P. J. Black
Phillip Paul Lloyd is a South African professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE, under the ring name Justin Gabriel. He is currently wrestling under the ring name P. J. Black.
A second-generation wrestler, Lloyd was initially trained by his father. Debuting in 1997 at the age of 16, where he competed in the United Kingdom and South Africa and was the inaugural winner of the WWP World Cruiserweight Championship in World Wrestling Professionals as P. J. Black.
In 2008, Lloyd signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, and was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE's developmental territory, where he won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship, with Kris Logan, and the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship. In February 2010, he competed in the first season of NXT, finishing third, before being called to the main roster in June 2010 joining The Nexus. He joined the Corre in 2011. Teaming regularly with Heath Slater, the duo won the WWE Tag Team Championship three times in 2010 and 2011, which was the apex of Gabriel's success with WWE. He also won the TNA King of the Mountain Championship during his brief GFW crossover appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2015.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1997–2000)
Lloyd was originally trained by his father, a promoter and wrestler in South Africa, who was also known by his ring name The Pink Panther. His grandfather was a professional boxer and amateur wrestler. Lloyd grew up watching his father wrestle and in the early part of his training he used to practice in the backyard of his home, in which two rings were positioned. He made his professional wrestling debut at the age of 16. Using the ring name "P. J. Black", he formed a regular tag team with Ray Leppan called Pure Juice. His father was shot and killed in front of him during Lloyd's final year in high school, and a year later he moved to the United Kingdom for five years.United Kingdom and South Africa (2000–2008)
Lloyd spent five years in the United Kingdom, where he trained with Frontier Wrestling Alliance. He was trained by Alex Shane and Mark Sloan. In 2003 he made his FWA debut. He also made an appearance in International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom.He debuted for the South African promotion World Wrestling Professionals in 2005. In 2006, he returned to South Africa full-time, and returned to WWP. His most notable feuds during his tenure in WWP were against Tornado, Dameon Duke, Mikey Whiplash, and Joe E. Legend. On 1 November 2007, Black became the promotion's inaugural World Cruiserweight Champion, by defeating The Playa in a match to determine the inaugural champion. After holding the championship for 13 days, he lost it to Lizzard on 14 November. He then declared his intentions to compete in WWP's heavyweight division. Lloyd challenged unsuccessfully for the WWP World Heavyweight Championship against Joe E Legend on a WWP Thunderstrike episode that aired on 10 January 2009. During the match he suffered minor burns to the face after a fireball spot did not go as originally planned, and he had to be treated in hospital. His final match in South Africa took place on 8 November 2008 at WWP's bi-annual Carnival City Casino show, where he was defeated by Terri Middoux in front of a record attendance.
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE (2008-2015)
Florida Championship Wrestling (2008–2010)
In 2008, Lloyd signed a three-year developmental deal with World Wrestling Entertainment, becoming the first South African person to do so. He was assigned to Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE's developmental territory, where he made his debut under the name Paul Lloyd on 5 February, in a loss to Kawal. His first win in FCW came the following week, when he teamed with Caylen Croft and Trent Barreta to defeat Tyler Reks, Johnny Curtis, and DJ Gabriel in a six-man tag team match. The following month, he changed his ring name to 'Justin Angel'. He went on to wrestle against DH Smith, Barreta, Yoshitatsu, and Lance Hoyt over the next few months. In June, he formed a tag team with Kris Logan, with the pair defeating DJ Gabriel and Vic Adams in their debut match as a team. They quickly began to feud with The Dude Busters of Barreta and Croft, losing to them in several championship matches over the next month. At the 23 July 2009 tapings of FCW's television show, Angel and Logan defeated Barreta and Croft to become the Florida Tag Team Champions. They lost the championship on the same night to The Rotundos.Following the loss of the championship, Angel and Logan dissolved as a tag team, with Angel returning to singles competition. He went on a winning streak throughout August, defeating Alex Riley, Vance Archer, and Sheamus. Angel won the Florida Heavyweight Championship from Heath Slater in a two out of three falls match at the 24 September 2009 television tapings. He successfully defended the championship against Drew McIntyre, Eric Escobar, Slater, and Curt Hawkins throughout late 2009. In February 2010, he changed his ring name to 'Justin Gabriel' to coincide with his appearances on NXT. Further successful championship defenses occurred in early 2010, against competitors including Hawkins, Barreta, and Kaval. After a near six-month reign, Gabriel lost the championship at the 18 March television tapings, when Alex Riley won a three-way match, which also included Wade Barrett. Gabriel lost a rematch to Riley on 31 March and again on 20 May. In May, he started a feud with fellow South African Leo Kruger over who was the better wrestler. On 10 June, Gabriel beat Kruger, but Kruger reversed the result in a rematch at the 1 July television tapings, which was Gabriel's final appearance in FCW.
