Drake Younger Has Been Signed

Drake Younger, the man who conquered the death match scene and moved out to the West Coast in an attempt to make California his stomping grounds, has been signed to a WWE developmental contract. The news was broken last night by the All-Pro Wrestling Facebook page. Younger's final match for the seminal NorCal promotion will be against Adam Thornstowe for his Universal Championship. Younger wrestled for old stomping grounds Absolute Intense Wrestling and Combat Zone Wrestling recently as well against Michael Elgin and Danny Havoc respectively in matches that were said to have tones of finality to them. He will also appear one last time for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla at Mystery Vortex II on March 28.

Younger, who famously gave up death matches last year, has pretty much done everything he could do on the indies at this point with the exception of winning the PWG World Championship. He is yet another in the CZW/PWG/ROH pipeline who has been snapped up by developmental, a list which includes his former rival Sami Callihan, now hacking computers as Solomon Crowe. I've had mixed feelings on Younger's work, but I think his brawling skillset will help him transition into the WWE style comfortably.

In other California-related news, Timothy Thatcher, the British Messiah who has made Northern California a roosting spot, will be coming east for CZW's High Stakes this weekend. Thatcher is proficient in World of Sport-influenced mat wrestling, and he's become a favorite of observers both far and near. I will be interested to see what he'll be doing in the Combat Zone.