The eWrestling Encyclopedia
Register
Advertisement
Matt Cooper
Image of Matt Cooper
Billing information
Ring name(s) Kai Cooper
Height 5ft. 10 in. (178cm)
Weight 180 lb. (81.4 kg)
Born 20 October 1990
Hometown Flag of Australia Joondalup, Western Australia
Theme music "Roquefort" by Karnivool
Federation(s)
Previous federation(s) Underground X
REWF
Wrestling information
Alignment Face
Wrestling style Technical
High Flyer
Trainer Benji Merrick
Professional career
Debut September 27, 2011
Record 17-11-0
Accomplishments REWF International Champion
UX Undisputed Champion


Matt Cooper (born, Matthew John Cooper on October 20 1990, in Perth, Australia) is an Australian Professional Wrestler better known by his ring name Kai Cooper.

History[]

Early life[]

Matthew was born in the Royal Perth Hospital in Perth, Australia, to parents Patrick and Gillian. Matt is the eldest child of his siblings - Flynn and Jenna.

Growing up he was a keen sportsman, excelling in almost all sports he tried, though most notably Cricket, Football and Rugby. Matt was also a tremendous swimmer, competing in various iron man events in his early teens. It was here he earned the nickname 'Kai' from his friends after legendary Australian iron man Ky Hurst

At 16 Matt moved from Western Australia to Langwarrin, Victoria to live with family as he was selected to participate in an AFL development squad and sent to draft camp. He was tipped to be taken into the league the year before he would finish his High School education (2007), aged 17, however on the request of his parents he declined an offer from the Richmond Tigers, instead choosing to focus on his schooling.

Following the achievement of his VCE, Matt took a year off to travel before considering the possibilities of furthering his education. It was here, whilst visiting Las Vegas, he fell in love with wrestling all over again. Whilst enjoying a night out at the Luxor he was fortunate enough to meet professional wrestler and Las Vegas native Benji Merrick. After talking and getting to know each other Matt revealed that he had always wanted to try his hand at wrestling.

Despite having no experience whatsoever, apart from having watched a few episodes, Benji offered to give him some training and see what he could find for him. This was enough for Matt to temporarily move to Las Vegas to try and chase down his dreams. Though a return to Australia is not entirely out of the question.

Career[]

Underground X[]

The Blacklist[]

On September 16, 2011, after almost 3 months of training under Merrick, it was announced that Matt Cooper (Under the ring name 'Kai Cooper') had signed with the recently re-opened Underground X, which would be operating out of Las Vegas. Shortly after his signing it was announced that on the promotions second Blacklist event he would debut successfully scoring a pinfall victory over seasoned opponent Jiera Bayha. The following week, he would not be so lucky, being knocked out of the Spirit Cup tournament, when Deicide would knock out Kai before making Forrest Ramey Jr. tap after a serious beating.

Following this, and luckily avoiding serious facial and head injuries, Kai returned to the ring at the fourth Blacklist event, teaming with UX's favourite son Trevin Sands to take on the purist team of Simon Sensation and the UX Undisputed Champion Cesar Salazar. After a hard fought contest Kai miraculously pulled out the victory of the UX Champion, earning himself a title shot at the Blacklist 5.

It was a tense week for Kai, and just 2 days after his 21st birthday he challenged Cesar Salazar unsuccessfully for the UX Undisputed Championship. The two put on an incredible match which sprawled throughout the Underground arena, but would eventually finish in Salazar getting the three. The following week, Kai would suffer yet another loss to Deicide and miss out on challenging Cesar once again for the Undisputed Championship.

On the Blacklist 7 it would be Deicide and Cooper one more time, however this time as partners against The Commissar and his monster HOLOKOST. Despite breaking Commissar's hand, the unlikely pairing would luck out, with Deicide taking the fall. This was just the beginning of an intense rivalry, between Cooper and HOLOKOST, branching out from the war waging between the Purists and aptly dubbed 'Hardcorists'.

In an effort to try and help two men on a losing streak Willie Williams would give Kai a break from fighting monsters to take on the Heart and Soul of UX Trevin Sands. Cooper would demolish Sands with ease. Following this match Kai would be named Captain of a team of 5 Hardcore enthusiasts to take on the Purists at Blacklist 9. The match was truly a spectacle and ended when Captain Cooper picked up the 3 count over the monster HOLOKOST.

At the Blacklist 10 there was no wrestling done for Kai Cooper, but he was still very busy. Longtime childhood friend 'Macca' decided that anything Kai could do he coulddo better, and he too picked up a victory over HOLOKOST, albeit by questionable tactics. Willie Williams would then go on to announce that at the first Blacklist of the New Year Kai would be challenging for the Uncensored Championship. Before he would arrive here though, Macca would become his tag team partner to take on Commissar and HOLOKOST, however the two would be unsuccessful with Macca taking the fall from the monster. Before their triple threat match for the Uncensored Championship Kevin Holiday, Sean Robinson and Cooper would square off in a tag math, pitting Holiday and Cooper against Robinson and HOLOKOST. The match would end when Holiday submitted HOLOKOST, but shortly after Robinson would come to the aid of Kai as Kevin Holiday literally tried to shit on him.

