Nick Gage
Nicholas William Wilson, better known by his ring name Nick Gage, is an American professional wrestler wrestling for various promotions on the independent circuit. He was the first man to win the "big three" of American deathmatch tournaments: the CZW Tournament of Death, the IWA Mid-South King of the Deathmatch, and the GCW Tournament of Survival, a feat which has only been achieved by one other man, Matt Tremont.
Along with being the first-ever CZW World Heavyweight Champion for Combat Zone Wrestling, until late 2010, Gage wrestled at nearly every CZW show and competed in more CZW matches than any other wrestler. In addition to these accomplishments, he has held the World Tag Team, Iron Man, Ultraviolent Underground, and Death Match championships during his CZW career. Gage's late brother, Chris Wilson, was also a professional wrestler; he performed in CZW under the ring name Justice Pain. The brothers even joined a stable known as “The H8 Club” with fellow CZW talent Matt Tremont, Nate Hatred, and Wifebeater.
In April 2011, Gage was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree bank robbery. He was ultimately released in 2016. After his release, he became an infamous name in the deathmatch indie scene and gained a cult following known as the Murder-Death-Kill Gang. In his entrances, he is introduced as "representing The M.D.K Gang, The H8 Club, and all his comrades in prison, eastern block". His infamy as a "folk hero" of both independent American wrestling and of the deathmatch scene led him to be the subject of a 2021 episode of the docuseries Dark Side of the Ring. John Pollock of POST Wrestling describes Gage as a "cult figure" of professional wrestling. From February 2022 until October 2024, he was the sole contracted wrestler signed to Game Changer Wrestling, a promotion where he is a former 4-time GCW World Champion.
Early life
Nicholas William Wilson was born in National Park, New Jersey, on September 22, 1980. He was raised by his mother. As a child, he idolized NFL player Lawrence Taylor. He wanted to be a professional wrestler at a very young age, and later recalled watching NWA as a kid and calling WWF "corny". In the early 1990s, he was starting to lose his love for wrestling when ECW got him back into it. He would begin wrestling in backyard hardcore matches, making makeshift rings out of barbed wire, and wrestling his older brother Christopher and their friends. He and Christopher trained as professional wrestlers together. Christopher would become known by the ring name Justice Pain, though he retired in 2007 and died by suicide in 2020 when he jumped off the Walt Whitman Bridge.Professional wrestling career
Combat Zone Wrestling (1999–2010)
Gage is known for being the first ever CZW World Heavyweight Champion and for being part of the H8 Club tag team. Before teaming with Nate Hatred as the H8 Club, Gage won the CZW World Tag Team Championship with Zandig. Gage would also find great success in his run for the CZW Ironman Title, which he had several brutal matches with the likes of LOBO, The Wifebeater, Nick Mondo & Mad Man Pondo. One of the most notable matches from the time period was the first ever, 200 Light Tubes Death Match against The Wifebeater. He would later team up with Hatred and wrestle such teams as The Briscoe Brothers, VD, and The Backseat Boyz. Together, they won the tag team championship from the original H8 Club of Wifebeater and Justice Pain. Gage and Hatred would break up in 2003 when Hatred joined Messiah's stable, the Hi-V. Gage and Hatred would embark on a bloody feud against one another, competing in a Tables Match, Cage Match, Dog Collar Match, as well as a 200 Light Tubes Death Match. The two would trade the Big Japan Death Match Title between one another. Gage would take part in Cage of Death V: Suspended, as a part of Team Zandig, to take on the Hi-V.They feuded for nearly one year, and met in the Cage of Death match at Cage of Death V. At the end of the match, Hatred turned on Messiah and rejoined Gage. After reforming, they regained the tag championship, but lost it to The Blackout. At Cage of Death VI, The H8 Club of Nick Gage and Nate Hatred faced the H8 Club of Wifebeater and Justice Pain, with the winners winning the right to the H8 Club name. That night, Nick Gage and Justice Pain turned on their partners joined each other. They would then win the tag team championship and hold it for many months before losing to Necro Butcher and Toby Klein.Even after the loss of the Tag Titles, Gage and his brother would continue to feud with The Tough Crazy Bastards. Gage would find himself in the finals of the annual, Tournament of Death, along with the Necro Butcher and CZW owner, John Zandig. In this match, Gage would, figuratively, get set on fire, due to a botched Suplex, which saw Gage deliver it to Zandig, over the top rope and off the apron, onto a flaming board, which incorporated other Ultraviolent qualities. Gage would ultimately lose the match, as a result of being driven through several Panes of Glass, as well as a table, by Necro and his use of the Death Valley Driver. At the following show, Gage would interfere in Necro's No Rope Barbed Wire Match with one, J.C. Bailey. Gage, and his brother, Justice Pain's feud with Klein and The Butcher, would carry on all the way until Cage of Death 7. At Cage of Death 7 in the Cage of Death match, with Justice Pain and Zandig on Gage's team and Joker and Toby Klein on Necro's team. After Cage of Death, Gage and Necro Butcher fought in a triple threat no rope barbed wire match with J.C. Bailey for Bailey's Ultraviolent Underground Championship, which Gage captured that night. Gage later became color commentator for CZW DVDs, replacing Eddie Kingston. On July 29, 2006, Nick Gage won Tournament of Death 5 defeating Brain Damage, JC Bailey, and Drake Younger in the final round. After this, Gage began exhibiting strange behavior. He attacked LuFisto after she won the Iron Man title, had incidents with Zandig and Justice Pain, and insulted the fans on many occasions, most notably on commentary. He has since been removed from his commentary position. At Last Team Standing on October 14, he and Justice Pain made it to the finals of the tag team tournament. However, he left the arena before the last match. The next night, he lost the Ultraviolent Underground Championship to Drake Younger.
