Nicholas Adams

Nicholas Adams

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First Appearance

Latest Appearance

WWA

WWA

Federations

World Wrestling Alliance

Age

36

Birthplace

Portland, Oregon '

Finisher

Rainfall

Wrestling Style

Varied

Championships

WWA (World Heavyweight) Champion
WWA Television Champion

Handler

Nicholas Villarreal

Nicholas Adams (born April 15, 1974) is an American professional wrestler who gained national exposure with the World Wrestling Alliance, a member of the Primetime Central circuit.

Adams has been placed everywhere within the company, from matches for the top title in the company to dark matches to warm up the crowd. He's generally a utility player, but the fans cheer him regardless of where he appears. Calm, casual, and with a quick wit and a bit of an absurd sense of humor, Adams tends to be a very affable individual. He constantly interacts with fans, and has yet to miss an appearance at a WWA fan festival except for injury.

Adams has spent eight years in the World Wrestling Alliance. Before that, his appearances were all in Washington State, in numerous small independent groups.

Although he has spent various points in his time with the WWA earning the fans' ire and their approval, including small stints with the Devil's Own and the Extreme Corporation (the latter when Jack Griffiths tried to operate the group), Adams tends to like the entertainment factor of the whole show. He has more often than not dressed up as pseudo-superhero "The Rainmaker" (based on a nickname that WWA promoters told him to use when he first came in to the company, due to his home town), and also tends to have plenty of product placement during many of his appearances.

Early Life

Nicholas Adams was born on April 18, 1974 to Ivan and Julia Adamonov in Portland, Oregon. Ivan was an immigrant from Russia who had yet to become a citizen, but was legally seeking citizenship at the time of their marriage. Nicholas (so spelled because of Julia's insistence) came in to the family fifteen months after the wedding, and Ivan became a United States citizen when Nicholas was two years old. With the newfound freedom of citizenship, Ivan found a job as a dock manager for a shipping company in Seattle, and moved his family there. Although he was able to provide for his family, making ends meet was something of a struggle, so Julia became a teacher of English as a Second Language at a local high school. Also during this time, the family name was Americanized to Adams, and Nicholas' father became John.

Due to his father's heritage and his mother's job, Nicholas had a multicultural upbringing, learning bits of Spanish, Russian, and Arabic, among other languages. At age nine, his younger brother Joshua was born. The age difference contributed to some distance between the two siblings until Joshua started his tenure in college, but there was never a trace of sibling rivalry, mostly because the age difference meant that there was nothing for which to compete between them. Currently, the two have a strong bond, as indicated by Joshua's willingness to appear on televised WWA events.

In high school, Adams attempted to join multiple athletic teams, but got cut during tryouts for everything his freshman year. For the following three years, Adams decided to go in a different direction, and discovered that he had talents in theater and music. He performed as a high baritone in choir, and also participated in school plays and musicals. He took this skill in performing to college and, after being unable to get a spot on any sports teams at Washington State, got a Journalism major and a Broadcast Journalism minor. He participated in a few plays during these years, although never as a lead. Also during his time in college, Adams picked up Tae Kwon Do and professional wrestling training. After graduation with a 3.4 GPA, Adams was still unable to acquire a job with any local news agencies. Due to the fact that he actually had started making money as a wrestler, Adams decided to make wrestling his career.

Wrestling Career

Early Experience

Adams had his first match during his senior year of college. Although it was only a middling affair, fans reacted well enough to him, and the bookers included him in the undercard regularly. After graduation from college, Adams took wrestling from one show a month - something to do with his time while he waited to get his Bachelor's Degree - in to a full-time occupation. At the age of twenty-four, he gained state-wide recognition by capturing the tag team titles of a promotion based out of Olympia. However, this recognition did not translate in to national bookings, leaving Adams to perform wherever he could, including Pullman (the city of his alma mater), Spokane, Tacoma, Walla Walla, Kennewick, and Seattle, along with defending his championships. Over the next two years, he made six appearances per month, had three different title reigns in two companies, and played four different characters, including a former Navy Midshipman, a Native American, a working man's man, and a win-at-all-costs-and-shove-the-victories-in-to-the-fans'-faces villain.

