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American football player and professional wrestler (born 1988) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ezekwesiri "EJ" Nduka Jr. (born August 28, 1988) is an American professional wrestler, professional IFBB bodybuilder, and former professional football defensive end / outside linebacker. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and also competes for their sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). As a professional wrestler, he is best known for his time with Major League Wrestling, where he was a former MLW World Tag Team Champion.
| E. J. Nduka | |
|---|---|
| |
| Birth name | Ezekwesiri Nduka Jr. |
| Born | August 28, 1988 Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) |
Bethany Tate (m. 2017) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | EJ Nduka Ezra Judge |
| Billed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 285 lb (129 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Dallas, Texas[1] |
| Trained by | WWE Performance Center |
| Debut | February 29, 2018 |
He played college football at Sam Houston State University - 2012 National Championship runner-up. Professionally, Nduka has been a member of the Tri-Cities Fever, Allen Wranglers, Toronto Argonauts and San Antonio Talons.
Nduka is also a professional bodybuilder in the IFBB. Nduka previously completed for the MuscleMania Professional Division. During the World Championships in Vegas, Nduka placed 4th in the Men's Physique Professional Division. Nduka began his bodybuilding career shortly after leaving the Arena Football League (AFL) in 2016. Since then he has placed 1st in the following competitions: Texas State Championships, Ronnie Coleman Classic, BetterBodies Championship, Junior Nationals and JR USAs. Nduka has also competed at the Arnold Classic & Lou Ferrigno Legacy Classic placing top 3 in the Classic Pro Division. In August 2019 Nduka was signed by the WWE, reporting to their developmental territory NXT.
Nduka was born in Dallas, Texas, to parents Obie and Prince Nduka, who are originally from Nigeria. EJ Nduka attended Jackson Memorial High School in Jackson, New Jersey. He was a dual sport letterwinner and star in basketball, and track. He was a star basketball player before ultimately turning to the football field in college.
 |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born: | August 28, 1988 Dallas, Texas |
| Height: | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
| Weight: | 285 lb (129 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Jackson (NJ) Memorial |
| College: | Sam Houston State |
| Position: | Defensive end, outside linebacker |
| Undrafted: | 2012 |
| Career history | |
Nduka began his college career at Jacksonville University in 2007 before transferring to Sam Houston State where he played for three years from 2008 to 2011. He was redshirted as a freshman in 2008 but eventually made an impact for the Bearkats, primarily as a pass rusher in game situations.
| Height | Weight | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | Wonderlic | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 6.5 in (1.99 m) |
252 lb (114 kg) |
4.52 s | 1.36 s | 2.55 s | 4.44 s | 6.56 s | 42 in (1.07 m) | 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m) | 33 reps | x | ||
| Values from NFL Super Regional Combine[2] | ||||||||||||
Prior to the 2012 NFL Draft, Nduka was projected to be undrafted by NFLDraftScout.com. He was rated as the 36th-best outside linebacker in the draft. Nduka was later signed by the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League. In 2012, Nduka played final three games and recorded 15 tackles, three sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.
On February 21, 2013, the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League signed Nduka. He was released by the Argonauts on May 8, 2013. In 2015, Nduka had private workouts and NFL camps with Texans, Seahawks & Falcons.
Nduka is now a professional athlete in the IFBB a federation. Nduka recently announced via social media that he will now compete in the Classic Physique division in 2017.
Because of his performance on the gridiron and on the IFBB stage, in December 2018, Nduka received a tryout with the WWE, and then shortly after went back in April 2019 for another tryout at the WWE Performance Center. After participating on two tryouts (the first in December 2018, the second in April 2019), Nduka signed a contract with WWE on August 15, 2019. He was assigned to the Performance Center[3][4] and began to work under the ring name of Ezra Judge. On May 19, 2021, Nduka was released from his WWE contract.[5]
On June 24, 2021, it was revealed as part of their Open Draft that Nduka (now going by his real name) had signed with Major League Wrestling (MLW). On July 24, 2021, during Nduka's televised debut, EJ Nduka made a statement within the company as eliminated 12 participants – nearly a third of all Battle Riot participants – breaking the record by a landslide. He would ultimately join Alexander Hammerstone and Richard Holliday as part of The Dynasty. During Wrestlemania 38 weekend Nduka and Calvin Tankman defeated 5150 to become MLW World Tag Team Champions at the Grady Cole Center in North Carolina at a sold-out event.[6] On January 7, 2023, Nduka and Calvin lost their MLW World Tag Team Championships to The Samoan SWAT Team's Juice Finau and Lance Anoa'i at MLW's pay-per-view Blood and Thunder of year 2023.[7] Earlier, it was revealed that Nduka's MLW contract was coming to an end after Blood and Thunder, choosing not to renew it.
Nduka made his All Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut on the January 28, 2023 episode AEW Dark, in a losing effort against Konosuke Takeshita. In June 2023, it was reported by Wrestling Observer that Nduka had signed with AEW.[8] On the June 29 episode of AEW Collision, Nduka made another appearance accompanying AEW World Champion Swerve Strickland during the weigh-in for Strickland's match against Will Ospreay.
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