TJ Nicholson

Travis Jonathan Nicholson (born April 28, 1992 in Finland) is a Finnish-American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name TJ Nicholson. He currently wrestles for Omega Pro Wrestling and Extreme Society Wrestling, occasionally appearing in other promotions as well.

Extreme Society Wrestling (2014 - present)
Nicholson made his debut in EWS on October 14 at Breakcodes 4. He defeated Josh Thorn via submission in a quick match.

Debut
It was reported in early 2013, that Nicholson, under the ring name Tony Cole had signed a short time contract to OPW, a CAW company owned by Cole's friend Joe Omega. In his first match in OPW, he defeated his long time idol CM Punk due to an interference by The Undertaker. Later, Cole was the special referee in a Hell in the Cell match between the two of them at OPW Absolute Zero, which was won by The Undertaker.

Soon, Cole became the first ever OPW TV Champion, but the title was deactivated soon after, and at the same time he suffered a strained achilles tendon against Rain Lopez and went out with an injury.

Return
In June 2013, it was rumored that Cole would make his re-debut in OPW sometime soon. The month after, it was reported Cole had signed a new contract with the company. He finally returned on the August 6th episode of OPW Warzone to take part in the Death or Glory series and beat Mick Foley on his first match back. On the first episode of OPW Superstars, Cole had a match against John Depp but lost via submission. He was then injured again and was scheluded to be out of action for approx. 6 months again.

Cole re-debuted in OPW on December 1, 2013 to fight Rey Mysterio. Cole viciously attacked Mysterio on the outside before defeating him via pinfall. On OPW Red on December 4, Cole saved Norm Dailey from a vicious attack by Bray Wyatt, forming a tag team with Dailey. At OPW Wrestlemania, the team took part in a tag team gauntlet for the Tag Team Championships and survived until the end, before being defeated by the Dudley Boyz.

On OPW's Red second season premiere, Cole took part in the main event to determine the number one contender to the OPW Championship. Even eliminating John Cena, he was a part of the final two but was eliminated by Batista. Two days later it was announced online that Tony Cole himself would face his long time idol, and greatest rival CM Punk in a number one contenders match at OPW Backlash, the winner of this match would win #1 contendership to the major championship of their brand.

On Superstars on December 19, Cole defeated the Legends Champion Razor Ramon in a non-title match. He got a title match for the championship on Kryptonite the following day, but Ramon was able to retain against Cole. He then took on a rivalry with CM Punk, which culminated at Backlash at a number one contenders match for the OPW title, which Punk won. Cole then had brief encounters with European Champion Seth Rollins, and they were supposed to face for the belt at Judgement Day. However, before the match started, Cole was attacked by Roman Reigns and in kayfabe, injured. Out of storyline, he wanted to take time off OPW. Despite him being out of action, he was voted the Breakout Star at OPW's first anniversary show in February 2014.

Against the system
Cole returned to OPW on April 22 to take part in the King of the Ring tournament. In the first round, he defeated Sheamus and advanced to the next round. There, he would defeat Crystal 1 via count-out and advance to the semi-finals. The rest of the tournament took place at the namesake pay-per-view, where Cole would first beat Seth Rollins to advance to the final round. There, he would ultimately defeat the winner of the first King of the Ring tournament Norm Dailey, and was crowned King of the Ring. A few weeks later, he was arbitrarily forced to defend the crown on Episode 120, inside a steel cage against John Cena. Cena would win the crown from Cole, who was then attacked by the Crusade, making Cole turn face in the process.

Treating Cole unfairly would continue in the following episodes. Cole would manage to beat Victor by submission, but after the match his SummerSlam opponent was announced to be Brock Lesnar. Lesnar attacked Cole and knocked him out with three F5's. At SummerSlam, with a little help from the Undertaker, Cole beat Lesnar in an epic match. The Authority continued to put Cole in impossible situations and soon, he faced John Cena again. Cole beat Cena by disqualification after Cena hit him with the steel steps. After the match, Triple H attacked Cole with his signature sledgehammer, before hitting him with a Pedigree. Cole was then added as the sixth participant to the 6-man Hell in a Cell match for the OPW Championship at Absolute Zero 2 - this being his first ever world title opportunity. Triple H announced that this way he would make sure Cole never walks again.

