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Scott Colton (born May 6, 1980), better known by the ring name Colt Cabana, is an American professional wrestler, color commentator, and podcaster. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and as a coach, and he performs the same duties for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor (ROH). He is a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, two-time NWA National Heavyweight Championship, one-time RevPro British Heavyweight Champion, and one-time JCW World Heavyweight Champion. He worked in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Scotty Goldman and wrestled as old-school masked wrestler Matt Classic in Wrestling Society X and Chikara.
Cabana began competing routinely for Steel Domain Wrestling throughout 2000 and 2001 in St. Paul, Minnesota, often teaming with or facing rival and later friend CM Punk. He made a name for himself when he joined ROH, where he was placed in a rivalry with Punk before uniting with Punk and Ace Steel to form the Second City Saints. He later formed a tag team with Punk, which led to him becoming a two-time ROH World Tag Team Champion. He also had rivalries with Homicide and then-World Champion Bryan Danielson.
Cabana was a part of the short-lived Wrestling Society X on MTV in late 2006, where he portrayed his old-school wrestling persona, the masked "Matt Classic". In 2007, he left ROH to wrestle in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), WWE's developmental territory, where he became a one-time Television Champion and a two-time Southern Tag Team Championship. He made several appearances as Scotty Goldman with WWE on its SmackDown brand before being released from his contract in 2009.
Between August 2005 and April 2006, Cabana was involved in a feud with Homicide, which featured Cabana being strangled with a metal coat hanger, bleeding from numerous chair shots, having Drāno poured down his throat, being piledriven off the ring apron through a table, and getting his head crushed between a ladder. On April 1, 2006, in Chicago, Cabana finally got his revenge and earned the respect of Homicide after a Chicago Street Fight, which saw the feud settled with a handshake and an embrace.
After his decisive victory against Homicide, Colt Cabana challenged the ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson for the World Championship at Ring of Honor's 100th show on April 22, 2006, in Philadelphia. Danielson defeated him in less than five minutes. Feeling he lost the match because he had spent the past eight months "brawling" as opposed to wrestling, Cabana rededicated himself. He eventually earned a rematch against Danielson at Chi-Town Struggle on June 24, though he once again lost. Cabana received one last shot against Danielson for the ROH World Championship on August 26. The two fought to a 60-minute time limit draw in a two out of three falls match, with each wrestler earning one fall.
In October 2006, Cabana was involved in an auto accident with fellow Ring of Honor stars Adam Pearce and Dave Prazak. Cabana was driving from a Ring of Honor event in Dayton, Ohio when he lost control of their car due to the weather conditions. The car was totaled but everyone was wearing seat belts, which saved their lives. It was initially reported that Cabana had to have a toe amputated, though he had only bruised it. Despite the injury, Cabana wrestled the next night in Chicago Ridge, Illinois. Pearce and Prazak also walked away with only bruises.
On April 3, 2007, it was revealed by the Ring of Honor website that Colton had signed a WWE developmental contract and was to begin working for their developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling. At Good Times, Great Memories (named in his honor), held on April 28 in Chicago, Cabana defeated long-time friend and fellow Chicago wrestler Adam Pearce.
Cabana also made his Japanese debut for Zero 1 Max in 2006. In a later tour, he formed an alliance with Steve Corino and Yoshi, known as the P Force Men, which wore all pink outfits. Colt's also appeared and wrestled for Ireland's Irish Whip Wrestling, Austria's Rings of Europe and various Montreal & Toronto Canadian independents. Colton's final European appearance as an independent wrestler took place at UK promotion 1PW on April 6, 2007, where he, along with fellow Team SHAG member Darren Burridge, successfully defended the 1PW Tag Team Championship against Doug Williams and Nigel McGuinness, before formally retiring his half of the title.