At twenty-six, following a dislocated knee that happened when he was paired with a very green wrestler in a small new company, Adams decided to stay in town with said company as a (kayfabe) commissioner. With one booking a week because of how the company operated, it was the kind of stability and familiarity that the doctor that cleared him had recommended. Adams' commissioner character made it his personal goal to make said wrestler a living hell, but outside of the ring, Adams began to mentor the kid. He was asked to become a trainer at the company, but declined due to the fact that he was planning on resuming his regular schedule once he was fully healed.

After a year in this role, Adams got back in to in-ring action, displaying that the injury had not caused him to miss a step. After a year, Adams went to a try-out for the World Wrestling Alliance. Seeing his talent, the WWA brought him to the East Coast and had him perform in some regional companies in the area, all in dark matches. After judging his talent to be what they wanted, at twenty-eight, they signed Adams to a contract that began after that year's Labor Day Brawl.

World Wrestling Alliance

Rising Star: 2002-2003

Coming in to the WWA just after the 2002 Labor Day Brawl, Adams made an immediate splash in the WWA, going on a mini-winning streak and challenging Shane Dorian for the WWA Television title not once, but twice. He gained the title in the second match in a No Disqualification match. It was around this time that Nicholas' father died in an unfortunate car accident, which caused Adams to use airline travel out of his own pocket, while still having to participate in WWA shows. He barely had time to view the funeral and the burial.

After retaining the Television title in the 2002 Birthday Brawl, the WWA went on hiatus until joining the Prime Time Central network. On Adams' first show back, Christyan Payne cheated to win the title with the help of Simon Mackinaw and Tenn. In the ensuing period after this loss, Adams constantly sought revenge against all three men, going so far as to take down both members of Mack Tenn as well as being a thorn in Payne's side. Seeking to gain any title whatsoever, Shaman and Grunge also got involved in the title scene, which led Matthew Warr to put all four men in to a steel cage match at Rage in the Cage VI. Following a grueling match that saw Payne get the hell beaten out of him, Shaman dump tacks in the ring at the start, and Grunge and Adams pull out some crazy acrobatics, Grunge beat Adams to the floor outside of the cage by mere seconds. Adams was disappointed, but that did not mean that he gave up on his pursuit of the Television title.

From that point until that May's Revolution, Adams and Grunge had a heated rivalry, fighting back and forth over the TV title. There were other competitors, but Grunge was Nick's main target. It eventually blew up into a full-out All Wrestlers Banned From Ringside No DQ Submission match for the United States title. While Grunge won the match, Adams was suddenly tossed to the forefront of the fans' minds. He wound up joining Grunge in the stable known as Youth United, working his way around the WWA with no real accolades of which to speak, until the Independence Day Rumble. He won that match, and hoped to get the World Title. To do so, he reinvented himself, making a "New and Improved" Nicholas Adams. But after losing the World title shot and being taken out of the WWA on the following Meltdown by an injury, Adams went to the sidelines.

The Ensuing Years: 2003-20010

He returned with a fury only a month and a half later, but was still feeling the effects of the damage. He fought his way through it, suffering wins and losses along the way. During this time, he had an intense battle with Tracer Bullet, mostly fueled by Adams's pranks and threats. Finally, Tracer struck back, and it began a downward spiral for Adams. Eventually, the feud went to a 60-minute Iron Man match inside a modified Elimination Chamber. Though intense, Tracer managed to win by only one pin right as the match ended. Tracer then managed to defeat Adams in a match at the Bourbon Street Brawl, forcing Nick to leave the NWC, but not the WWA. Using this loophole, Adams managed to get back in to WWA competition. Unfortunately, he also suffered a concussion that gave him amnesia.