A couple of weeks later on July 15, Cole defeated the Intercontinental Champion Shawn Dynasty in a non-title match. On the next episode, he was defeated by one of the participants of his upcoming Hell in a Cell match, The Rock. At Absolute Zero 2, Cole lost as champion Chris Jericho retained the OPW Championship. Following the match, he changed his ring name to his real name, TJ Nicholson. At OPW Royal Rumble 2, Nicholson entered at number 38, and went on to win the Rumble match. The following night on Episode 140, he beat Randy Orton in a steel cage match. A few weeks later, he interrupted Triple H's rant and as a result, Nicholson was banned from wrestling in OPW until High Octane 2, where he would have to defend his Wrestlemania main event match contract - that he earned by winning the Royal Rumble - against Batista. At High Octane, Nicholson beat Batista in a Last Man Standing match to keep his Wrestlemania spot.

At the following episode on October 18, TJ was attacked backstage by Cyrus Perizma, in an effort to make him unable to wrestle at Wrestlemania 2, in the title match that also would include Perizma's friend John Depp. On November 1, at Wrestlemania 2, Nicholson defeated Brock Lesnar and John Depp to become the OPW Champion, winning his first world championship. However, only one minute later, Mr. Money in the Bank, Daniel Bryan, cashed in his contract and ended Nicholson's reign before it properly started. A few weeks later on November 11, Nicholson announced that he would take time off OPW. He was confronted by Triple H, who immediately put Nicholson into a match against Ace Justice. Nicholson lost to Justice, and after the show, he told the press that he would stay away for a rather long time.

2015 return
On January 20 next year, at OPW Overhaul, Nicholson returned after the match between OPW Champion Daniel Bryan and Norm Dailey, but was then attacked by the debuting Diablous. In his first match back, Nicholson was beaten by Norm Dailey. A week later, Nicholson fought JDP in an Extreme Rules match, a match that Nicholson won.

All Star Japan (2013 - present)
Nicholson, as Tony Cole, made an appearance at All Star Japan on December 2, at ASJ Kings of Puroresu. There he would challenge Hajime Suzuki for the ASJ World Championship, but lost. Nearly a year later on October 16, Nicholson wrestled a tag team match at ASJ Road to Bunka no Hi. The match saw him team up with KAKE against the stable of John Porter and Tajumi Sosa. Nicholson's team was victorious when TJ made Porter submit to a cross armbar. Nicholson wrestled an another match at ASJ's supershow on October 21, defeating Porter with a top rope Face Foetal. On January 3 at New Year Combat 2015, he lost to KAKE in a singles match.

New-NAW (2014)
Tony Cole made a guest appearance at New-NAW Wrestlefest challenging for the New-NAW Hardcore Championship in a 20 Man Battle Royal but came up short. This would be his only appearance so far with New-NAW. Rumors however became running around that Cole would have signed a contract with New-NAW. The rumors came out to be true as at New-NAW Aggression, Tony Cole debuted my helping former OPW tag partner Norm Dailey defeated Monty Brown for the Intercontinental Championship. It was revealed he had joined The Crusade.

New-NXT (2013)
Tony Cole debuted on the first episode of New-NXT in August 2013. He defeated Austin Aries by pinfall, but after the match he got a low blow from Aries. On the following episode, he was defeated by Joe Omega after Aries tossed a chair to Omega while the referee was distracted. The federation was however defunct, at least for the time being.

In wrestling

 * Finishing moves
 * Bone Through (Back-to-back double underhook piledriver)
 * Face Foetal (Fireman's carry cutter)
 * Finnish Deathlock (Arm trap crossface)
 * Signature moves
 * Cutter, multiple variations
 * Diving elbow drop
 * Fireman's carry neckbreaker
 * Moonraker (Moonsault double foot stomp)
 * Multiple suplex variations
 * Nigel (Pendulum lariat) - adopted from Nigel McGuinness
 * Roundhouse kick
 * Standing star press
 * Superkick
 * Trave Driller (Snap double underhook DDT)
 * Entrance themes
 * ​"Move" by Thousand Foot Krutch (July 2013 - November 2013)
 * "I Don't Wanna Stop" by Ozzy Osbourne (November 2013 - November 2014)
 * "Ultranumb" by Blue Stahli (November 2014 - present)

Championships and accomplishments

 * Omega Pro Wrestling
 * OPW Championship (1 time)
 * OPW Legends Championship (1 time)
 * OPW Tag Championship (1 time) - with Norm Dailey