On April 3, 2007, it was announced that Colton had signed a contract with WWE. He was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling, their developmental territory, and made his debut at a TV taping on May 30. Wrestling as Colt "Boom Boom" Cabana, he lost to Michael W. Kruel in the first round of a tournament to determine the opponent against Mike Mizanin at an OVW live event on June 8. He won his first match in OVW when he forced the Belgium Brawler to submit with the Chicago Crab on June 23. After helping Al Snow regain the role of OVW Troubleshooter from Kruel, Cabana became involved in the OVW Television Championship picture, defeating champion Shawn Spears by count-out on August 11. Cabana twice came close to winning the title only to be denied by the TV time-limit expiring. Cabana defeated Spears on October 31, 2007, to win the OVW Television title. When OVW was replaced by Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) as the WWE developmental territory, Cabana was moved down to FCW.
On the August 15, 2008, episode of SmackDown, Colton made his WWE main roster debut as "Scotty Goldman", losing to The Brian Kendrick. On the August 22 episode of SmackDown, Colton was a participant in a 10-man battle royal match to determine a qualifier for the WWE Championship scramble match at Unforgiven, but was eliminated by Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder. His last singles match on SmackDown was a quick loss against The Great Khali. A show starring Colton premiered on WWE.com as What's Crackin'?, later renamed Good as Goldman, on January 14, 2009. In his first appearance on television in five months, Colton participated in an Elimination Chamber qualifying battle royal on February 6, 2009, but was eliminated first. Colton was released from his WWE contract on February 20, 2009, the same day that his final match for WWE, a loss to Umaga, aired on SmackDown.
On March 6, 2011, Colton (as Cabana) won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Adam Pearce at the NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood television tapings. He lost the title to The Sheik on April 23, 2011, in Jacksonville, Florida. On March 19 Cabana debuted for NWA Rampage in a World Heavyweight Championship defense against NWA RPW Heavyweight Champion J-Rod. The match ended in a no-contest after interference from Hot Like Lava. Cabana & J-Rod teamed up to defeat Hot Like Lava afterward. On April 2 during the second night of ROH's Honor Takes Center Stage pay-per-view, Cabana started a new feud with House of Truth members Christopher Daniels, Michael Elgin, Roderick Strong and Truth Martini. Colton, as Matt Classic, returned to Chikara on April 15 for the 2011 King of Trios, once again teaming with Dasher Hatfield and Sugar Dunkerton as the Throwbacks. The team was eliminated in the first round by Team Osaka Pro (Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada and Ultimate Spider Jr.). On July 20, Cabana (as Officer Colt Cabana) defeated 2 Tuff Tony to win the JCW World Heavyweight Champion at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's event Above the Law. He lost the championship to Corporal Robinson at the following event. On August 2, Cabana wrestled a dark match for WWE at a SmackDown taping, losing against Wade Barrett. On August 6, 2011, Cabana tapped out to Ring of Honor World champion Davey Richards in Carrollton, Georgia as part of the 2011 Wrestling Legends Fanfest Weekend activities. Presents Mid-Atlantic Memories, The 2012 NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest Weekend!. Nwalegends.com (April 8, 2012). Retrieved on May 6, 2012. On August 20, Cabana wrestled in Aberdeen, Scotland for Wrestlezone, losing a tag team title match. Wrestle Zone Scotland . Wrestle Zone Scotland (August 20, 2011). Retrieved on May 6, 2012. On August 26, 2011, Colt headlined the inaugural show for Preston City Wrestling, joining once again with Darren Burridge as Team SHAG. On October 15, 2011, Cabana made a surprise appearance at All Pro Wrestling's Halloween Hell XIV event in Hayward, California, defeating "Wrestling Personified" Rik Luxury for his APW Worldwide Internet Championship after answering Luxury's open challenge. On November 13, at Chikara High Noon, Cabana faced and defeated Archibald Peck after Colt Cabunny—a character that is essentially a parody of Cabana—turned on Peck and helped his "human counterpart" pick up the win. Cabana and Peck then teamed at Chikara's next iPPV, , where they were defeated by The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield and Mark Angelosetti).
