| Bron Breakker | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Bronson Rechsteiner |
| Born | October 24, 1997[1] Woodstock, Georgia, United States[1] |
| Alma mater | Kennesaw State University[1] |
| Parent(s) | Rick Steiner (father) |
| Family | Scott Steiner (uncle) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Bron Breakker[2][3] Bronson Rechsteiner[4] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[1][2] |
| Billed weight | 230 lb (104 kg)[1][2] |
| Billed from | Woodstock, Georgia, United States[2][3] Atlanta, Georgia, United States[4] |
| Trained by | WWE Performance Center[5][6] |
| Debut | October 8, 2020[4] |
Bronson Rechsteiner (born October 24, 1997) is an American professional wrestler and former American football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Bron Breakker. A second-generation professional wrestler, Rechsteiner is the son of Rick Steiner and the nephew of Scott Steiner (who performed together as the Steiner Brothers). A two-time former NXT Champion, he was voted "Rookie of the Year" for 2022 by readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Rechsteiner was born in Woodstock, Georgia. He attended Etowah High School in Woodstock, where he played football, winning varsity letters in three years.[1] He also participated in wrestling, winning the Georgia Class AAAAAA state championship (220 lb weight class) in 2016.[7] After graduating from high school, Rechsteiner went on to study at Georgia's Kennesaw State University, majoring in criminal justice. While attending Kennesaw, Rechsteiner played football for the Kennesaw State Owls. As a freshman in 2016 he played special teams and defense; in 2017, he moved to offense as a running back.[1][5] In February 2020, Rechsteiner entered the NFL Scouting Combine but was not drafted.[8] In April 2020, he was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent fullback.[9][10] He was released in August 2020.[11]
Rechsteiner debuted in professional wrestling on October 8, 2020 in Ringgold, Georgia at the "WrestleJam 8" event promoted by AWF/WOW, defeating Jamie Hall.[4][5]
In February 2021, WWE announced Rechsteiner had signed a developmental contract with the company.[12] Later that month, he was assigned to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida for training.[5][6] At the WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view on May 16, Rechsteiner and several other wrestlers portrayed "zombies" in a lumberjack match between Damian Priest and The Miz.[13] In August 2021, he appeared on an episode of NXT, portraying a security guard who was attacked by Samoa Joe.[14] Rechsteiner wrestled his first match for WWE on the September 14, 2021 episode of NXT under the ring name "Bron Breakker", defeating LA Knight;[3][15] he later had a staredown with new NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa.[16] Breakker unsuccessfully challenged Ciampa for the title at the Halloween Havoc television special on October 26.[17] In November 2021, Breakker participated in WWE's tour of the United Kingdom.[18] At WarGames on December 5, Breakker teamed with Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller, and Tony D'Angelo (as "Team 2.0") to defeat Ciampa, Knight, Johnny Gargano, and Pete Dunne ("Team Black & Gold") in a WarGames match, with Breakker pinning Ciampa.[19]
At New Year's Evil on January 4, 2022, Breakker defeated Ciampa by submission to win the NXT Championship, the first title of his wrestling career.[20] At Vengeance Day on February 15, he made his first successful title defense, defeating Santos Escobar.[21] Breakker made his main roster debut on the March 7 episode of Raw, teaming with Ciampa to defeat Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode in a tag team match.[22] At Roadblock the following day, Breakker defended the NXT Championship against Ciampa and Ziggler in a triple threat match, with Ziggler pinning Ciampa to end Breakker's first reign at 63 days.[23] On April 1, Breakker inducted his father and uncle into the WWE Hall of Fame;[24] the following night at Stand & Deliver, he challenged Ziggler for the title in a losing effort.[25] On the April 4 episode of Raw, Breakker defeated Ziggler to win the NXT Championship for a second time.[26] On the following episode of NXT, he retained the title against Gunther.[27] Breakker subsequently began feuding with Joe Gacy after Gacy kidnapped Rick Steiner,[28] leading to a match between the two at Spring Breakin' on May 3, where Breakker defeated Gacy to retain the title.[29] At In Your House on June 4, he defeated Gacy in a rematch, with the added stipulation that he would lose the title if he got disqualified.[30] At the Great American Bash on July 5, Breakker retained the title against Cameron Grimes, and was attacked by the debuting J. D. McDonagh after the match.[31] At Heatwave on August 16, Breakker retained the title against McDonagh; after the match, he was confronted by NXT United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate.[32] At Worlds Collide on September 4, Breakker defeated Bate to unify the NXT Championship and NXT United Kingdom Championship.[33][34] At Halloween Havoc on October 22, Breakker defeated McDonagh and Ilja Dragunov in a triple threat match to retain the NXT Championship.[35] At NXT Deadline on December 10, Breakker successfully defended the NXT Championship against Apollo Crews.[36]
At New Year's Evil on January 10, 2023, Breakker defeated Grayson Waller via countout to retain the NXT Championship;[37] at Vengeance Day on February 4, he defeated Waller once again, this time in a cage match.[38] At Stand & Deliver on April 1, Breakker lost the championship to Carmelo Hayes, ending his second reign at 362 days.[39] On the April 4 episode of NXT, Breakker attacked Hayes, thus turning heel.[40][41] He cemented his new villainous persona the next week, after interrupting Chase University in the ring, verbally insulting the audience, and attacking Andre Chase.[42] At Spring Breakin' on April 25, Breakker defeated Chase via submission.[43] At Battleground on May 28, Breakker failed to regain the NXT Championship from Hayes.[44]
Breakker wrestles in a "powerhouse" style.[45] His finishing moves are a camel clutch dubbed the Steiner Recliner (a move adopted from his uncle Scott Steiner),[4][20][43] a gorilla press powerslam,[2][3][15] and a spear.[36]
Breakker is a playable character in the 2023 video game WWE 2K23.[46]
As of October 2022, Rechsteiner was in a relationship with fellow NXT wrestler Cora Jade.[49]