Unfortunately for Holiday this was the closest he would come to defeating Cooper. On the Blacklist 13 when he suffered a loss at the hands of Sean Robinson. While Cooper was not involved in the decision, he would leave without gold once again. At the Blacklist 14 Kai was announced as the newest challenger for Deicide's Undisputed Championship (which was later revealed to be a 60 minute Ironman match to mark the return of the Underground Arena) and was not seen in competition. He would return to the ring at the Blacklist 15, teaming this time with Uncensored Champion Sean Robinson to defeat Jeremiah Jihad and John Fhenix by picking up the three count on Jihad after nailing his signature moonsault. Cooper would continue his winning ways by defeating Kevin Holiday at the Blacklist 16 and continuing their storied rivalry. This time Deicide would count the three, as special referee. This would eventually spark Holiday to declare himself and be granted the role of special referee in the championship match at the Blacklist 20.

Kai's last official match before his challenge for Deicide's championship would be on the Blacklist 18 where he would defeat a Mystery Opponent, simply by laughing at him. After a week out of the ring, and an epic showdown of words with Deicide, Kai would be successful in a 60 Minute Iron Man match to defeat the champion 2-0 and capture the Undisputed Championship. The following week he would be on the victorius side of an 8 man tag with the rest of 3 Drinks Minimum and Sean Robinson. After the match however Robinson would turn on Cooper and hit him with his recently lost Uncensored Championship.

On the 22nd Blacklist Kai successfully teamed with Tony Edison to defeat Robinson and Jonathon Fhenix. Following the match the two were assaulted by Robinson and Cooper vowed revenge. Two weeks later revenge was swift as Kai dumped Robinson from the top of a ladder into the crowd and retained his Undisputed championship. The winning formula would continue for at least one more week as Three Drink Minimum successfully defeated Cesar Salazar, Larry Fields and Sean Robinson in a 6 man tag match when Macca smashed a beer bottle over Salazar's head. Following this match it was announced that Kai would defend his title against Robinson one more time at Blacklist 28, this time in a triple threat match also featuring Larry Fields.

Unfortunately Coopers preparation for this match was hampered with defeat at the hands of "Bad Man" Reece Jackson via atomic leg drop. This would be the beginning of the end for Kai's championship dream as the following week he was unsuccessful and dropped the title to Sean Robinson after weeks of back and forth aggression. To make matters worse after the match Cooper was attacked by Federal Marshals and detained in Guantanamo Bay for breaching his visa.

After several weeks in detention Cooper was released and made a surprise return at the first ever UX pay-per-view Madness Sets In. Sporting a considerably different look and attitude Kai refereed the championship match in which he reluctantly counted the 3 for Sean Robinson. Following this feud, on the Blacklist 34, Cooper was challenged to a match by Johnny Roman. This would be the beginning of an intense rivalry between the two.

On the Blacklist 37 Cooper was defeated by the Mainerishi and then assaulted by his ultrapassion movement. This was a result of long standing differences between Mainer and Cooper. 2 weeks later Cooper would suffer yet another defeat at the hands of Mainerishi's ally the sociopath, before again being assaulted. This time his head was split with a lead pipe courtesy of Kevin Holiday.

The woes continues for Cooper when he finally faced Johnny Roman. The match would be Coopers last in Underground X as his ankle was broken by Roman and required surgery. This injury kept him sidelined until the company eventually closed its doors.

Kai Cooper was inducted into the Underground X Hall of Fame on their last show as a mark of respect for the work that he did with the company.

La Lista Negra[]

Following the reopening of Underground X in Mexico Kai would return and main event there very first show going up against long time rival Kevin Holiday. Kai would be unsuccessful in this match, and after a week off, would again be unsuccessful this time in becoming number one contender for the Undisputed Championship after Johnny Roman pinned Kevin Holiday in a triple threat match.

Cooper would be scheduled to compete in a match to 'impress team captains' and qualify for a Tournament, that arose as a result of the Mexico Screwjob, for the now vacant Undisputed championship. However after a fall out with management Kai would leave the Underground once again and return home to Australia to his family, as indicated by his official Twitter.

REWF[]

In an effort to broaden his wrestling horizons and get some more experience under his belt Cooper was contracted to the new promotion of his trainers friend Ric Reaper. His debut match in Reaper Enterprises Wrestling Federation would see him defeat Chase Michaels in impressive fashion and be given a chance, if he could prove himself, to challenge for the REWF International Championship. Cooper accepted the challenge, on the proviso that he had to win every match until the championship bout to earn his shot. Cooper continued his winning ways on the road to the first REWF Pay-Per-View, defeating Scott Adams and Matthew Robinson in consecutive weeks, thus earning his championship match.

At the debut Pay-Per-View Alpha Craze Cooper was successful in a Ladder match against a man known simply as Toast. This would etch him into the REWF history books as the first International Champion.


In Wrestling[]

Championships & Accomplishments[]

Hermanos Extraordinarias de Lucha Libre

  • Legión del HELL (2 times, w/Darragh O'Connor, current)
  • Equipo del Año 2017 (w/Darragh O'Connor)

KAMIKAZE Pro Wrestling

  • KAMIKAZE ELITE Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Reaper Enterprises Wrestling Federation

  • REWF International Championship (1 time)

Underground X

  • Undisputed Champion (1 time)
  • Underground X Hall of Fame

Finishing and Signature Moves[]

Double Rotation Moonsault
450 Splash
Sit Out Shiranui
Impaler DDT
Huricanrana
Brainbuster

Theme Songs[]

Underground X[]

References[]

Template:Reflist

Advertisement