Damon Kemp
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Bobby Steveson |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | March 20, 1999 Apple Valley, Minnesota |
| Alma mater | University of Minnesota |
| Parent(s) | Robert Steveson Laticia Steveson |
| Relative | Gable Steveson (brother) |
| Ring name(s) | Damon Kemp |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
| Billed weight | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Billed from | Apple Valley, Minnesota |
| Trained by | WWE Performance Center |
| Debut | December 24, 2021 |
| Sport | |
| Country | United States |
| Sport | Wrestling |
| Event | Folkstyle |
Medal record
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Bobby Steveson (born March 20, 1999) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on their NXT brand under the ring name Damon Kemp and is a member of the No Quarter Catch Crew stable. He is a former folkstyle wrestler who competed at the University of Minnesota. He is also the older brother of fellow WWE wrestler and Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson.
Early life and amateur wrestling career[edit]
Bobby Steveson was born and raised in Apple Valley, Minnesota to Robert and Laticia Steveson,[1] where he and his brother Gable attended Apple Valley High School. During his high school years, Steveson distinguished himself in wrestling, securing three state championship titles and achieving national recognition by winning junior folkstyle national championships in 2013 and 2014.[1]
Pursuing higher education at the University of Minnesota, Steveson continued his wrestling career. His collegiate achievements include qualifying for the NCAA championships in 2017[1] and earning letterwinner status in both 2017 and 2018.[1] Steveson also participated in open tournaments, winning at the Cobber Open and the Buena Vista Open in 2015,[1] and finishing as a runner-up at the UNI Open the same year.[1]
Professional wrestling career[edit]
Steveson signed with WWE in August 2021 as part of a new class of recruits for the WWE Performance Center. He worked as Damon Kemp on the 205 Live, NXT 2.0 and NXT UK programs.[2][3] On May 10, 2022, Kemp was introduced by Roderick Strong as the newest member of Diamond Mine.[4] At Worlds Collide, Kemp was involved in a sequence where his interference led to the Creed Brothers not winning the NXT Tag Team Championship during a fatal four-way elimination tag team title unification match. Kemp used a steel chair against Julius Creed, which led to Pretty Deadly securing the victory, effectively departing Diamond Mine and turning heel. At NXT Halloween Havoc, Kemp lost to Julius Creed in the Ambulance match under the stipulation that if Julius loses, Brutus would have to leave NXT. On the August 8 episode of NXT, he assisted both Drew Gulak and Charlie Dempsey during their tag team match, officially joining No Quarter Catch Crew (NQCC). On the September 12 episode of NXT, Myles Borne joined the NQCC by turning on both Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen during their six-man tag team match.[5]
On the February 27, 2024 edition of NXT, Dempsey defeated The Meta-Four's Noam Dar 2–1 in a British Rounds Rules match to become the new NXT Heritage Cup Champion.[6] At NXT: Roadblock, NQCC announced that the NXT Heritage Cup will be defended by the whole stable under the "Catch Clause".[7][8] Under the Catch Clause, NQCC as a whole referred to themselves as the NXT Heritage Cup Champions but WWE only recognize Dempsey as the official champion. On the April 16 episode of NXT, The D'Angelo Family leader Tony D'Angelo revealed that his Family were hired by NQCC to (kayfabe) eliminate Gulak. In reality, Gulak was written off following allegations from Ronda Rousey that Gulak grabbed her pants' drawstrings backstage in 2022.[9] D'Angelo demanded payment for the job but NQCC refused, causing a brawl between the two factions[10] and resulting in a six-man tag team match between the two factions at Week 1 of Spring Breakin', which was won by The D'Angelo Family (D'Angelo, Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and Luca Crusifino).[11]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f "Bobby Steveson - Wrestling". University of Minnesota Athletics. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ "Bobby Steveson Gets New Name Ahead Of NXT Debut". Wrestling Inc. November 10, 2021. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ "Damon Kemp". WWE. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ "Damon Kemp Introduced As Newest Member Of Diamond Mine On 5/10 NXT 2.0 | Fightful News". www.fightful.com. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
- ^ Joseph, Sunil (2022-09-14). "Former Diamond Mine member helps current WWE Superstars to retain their NXT tag team titles in Steel Cage Match". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
- ^ Moore, John (February 27, 2024). "NXT TV results (2/27): Moore's review of Ilja Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes meeting, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade, Von Wagner vs. Lexis King, Kiana James vs. Kelani Jordan". Pro Wrestling Dot Net.
- ^ Moore, John (February 27, 2024). "NXT TV results (2/27): Moore's review of Ilja Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes meeting, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Edris Enofe and Malik Blade, Von Wagner vs. Lexis King, Kiana James vs. Kelani Jordan". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
- ^ Powell, Jason (March 5, 2024). "NXT TV results (3/5): Moore's review of NXT Roadblock with Carmelo Hayes vs. Tony D'Angelo for a shot at the NXT Title, Kabuki Warriors vs. Lyra Valkyria and Tatum Paxley for the WWE Women's Tag Titles". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
- ^ Gartland, Dan (2024-04-17). "WWE Wrestler Drew Gulak Written Off TV After Investigation Into Complaint Brought by Ronda Rousey". SI (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-04-23.
- ^ Moore, John (April 16, 2024). "NXT TV results (4/16): Moore's review of Carmelo Hayes vs. Trick Williams in a steel cage match, Ridge Holland vs. Joaquin Wilde, Sol Ruca vs. Lola Vice, Noam Dar vs. Dijak". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
- ^ "NXT Spring Breakin' 2024 Week One results". WWE. April 23, 2024. Retrieved April 24, 2024.