At Night of Infamy 5, problems between Gage, Lobo, and Zandig continued, leading to a Cage of Death match between the three, which called for the loser of the bout to hang up the boots and retire. Before the match started, Gage's enemy LuFisto came to the ring and entered herself in the match. Gage won by pinning Zandig, forcing the CZW owner into retirement. The next month, Gage was scheduled to face LuFisto in a one on one match, but LuFisto was injured and the match was canceled. Gage would end up facing his brother, Justice Pain, for Pain's CZW Heavyweight Championship at CZW's eight anniversary show, H8. The match ended early due to the result of Gage receiving a stinger, as a result of a botched Pain Thriller from his brother. Nick Gage would remain out of action until the end of the year.
Gage made his return to CZW at the ninth annual Cage of Death event on December 8. He defeated Messiah and Ruckus in a Triple Threat Match to become a three time CZW World Heavyweight Champion. Gage's third reign as the Heavyweight Champion would last seven months, as he successfully defended his title against the likes of Drake Younger, Danny Havoc, Devon Moore, Ruckus & Eddie Kingston. However, Gage's run would come to an end at A Tangled Web, in which he lost to Drake Younger in a Tangled Web Death Match, due to interference from Notorious Inc. member, Devon Moore. Gage would face Moore at the following show in a No Ropes Barbed Wire Taipei Death Match. Gage would soon take up arms with his old tag team partner, Nate Hatred, to reform the infamous H8 Club. The H8 Club would go on to face Notorious Inc. at Down With The Sickness, as well as BLKOUT at Cage of Death X. Gage and Hatred would then move on to a bloody feud with Billy Gram's Cult Fiction, Brain Damage & Deranged, which, ultimately, culminated at CZW Tournament of Death 8, when Nick Gage defeated Deranged in a No Ropes Barbed Wire Fire Match. At that very same event, Gage would end up defeating Jon Moxley and Scotty Vortekz in the second round, advancing to the third, and final, round, against Thumbtack Jack. Gage would have to be airlifted to hospital after taking a bump onto a light tube, which resulted in a laceration severing an artery in his arm. Gage had made a full recovery and was back at CZW Best of the Best and participated in an attack on Thumbtack Jack.
Following his injury at TOD, and his attack on Thumbtack Jack at Best of the Best, Gage, along with Nate Hatred, would feud with The Best All Around in their hunt to regain the CZW Tag Team Titles. However, the hunt would prove to be a failure as they did not win the titles. The H8 Club would go on to turn heel, as they took up arms with the Switchblade Conspiracy, and attacked the new CZW owner, D. J. Hyde. In response to the attacks, Hyde would replace himself in the upcoming Tournament of Death: Rewind, and in his place would be Nick Gage, who would take on the former owner of CZW, John Zandig. Gage would defeat Zandig in the opening round in a Panes of Glass Match, but would come up on the losing end to MASADA in the second round in a Home Run Derby Death Match.
"The Future of Hardcore" would cross paths with Thumbtack Jack once more before the end of the year, as they faced one another for Jack's Ultraviolent Underground Championship, in a No Ropes Barbed Wire Match at Cage of Death XI. Jack would come out the victor in the contest, only to be attacked by a returning, J.C. Bailey. In May 2010, Gage went to Japan and wrestled for Big Japan Pro Wrestling after an interval of nearly 10 years. Gage, as a member of the stable CZW Japan originally created around 2000, competed at BJW 15th Anniversary Show, teaming with Jun Kasai and D. J. Hyde.
Apart from his performances in CZW's Tournament of Death, Gage has also taken part in the IWA Mid-South King of the Deathmatch tournament, having competed in four of them. During 2003, Gage entered the tournament during the CZW vs IWA-MS angle, which was going on at the time. Gage was able to take out Dysfunction in the first round, by defeating him in a 4-Corners of Pain Match, followed by defeating "Mean" Mitch Page in a Barbed Wire Canvas & Light Tube Ropes Match in the second round. However, Gage would end up on the losing end during the third round when he lost to Mad Man Pondo in a Bed of Nails & Caribbean Spider Web Match.