Biography
Trick Williams is the reigning WWE United States Champion and one of the fastest-rising names on SmackDown. A former college footballer with an easy charisma and a crowd chant that took on a life of its own, he arrived on the main roster in January 2026 already a two-time NXT Champion and a former TNA World Champion, and within four months he had his first main-roster title.
Born Matrick Belton in Columbia, South Carolina, he played football at Hampton University and then as a walk-on for the South Carolina Gamecocks, before trying his luck in the Spring League and at an NFL rookie camp. After a WWE tryout in late 2018 he trained in Philadelphia, wrestling for Combat Zone Wrestling as "Sweet Daddy Trick", and later in Los Angeles. WWE signed him in February 2021.
Williams debuted in NXT that September as the cocky sidekick to Carmelo Hayes in the Trick Melo Gang, but audiences quickly warmed to him, and the "Whoop that Trick" chant became one of the loudest sounds in the building. He and Hayes turned fan favourites in 2023, and that autumn he briefly held the North American Championship and won the Men's Iron Survivor Challenge. Early in 2024 Hayes betrayed him; Williams beat his old friend at Stand & Deliver and then dethroned Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Championship. He lost the belt to Ethan Page in the summer, won it back in October and held it into the new year until Oba Femi took it on 7 January 2025.
A heel turn in spring 2025 sent his career in an unexpected direction. Williams ambushed Joe Hendry at TNA Rebellion, then beat Hendry for the TNA World Championship at NXT Battleground in May, becoming the first WWE-contracted wrestler to win a TNA title. He held it for 140 days, seeing off Mike Santana, Moose and others, until Santana beat him at Bound for Glory in October.
Williams signed with SmackDown at the start of 2026 and beat Rey Fénix on his first night. He worked the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber, then, with rapper Lil Yachty in his corner, pinned Sami Zayn on Night 2 of WrestleMania 42 to win the United States Championship and reinvent himself as a fan favourite. Wins over Zayn at Backlash and Ricky Saints at Night of Champions followed, before Baron Corbin took the title from him at SummerSlam.
Williams regained the gold from Corbin at Sunday Night's Main Event on 6 September and then beat him inside a steel cage to settle the feud. He came close in the Money in the Bank ladder match on 10 October, won by Penta, and heads into the final months of 2026 as a two-time United States Champion.
