost the Intercontinental Championship to Cody Rhodes. After his defeat, he stood up and ripped off a bag on his head placed by Ted DiBiase
Ted DiBiase, Jr.
Theodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase Jr. is an American professional wrestler and actor signed with WWE, where he appears on its SmackDown brand...

, and then brutally assaults DiBiase while Rhodes watched. He would then go on to feud with The New Legacy
The Legacy (professional wrestling)
The Legacy was a villainous alliance of professional wrestlers in World Wrestling Entertainment. The group was led by Randy Orton and contained the tag team of Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase....

 since losing the Intercontinental Championship to Rhodes. On the August 19 episode of Smackdown, he tried to regain the Intercontinental Championship from Cody Rhodes in a losing effort. On that same night, he was one of the 20 men who would compete in an over the top rope battle royal for the Number Contender's spot for the World Heavyweight Championship, which was won by Mark Henry
Mark Henry
Mark Jerrold Henry is an American professional wrestler signed with WWE, where he performs on its SmackDown brand as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. He is a 1992 Olympian, and winner of the 2002 Arnold Strongman Classic...

. On the next edition of Smackdown, he would go on to defeat The Great Khali via submission despite outside interference from Jinder Mahal. On the September 9 edition of SmackDown, Jackson was defeated by Mark Henry. On the October 7th edition of Smackdown, he defeated Jinder Mahal in a singles match. After a brief hiatus, and one promo vignette, he returned to action on the November 24 edition of WWE Superstars where he defeated Tyson Kidd.

Personal life

Jackson is a graduate from the University at Buffalo
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, also commonly known as the University at Buffalo or UB, is a public research university and a "University Center" in the State University of New York system. The university was founded by Millard Fillmore in 1846. UB has multiple campuses...

. He has two children and is married to a woman named Jennifer.

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
    • The Book of Ezekiel
      Book of Ezekiel
      The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....

      (Modified ura-nage)
    • Torture Rack (Shaking Argentine backbreaker rack) – 2011–present

  • Signature moves
    • Dominator(Elevated Spinning Side Slam)
    • Body avalanche
    • Bearhug
    • Big boot
    • Corner clothesline
    • Left arm clothesline
    • Running shoulder block
    • Multiple scoop slams
    • One-handed spinebuster

  • Managers
    Manager (professional wrestling)
    In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...

    • William Regal
    • Wade Barrett
      Wade Barrett
      Wade Barrett is a retired American soccer player. He is currently an assistant coach at Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo-College:...

    • Jim Ross
      Jim Ross
      James William "Jim" Ross is a professional wrestling commentator, former professional wrestling referee, restaurateur, occasional wrestler, and former company executive of WWE, where he currently works as a commentator on the WWE Raw brand...


  • Wrestlers managed
    • The Brian Kendrick
      Brian Kendrick
      Brian David Kendrick is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under his real name. Before joining TNA he spent several years wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment, where he wrestled under his name, as Spanky, and finally as "The" Brian Kendrick...

      -2008-2009

  • Nickname
    Nickname
    A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

    s
    • "(Big) Zeke"
    • "The Personification of Domination"
    • "The Prophet of Doom"

  • Entrance themes
    Music in professional wrestling
    Music in professional wrestling serves a variety of purposes. The most common uses of music in professional wrestling is that of the entrance theme, a song or piece of instrumental music which plays as a performer approaches the ring...

    • "Domination" performed by Evan Jones and composed by Jim Johnston
      Jim Johnston (composer)
      James Alan "Jim" Johnston is an American music composer who has been working for WWE since 1985. His work is often accredited to the names Jim Johnston, James A...

       (July 2009–present)
    • "End of Days" (Various Versions) (January 2011–May 2011; Used while a part of The Corre
      The Corre
      The Corre was a professional wrestling heel stable that performed on WWE's SmackDown brand in 2011. The stable was formed after Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater left the Nexus and allied with Ezekiel Jackson.-Formation:...

      )
    • "Regality" by Jim Johnston (Used While apart The Ruthless Roundtable)

Championships and accomplishments

  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    Pro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...

    • PWI ranked him #93 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2010

  • World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE
    • ECW Championship
      ECW World Heavyweight Championship
      The Extreme Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...

       (1 time, final)
    • WWE Intercontinental Championship
      WWE Intercontinental Championship
      The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand...

       (1 time)

External links

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