The Nexus and the Corre (2010–2011)
On 16 February 2010, it was announced that Angel was going to be competing on the first season of NXT under the name Justin Gabriel, with Matt Hardy as his storyline mentor. He made his in-ring debut on the 2 March 2010 episode of NXT in a tag team match with his mentor Hardy, against the team of William Regal and Skip Sheffield. Gabriel and Hardy won the match when Gabriel pinned Regal, making him the first rookie to pin a pro on the show. He went on to defeat Wade Barrett the following week, before suffering his first defeat on the 16 March 2010 episode of NXT, when he and Hardy were defeated by CM Punk and Darren Young. On 30 March, in the first Pros Poll, Gabriel was ranked third behind Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett. Before the first elimination, Gabriel won the Rookie Challenge earning immunity from elimination in the following Pros Poll. In that Poll, Gabriel remained in third place behind Wade Barrett and David Otunga. In the season finale on 1 June, Gabriel was the first eliminated, finishing in third place overall in the competition.File:The Nexus at SummerSlam 2010.jpg|upright|thumb|Gabriel with the rest of The Nexus at SummerSlam
On the 7 June 2010 episode of Raw, Gabriel and the other season one NXT rookies turned heel by interfering in the Viewer's Choice main event match between John Cena and CM Punk, attacking both competitors, the announcing team and Justin Roberts, the ring announcer before dismantling the ring area and surrounding equipment. The following week on Raw, the rookies attacked general manager Bret Hart, when he refused to give them contracts. At the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view, the seven rookies interfered in the WWE Championship match and cost Cena the championship. The following week on Raw, Vince McMahon fired Hart and announced the hiring of a new general manager, who had signed the seven season one NXT rookies to contracts. The following week, the group was named The Nexus. On the 12 July episode of Raw, The Nexus competed in their first match together, without Darren Young, a six–on–one handicap match against John Cena, which they won when Gabriel pinned Cena. The Nexus continued to feud with Cena and the Raw roster, resulting in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match at SummerSlam. Gabriel was one of the final two Nexus members in the match, but Cena's team won when Cena eliminated Gabriel and then Barrett to win the match.
On 3 October 2010, Cena was forced to join The Nexus as a result of losing to Barrett at Hell in a Cell and at the following pay-per-view Bragging Rights, Cena and Otunga won the WWE Tag Team Championship. On the 25 October 2010 episode of Raw, Barrett made a tag team match, with Gabriel and Heath Slater facing Otunga and Cena for the championship. Gabriel and Slater won when Barrett ordered Otunga to allow Slater to pin him, becoming the new Tag Team Champions. Gabriel and Slater held the championship for nearly two months before losing it to Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov in a four-way elimination match, also involving The Usos and Mark Henry and Yoshi Tatsu on 6 December. Gabriel and Slater received a rematch for the championship at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on 19 December, but lost by disqualification when Nexus member Michael McGillicutty interfered.
On the 10 January 2011 episode of Raw, Gabriel and Slater refused to take part in new Nexus leader CM Punk's initiation and walked away from the group. The following day, at the tapings of the 14 January 2011 episode of SmackDown, Gabriel and Slater helped former leader Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson attack Big Show. The following week, Gabriel, Slater, Barrett, and Jackson announced they had formed The Corre, and later that night Gabriel defeated World Heavyweight Champion Edge in a non-title match, following interference from the other members of The Corre. After winning a non-title match against the champions Kozlov and Marella on 4 February episode of SmackDown, Gabriel and Slater received a match for the WWE Tag Team Championship two weeks later, but lost via disqualification when the other members of The Corre interfered. They received a rematch at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on 20 February and defeated Marella and Kozlov to win the WWE Tag Team Championship for the second time. The following night on Raw, Gabriel and Slater lost the championship to John Cena and The Miz, but won the championship back minutes later after Barrett invoked The Corre's rematch clause, and The Miz turned on Cena. During this time, The Corre had continued to feud with The Big Show, and at WrestleMania XXVII in April the team of The Big Show, Kane, Santino Marella, and Kofi Kingston defeated The Corre. At the 19 April taping of SmackDown, the duo of Gabriel and Slater lost the Tag Team Championship to the team of Kane and The Big Show. In a backstage segment following the match, Gabriel was attacked by Slater, who thought Gabriel blamed him for their loss. On the 6 May episode of SmackDown, Gabriel, Barrett, and Slater attacked Jackson, removing him from the group. The three remaining members of The Corre feuded with Jackson until the 10 June episode of SmackDown, when Barrett walked out on Gabriel and Slater during a six-man tag team match against Jackson and the Usos, causing Gabriel and Slater to proclaim the end of The Corre. Gabriel continued to ally himself with Slater despite the dissolution of The Corre, and the duo began a feud with The Usos. On the 17 June episode of SmackDown, Gabriel and Slater were defeated by The Usos, but defeated them in a rematch the following week. They were again defeated by The Usos on the 8 July episode of SmackDown, resulting in the pair arguing in the ring. The following week, their team was ended when they faced off in a match won by Gabriel and Gabriel transitioned to a face character.