Tom Matera
| Antonio Thomas | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | Thomas Matera |
| Born |
April 6, 1980 Springfield, Massachusetts |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) |
Antonio Thomas Antonio Promise Thomas The Promise |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Billed weight | 235 lb (107 kg) |
| Billed from | Panama City, Florida |
| Trained by | Lance Storm Kevin Landry Steve Bradley Jeff Costa Killer Kowalski Ohio Valley Wrestling |
| Debut | 2001 |
Thomas "Tom" Matera (born 6 April 1980) is an American professional wrestler and personal trainer, better known by his ring name Antonio Thomas. He is best known for his stint with World Wrestling Entertainment on the Raw brand as one half of The Heart Throbs.
Matera made his debut in late 2001 under the name Antonio Thomas, and quickly became a mainstay on the New England independent circuit. Over the next few years, he wrestled for several promotions, including New England Championship Wrestling, Chaotic Wrestling, and the Eastern Wrestling Alliance (EWA).
In early 2003, Thomas began training with Rick Harrison, and began working for Bradley's Wrestling Federation of America (WFA) promotion. There he won the WFA Heavyweight Championship, and held it throughout most of 2003-2004.
Thomas then began teaming with his long-time friend Romeo Roselli, who was wrestling as Johnny Heartbreaker, and the pair formed a tag team called The Heartbreakers. On January 23, 2004, The Heartbreakers defeated Cueball and Nick McKenna to become the EWA Tag Team Champions.
In July 2004, Thomas signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). In OVW he continued to team with Heartbreaker, but it was not until February 2005 that Heartbreaker was officially signed to a developmental contract with WWE.
On April 18, 2005, William Regal and Tajiri successfully defended the World Tag Team Championships against the debuting Heart Throbs (Thomas and Heartbreaker, now known simply as Antonio and Romeo respectively). They went on to participate in a Tag Team Turmoil match for the World Tag Team Championship at the 2005 Backlash pay-per-view, although they were unsuccessful.
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