Former EVOLVE Tag Team Champion Anthony Henry has made his debut on WWE NXT, under his new ring name Asher Hale.
After a four year long stint with EVOLVE from 2016 to 2020, Anthony Henry signed a contract with WWE on 19th January this year, and it was announced that the 36-year-old would be making his debut on WWE NXT after his training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando prior to the same.
Almost four months after signing the deal, Henry made his much-awaited debut on NXT and is now known as Asher Hale and made his appearance in a singles match against Cameron Grimes.
Anthony Henry becomes ‘Asher Hale on NXT
Under his new ‘Asher Hale’ persona, Anthony Henry shared a couple of photos of his NXT avatar on his official Twitter handle prior to his debut, where he is seen to have turned his hair color into grey.
“New begginings! Asher Hale has arrived,” Henry caption the photos.
In his debut fight on Wednesday however, Henry lost to Grimes aka the “richest man in NXT” in a back and forth tussle.
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While the commentary panel did not speak up about his past endeavors during the fight, the official website of WWE acknowledges Henry’s run with EVOLVE.
“Anthony Henry is a standout competitor from EVOLVE Wrestling and has competed on WWE Network,” the description on Henry on the WWE site reads, “He’s been in the ring with Superstars like The Street Profits, current NXT Tag Team Champions Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch, Nash Carter of MSK, and Roderick Strong.”
back in May 2012, Henry debuted for Premiere Wrestling Xperience at PWX Queen City Chaos, where he lost a singles match against Drew Myers. Eventually, he became the 2016 X 16 Tournament champion and in the next year, became the new PWX Heavyweight Champion after defeating the reigning titleholder Jake Manning as well as won the 2018 Crockett Cup Tag Team Championship with JD Drake.
In 2016, Henry also appeared on Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment, debuting at AWE The Summer Of George event and reunited with his PWX Tag Team partner JD Drake to form The WorkHorsemen and became the AWE Tag Team Champions in 2018.
A year after signing with World Wrestling Network (WWN), Henry and Drake defeated team Catch Point to become the EVOLVE Tag Team Champions in July 2017 at EVOLVE 88. Henry made his final EVOLVE appearance in January 2019, defeating Curt Stallion at EVOLVE 119.
Henry also appeared on Full Impact Pro and at FIP Accelerate 2018, he defeated reigning champion Austin Theory to become the FIP World Heavyweight Champion and defended his title against AR Fox at FIP Full Force 2018.