He eventually came to believe that he was a vigilante crime fighter like Batman. As he had the nickname "The Rainmaker", it made sense. Eventually, he suffered an injury at the hands of the Devil's Own, forcing him out of active competition. Upon returning, he said farewell to the gimmicks of the past, and tried to gain himself a spot. But after countless losses, finally culminating in losing to Brian Calvin in a cage match for the TV title, Adams snapped, and brutally assaulted Brian. On the next Meltdown, Adams revealed his "good guy" image to be a total sham, and revealed that he had become part of the Devil's Own.

Eventually, though, after months and months of destruction, Adams decided that he wanted to get out of the little war raging between the Extreme Corporation and the Devil's Own, and eventually became a member in X-Corp, along with DO. When both groups disbanded, Adams lost his direction for a while, and in fact retreated into relative obscurity. When he returned, he made a slight impact, but no great accolades. Finally, in a match against Jack Griffiths at Day of the Dead, he came to the match dressed as the modern-day hero, The Rainmaker, and found that he preferred that persona to simply being himself. However, after failing to find his place in the company as The Rainmaker, Damian Thorne called him in and forced him to drop the "gimmick". Adams proceeded to go out to the ring as himself and win a match against the World Heavyweight champion, Eddie Van Dorn. Following this, Adams let himself fall into obscurity and drunkenness.

After conquering this with a few random and undisclosed solutions, Adams came back swinging, firing on all cylinders. He eventually won a tournament that got him the number one contender's spot for the WWA World Heavyweight championship. Though Adams can't remember who he fought, he knew that after losing via some very dubious means, Nick continued to pursue the belt. After a lengthy process that involved trumped-up arrest charges, Mal Somers intervening, and a few other things, Nick once again failed to win the belt, but was more focused than ever. Eventually, he entered in to some random competition against anybody and everybody.

Finally, after going in to Ultimate Glory II as the second least likely to win - unfortunately for Jaymz Watkins, everybody correctly anticipated that the Destroyer would become involved - Adams came out victorious after putting away both Copeland and Lucas Black in a brutal fight. Adams was champion when the WWA closed, and came back as champion when the WWA re-opened. He successfully defended the belt twice, but eventually succumbed to Lucas Black.

Adams was injured at the 2010 Bourbon Street Brawl following a brutal beating from Dave Harley, and was recuperating. However, he was cleared to wrestle on a limited basis starting in July, and so made an appearance in the Harrington Cup. After losing in the opening round, Adams came back to wrestling full-time at the Independence Day Rumble, making a huge splash with a production number of "Step In Time" from Mary Poppins (since the show was at a Disney Theme Park). Following that, Adams became something of the product placement for the WWA, cutting commercials and schilling products whenever he could.

In wrestling

Tale of the Tape

• Height: 6'0"
• Weight: 225 lbs.
• Date Of Birth: April 18, 1974
• Birthplace: Portland, Oregon
• Hometown: Seattle, Washington

Nicknames

• The Rainmaker
• The Walking One-Man Advertisement

Theme Music

• "Forever" by Kid Rock
• "Still Waiting" by Sum 42
• "Dirty Window" by Metallica
• "Going Down In Flames" by 3 Doors Down
• "Superman's Dead" by Our Lady Peace
• "Original Prankster" by The Offspring
• "We'll Be Here (When You're Gone)" by Goo Goo Dolls
  • "Savior" by 30 Seconds to Mars

Move Set

• Finishers
  • Rainfall (Modified Springboard Moonsault)
  • Thunder Lock (Texas Cloverleaf)

• Trademark Moves
  • Soul Crusher (3/4 Headlock Bulldog)
  • Lightning Strike (Superkick)
  • Top Rope Leg Drop
  • Choke Slam (on opponents of 250 lbs and 6'2" or less)

• Commonly-Used Maneuvers
  • Springboard DDT
  • Flying Lariat
  • Body Slam
  • Vertical Suplex
  • German Suplex
  • Standing Side Leg Lock

Championships & Accomplishments

• World Wrestling Alliance
  • WWA (World Heavyweight) Champion
  • WWA Television Champion
    • Winner of the Independence Day Rumble (2003)
    • Winner of Ultimate Glory II

Notable Fueds

• Grunge
• Tracer Bullet
• Eddie Van Dorn
• Ry Ballard