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Aj Martinez Biography & Facts

Luis Martínez (born September 26, 1982) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, performing on the Raw brand under the ring name Damian Priest. He is a member of The Judgment Day stable and is the current World Heavyweight Champion in his first reign. He is also known for his work in Ring of Honor (ROH) under the ring name Punishment Martinez, where he is a former one-time ROH World Television Champion. He also worked in Japan through ROH's relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Martínez joined WWE in 2018 and began on its developmental brand, NXT, under his current ring name, winning the NXT North American Championship once. In 2021, he moved to WWE's main roster and has since won the WWE United States Championship once, the 2023 Men's Money in the Bank contract, and is a four-time tag team champion, holding the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships twice each under the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship banner with fellow Judgment Day stablemate Finn Bálor, being the only tag team to have done so. Early life Martínez was born in New York City to Nuyorican parents, but raised in the municipality of Dorado, Puerto Rico. While living in Dorado, he saw the World Wrestling Council on television and developed an interest in becoming a pro wrestler. He learned Japanese Gōjū-ryū karate from his martial artist father. After winning two national championships in full-contact martial arts, Martínez decided to embark on a career in professional wrestling. When he returned to the States, Spanish was still his first language and he underwent a period of cultural adaptation. He was 10 years old when he returned and lived primarily in The Bronx. Professional wrestling career Independent circuit (2005–2015) Martínez trained at the Monster Factory and went on to win several titles in Monster Factory Pro Wrestling. In 2014, Martínez attended a Ring of Honor (ROH) training camp and went on to train at the ROH dojo. Ring of Honor (2015–2018) His first appearance at a ROH show was in 2015 under his real name, Luis Martínez, where he competed in two dark matches, losing the first to The Romantic Touch and winning the second alongside Shaheem Ali against Hellcat and Mattick. Martínez made his return in Ring of Honor, billed as "Punisher Martinez", at the ROH Top Prospect Tournament where he defeated Colby Corino in the first round. Martinez lost to Lio Rush in the semifinals; however, in spite of the loss, Martinez was signed to a contract by Ring of Honor. He subsequently established himself as a villain when he aligned himself with B. J. Whitmer and Kevin Sullivan, entering a rivalry with their adversary Steve Corino. On September 16, 2016, Martinez took part in the 2016 Honor Rumble, where he had an impressive showing before ultimately being eliminated. In early November he participated in the 2016 Survival of the Fittest, where he ended up being eliminated in the final Six Man Mayhem match. Martinez and Whitmer went on to briefly feud with the former ROH World Tag Team Champions War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe), first wrestling them to a no contest and then defeating them in an anything goes match. Through ROH's working relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Martinez appeared at the two-day Honor Rising: Japan 2017 event. On the first night, Martinez teamed up with Los Ingobernables de Japón members Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito to defeat Dalton Castle, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Ryusuke Taguchi, with Martinez picking up the win for his team. On the second night, Martinez unsuccessfully challenged Hirooki Goto for the NEVER Openweight Championship. Using the name Damian Martinez, he returned to ROH to unsuccessfully compete in a Manhattan Mayhem Battle Royal for the #1 Contendership to the ROH World Championship. Martinez also entered a Battle Royal for the #1 Contendership to the ROH World Television Championship, which he also lost. On February 11, Martinez and B. J. Whitmer defeated War Machine, but after the match Martinez turned on Whitmer by hitting him with his South of Heaven finishing maneuver. Martinez won his first championship in ROH on June 16, 2018, defeating Silas Young for the World Television Championship at night two of the Promotion's "State of the Art" event in Dallas, Texas. Martinez had qualified for an opportunity at said championship earlier that same evening by pinning Cheeseburger in a six-way Proving Ground match. Martinez would make another successful title defense at Best in the World 2018 against "Hangman" Adam Page in a Baltimore Street Fight. At Death Before Dishonor XVI, he successfully defended the title against Chris Sabin. After the match, he attacked Sabin, until Jeff Cobb made the save. On September 29, his contract with Ring of Honor expired and he opted out of a contract offer. In his final appearance for the promotion, Martinez dropped the Television Championship against Cobb. WWE Early beginnings (2018–2020) Before signing with the WWE, Martinez made an appearance at Money in the Bank 2014, playing the role of a security guard standing behind Stephanie McMahon who confronted The Bella Twins. On October 12, 2018, it was reported that Martinez had signed a contract with WWE; six days later he was formally introduced among other new members to the NXT brand. At an NXT taping on December 5, he made his debut as a heel, losing to Matt Riddle. On April 15, 2019, it was reported that Martinez would be repackaged as "Damian Priest", although he still used the "Punishment Martinez" name in house shows. Vignettes soon began airing which reintroduced Martinez as Damian Priest. On the June 19, 2019, episode of NXT, he made his debut under the character, defeating Raul Mendoza. On the July 24 episode of NXT, he defeated Keith Lee in his second appearance. On the October 2 episode of NXT, Priest started a feud with Pete Dunne and Killian Dain, culminating in a triple threat match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames on November 23 for #1 contendership to the NXT Championship, in which Dunne was victorious. Priest was also a part of the 5-on-5-on-5 Survivor Series pay-per-view match the following day, representing Team NXT in a losing effort to Team SmackDown and Team Raw, where he was eliminated by Randy Orton. In January 2020, Priest was included in a storyline around the NXT North American Championship with Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic. Priest would have an opportunity for the title against Lee and Dijakovic on April 1, and a singles match against Lee on April 22, but lost both times. NXT North American Champion (2020–2021) On the April 22 episode of NXT, Finn Bálor was attacked backstage by an unknown attacker. Priest was revealed as the unknown attacker on the May 13 episode of NXT, culminating in a match between the two at TakeOver: In Your House on June 7, where Priest lost to Bálor. Despite losing the match, his performance was highly praised by Triple H, and on the June 10 episode of NXT,.... Discover the Aj Martinez popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Aj Martinez books.