In March 2012 Cabana appeared on , the debut show of London-based promotion Progress Wrestling, in a losing effort to Loco Mike Mason. On April 8, 2012, Cabana defeated Adam Pearce to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for the second time. He re-lost the title to Pearce on July 21. Cabana teamed with Eddie Edwards to take part in Global Tag League 2012 and gained five points but did not progress further. On September 14, 2012, Colton returned to his Matt Classic persona as he, Dasher Hatfield and Mark Angelosetti entered the 2012 King of Trios, losing to Team JWP (Command Bolshoi, Kaori Yoneyama and Tsubasa Kuragaki) in their first round match. On October 27, Colton concluded a seven match series against Adam Pearce with a victory leading to Pearce vacating the NWA World Title
On January 1, 2017, Cabana became a commentator for Ring of Honor, replacing Nigel McGuinness (while still also wrestling). On the January 7 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Cabana was defeated Chris Sabin, with the help from The Boys. On February 18, episode of Ring of Honor Cabana defeated The Boys in a 1 on 2 Handicap Match. On March 4 at Manhattan Mayhem VI Cabana lost his rematch with Dalton Castle.
On April 15 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling Cabana was involved in a random draw eight-man tag team match where he teamed with Bobby Fish, Lio Rush, and Hanson as they were defeated by Jay Lethal, Hangman Page, Jay White and Silas Young, where the winners faced each other in a fatal four number one contender match for the ROH World Championship.
On August 13, Cabana challenged Dalton Castle and the Boys for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship and teamed with The Tempura Boyz (Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu) in an unsuccessful effort at winning the championship on August 20. After the match, Cabana shook hands with Castle and the Boys, turning him face. Colt became more active as a color commentator alongside Ian Riccaboni. At the 2019 Crockett Cup, Colt Cabana won the NWA National Heavyweight Championship from Willie Mack. On June 29, 2019, he lost the championship to James Storm but subsequently regained it in a victory on NWA Power. He lost the title to Aron Stevens in a triple threat match also involving Ricky Starks at NWA Into the Fire.
In 2022, he was a judge at Supercard of Honor XV for the ROH Pure Championship. On July 23, at Death Before Dishonor (2022), Cabana defeated Anthony Henry in the pre-show.
On the November 2, 2022, episode of Dynamite, Cabana challenged Chris Jericho for the ROH World Championship in a losing effort. Cabana returned to the ring for AEW in September 2023, forming a new tag team with Brandon Cutler. Over the following months, Cabana and Cutler faced Cabana's former Dark Order stablemates in a series of tag team matches.
On December 23, 2019, RetroSoft Studios announced Riccaboni and Cabana would be providing commentary for the sequel to the 1991 arcade game WWF WrestleFest RetroMania Wrestling on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PC.
In February 2015, WWE doctor Christopher Amann filed a lawsuit against Colton and long-time friend Phillip Brooks (better known as CM Punk) for comments made during a November 2014 episode of Colton's Art of Wrestling podcast. Amann was seeking roughly $4 million in compensation and an undisclosed amount in punitive damages. In 2018, the case went to trial, where a jury ruled in favor of Colton and Brooks. Later that year, Colton filed a lawsuit against Brooks, alleging breach of contract and fraud due to Brooks' alleged agreement and later refusal to pay Colton's legal fees for the Amann suit. Colton sought $200,000 in damages and an additional $1 million in punitive damages. Brooks filed a counterclaim against Colton for $600,000 and additional fees in June 2019. Both lawsuits were settled and dismissed in September 2019, which PWInsider stated involved no financial compensation.
