Duke Hudson

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Duke Hudson
Duke Hudson At an NXT live event in 2023.jpg
Duke Hudson at an NXT live event in 2023
Birth nameBrendan Vink
Born (1990-02-08) 8 February 1990 (age 34) [1]
Adelaide, South Australia [2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Brendan Vink
Duke Hudson
Elliot Sexton [3]
Tony Modra
Billed height6 ft 5 in (196 cm) [2]
Billed weight253 lb (115 kg) [2]
Billed fromAdelaide, Australia
Trained byDamian Slater
Hartley Jackson [2]
Debut31 May 2008 [2]

Brendan Vink (born 8 February 1990) is an Australian professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Duke Hudson, is a member of Chase University, and is a former NXT Tag Team Champion with Andre Chase. He is also known for his time in Melbourne City Wrestling (MCW), where he was a part of The Mighty Don't Kneel. [4]

Contents

Professional wrestling career

Early years (2008–2018)

At the age of 18, Vink debuted as early as 31 May 2008, under the ring name Elliot Sexton. Wrestling primarily in Australia, Sexton appeared in promotions including WRESTLE RAMPAGE (WR) and Melbourne City Wrestling (MCW). During his time in both promotions, Sexton became a one-time MCW Heavyweight Champion and a one-time WrestleRock Champion. During 2018, he made his international debut in matches for the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling and the British promotion Progress Wrestling.

WWE (2019–present)

On 11 February 2019, it was announced that Vink had signed a contract with WWE and that he would report to the WWE Performance Center. [5] Vink debuted under his real name at an NXT house show on 15 March 2019, defeating Nick Comoroto. He went on to spend the remainder of March and the following month of April wrestling on house shows. Vink made his televised debut on the 25 March 2020 episode of NXT, teaming with his former TMDK stablemate Shane Thorne in a losing effort against Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch. [6]

Vink made his debut for EVOLVE in 2019 as part of EVOLVE's business relationship with WWE at EVOLVE 141 where he defeated Colby Corino in his first singles match. [7] Vink would then go on a winning streak in EVOLVE, defeating the likes of A. R. Fox, Stephen Wolf, JD Drake and Leon Ruff. [8] [9] [10] [11]

In March 2020, Vink began appearing on Raw alongside Shane Thorne where they faced teams such as the Street Profits and Cedric Alexander and Ricochet but were defeated. [12] [13] On the April 27 episode of Raw, Thorne and Vink became MVP’s newest associates as he challenged Alexander and Ricochet to a match the next week on their behalf. On the May 4 episode of Raw, Thorne and Vink defeated Alexander and Ricochet earning their first victory. [14] However, their alliance with MVP ended after they were both traded back to NXT and Thorne and Vink would quietly disband as a team soon after. [15]

In July 2021, Vink, under the new ring name Duke Hudson was announced to be a part of the 2021 NXT Breakout Tournament. On the 13 July episode of NXT, Hudson defeated Ikemen Jiro in the first round. On the August 17 episode of NXT, Hudson was eliminated in the semi-finals by Carmelo Hayes. Hudson would then confront Kyle O'Reilly and a brawl would ensue leading to a match being made between the two on next weeks episode of NXT. [16] On 5 December, at NXT WarGames, Hudson lost to Cameron Grimes in a Hair vs. Hair match, and therefore had to shave his hair per the match's stipulation. [17] On the 1 November 2022 episode of NXT, Hudson accompanied Thea Hail and Andre Chase as Chase U's flag bearer.

On October 24 on Night 1 of Halloween Havoc, Hudson and Chase defeated The Family (Tony D'Angelo and Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo) to become the NXT Tag Team Champions, winning his first championship in WWE, [18] but will later lose the titles to D'Angelo and Stacks on the November 14, 2023 edition of NXT ending their reign at 21 days. [19] Hudson and Riley Osborne participated in the 2024 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, where they lost to Latino World Order’s Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde on the January 16, 2024 episode of NXT. [20]

Personal life

Vink worked as a personal trainer for Goodlife Health Clubs in Melbourne before getting signed by the WWE.

In other media

He made his WWE video game debut in WWE 2K24 (2024)

Championships and accomplishments

Luchas de Apuestas record

Winner (wager)Loser (wager)LocationEventDateNotes
Cameron Grimes (hair)Duke Hudson (hair)Orlando, Florida NXT WarGames December 5, 2021

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References

  1. ↑ @WWENXT (8 February 2022). "Happy birthday, @sixftfiiiiive!!! 🎂🥳Cc: @persiawwe 👀" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Duke Hudson's profile at Cagematch.net, Wrestlingdata.com, Internet Wrestling Database
  3. ↑ "Elliot Sexton". Cagematch.
  4. ↑ "Melbourne City Wrestling".
  5. ↑ "WWE ANNOUNCES NEW CLASS OF DEVELOPMENTAL SIGNINGS". PW Insider.
  6. ↑ "WWE NXT Results for 3/25/20 Matt Riddle Victorious, New NXT Superstars Make Their Mark". Fightful.
  7. ↑ "EVOLVE 141 Results (12/6): Briggs vs. Drake, WALTER vs. Thatcher, More". Fightful.
  8. ↑ "EVOLVE 143 Results (1/17): Josh Briggs Takes On Anthony Greene In A No DQ Match". Fightful.
  9. ↑ "EVOLVE 144 Results (1/18): Josh Briggs Defends EVOLVE Title Against Dexter Lumis". Fightful.
  10. ↑ "EVOLVE 145 Stream, Results, And Discussion (2/29)". Fightful.
  11. ↑ "EVOLVE 146 Results (3/1): Josh Briggs Faces AR Fox, Mansoor In Action". Fightful.
  12. ↑ "WWE Raw 3/23/20 Results: Randy Orton Responds To Edge, Tag Team Action & Becky Lynch Attacks". Fightful.
  13. ↑ "WWE Raw 4/20/20 Results: 3 MITB Qualifying Matches, Bobby Lashley Lifts Tires & Morgan vs. Riott". Fightful.
  14. ↑ "WWE Raw 5/4/20 Results: AJ Styles Returns, A Gauntlet Match & Drew McIntyre vs. Murphy". Fightful.
  15. ↑ "WWE Sends Two Superstars Back to NXT". Súper Luchas . 1 August 2020.
  16. ↑ "Kyle O'Reilly looks to humble Duke Hudson in the ring". WWE. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  17. ↑ Moore, John (5 December 2021). "NXT WarGames results: Moore's live review of two WarGames matches, Roderick Strong vs. Joe Gacy for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel vs. Kyle O'Reilly and Von Wagner for the NXT Tag Titles, Cameron Grimes vs. Duke Hudson in a hair vs. hair match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  18. ↑ Berge, Kevin (25 October 2023). "WWE NXT Halloween Havoc 2023 Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights". Bleacher Report.
  19. ↑ Elizabeth, Claire (14 November 2023). "Iron Survivor Qualifiers, Alpha Academy". Cageside Seats. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  20. ↑ Berge, Kevin (16 January 2024). "WWE NXT Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights from Jan. 16". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  21. ↑ "AWA Champions League - Tag 2". CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  22. ↑ "MCW Heavyweight Championship « Titles Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Archived from the original on 8 July 2014.
  23. ↑ "Internet Wrestling Database - Brendan Vink: Pro Wrestling Illustrated Ratings".
  24. ↑ "WrestleRock Championship". CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
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