Return to ROH (2016–2019, 2022)
On April 1, 2016, Cabana returned to ROH at Supercard of Honor X, confronting and challenging ROH World Champion Jay Lethal. Cabana received his title shot against Lethal on May 8 at Global Wars, but the match ended in a no contest, when Bullet Club took over the ring. On September 30, at All Star Extravaganza VIII Cabana and Dalton Castle defeated The All Night Express (Rhett Titus and Kenny King) (with Caprice Coleman), Keith Lee and Shane Taylor and War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) in a Four Corner Survival tag team match for the #1 contendership to the ROH World Tag Team Championship. On October 14, at Glory By Honor XV night one Cabana defeated Mark Briscoe. The next night Cabana was on Team ROH All-Stars with The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) and Dalton Castle against the Team ROH Champions (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) in an eight-man elimination tag team match that went to a no-contest because Cabana and Castle challenged Matt and Nick Jackson to a ROH World Tag Team Championship match where they were defeated. On the November 19, 2016, edition of ROH's television show, Colt Cabana turned heel by attacking Dalton Castle and splitting up his tag team. At Final Battle Cabana was defeated by Dalton Castle.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2019–2020)
On February 22, 2019, Cabana, alongside plenty of other ROH talent, appeared on Day 1 of which took place in Korakuen Hall. Alongside Delirious and Cheeseburger, they faced Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano, and Togi Makabe for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship, but in a losing effort. The next day, on Day 2 of Honor Rising: Japan, Cabana teamed with Toru Yano and were victorious in a match against Cheese Burger and Delirious. While the ROH talent headed back home after Honor Rising: Japan, Cabana would stay in Japan. On February 25, 2019, he was announced as one of the 32 participants in the New Japan Cup 2019. On March 8, 2019, Cabana stated that he would be making his official NJPW debut Cabana was eliminated from the 2019 New Japan Cup in the quarter-finals by Sanada and on March 24, Cabana stated that he had finished the tour.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–present)
After making multiple appearances for All Elite Wrestling since 2019, Cabana signed with the promotion in February 2020. He made a surprise appearance at Revolution on February 29, 2020, attacking The Dark Order. In May 2020, Cabana began a losing streak as Brodie Lee tried to recruit him into The Dark Order. On the June 10 episode of Dynamite, after Cabana lost to Sammy Guevara, Lee came out to help Cabana to his feet and once again offer him a spot in the Dark Order. Later that night, Cabana was seen heading into Lee's office. The following week, Cabana was handed an envelope by Lee that stated they will team together against Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss. Cabana and Lee would defeat Janela and Kiss after Cabana pinned Janela. Over the next few weeks, Cabana experienced a winning streak while teaming with members of the Dark Order as he was slowly recruited into the group over time, thus slowly turning heel. Following the death of Brodie Lee, Cabana, alongside the rest of The Dark Order, transitioned into babyfaces. At the Brodie Lee Celebration of Life memorial show, Cabana teamed with The Young Bucks to defeat Matt Hardy and Private Party, securing the pinfall victory. Cabana wrestled his final match as a member of the Dark Order in August 2022.
Other media
Colton hosts a podcast called The Art of Wrestling, which has 409 episodes as of September 2024. AOW episode 226 CM Punk on November 26, 2014
Personal life
While at Western Michigan University, Colton became friends with Matt Cappotelli, who went on to participate in WWE Tough Enough.
Championship and accomplishments
See also
External links
Categories: Official Website, 1980 Births, 20th-century Male Professional Wrestlers, 20th-century American Professional Wrestlers, 21st-century Male Professional Wrestlers, 21st-century American Professional Wrestlers, All Elite Wrestling Personnel, American Color Commentators, American Male Professional Wrestlers, American Sports Podcasters, Jewish American Sportspeople, Jewish Professional Wrestlers, Living People, Masked Wrestlers, Icw Tag Team Champions, Nwa World Heavyweight Champions, People From Deerfield, Illinois, Professional Wrestlers From Illinois, Professional Wrestling Podcasters, American Twitch Streamers, Sportspeople From Cook County, Illinois, Sportspeople From Lake County, Illinois, Western Michigan Broncos Football Players, The Dark Order Members, Roh World Tag Team Champions, Ironman Heavymetalweight Champions, Nwa National Heavyweight Champions, Aaw Heritage Champions, Undisputed British Heavyweight Champions, Western Michigan University Alumni, Youtubers From Illinois, Ovw Tag Team Champions, Ovw Television Champions
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