South Carolina football alum Matrick Belton has become a budding star in the world of professional wrestling. WWE's NXT group has seen Trick Williams (his in-ring name) become one of the favorites of the WWE fanbase, especially for fans in the arena when his walk-up song "Whoop That Trick" plays.
On Saturday, Trick Williams won a highly anticipated match against friend-turned-enemy Carmelo Hayes. He played the role of Hayes' henchman for a time before Hayes got jealous of Williams' growing popularity. Hayes eventually attacked Williams, starting the feud between the two.
For now, the former Gamecock holds the upper hand after winning against Hayes at the Wrestlemania event Stand and Deliver as he exacted a bit of revenge on his former partner and friend.
Wrestlemania, now a two-day event, began with the NXT Stand and Deliver event, and Williams vs. Hayes was, arguably, the biggest part of the Wrestlemania kickoff as the event set a new NXT attendance record with over 16,500 people at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Last year at Wrestlemania, Williams helped Hayes win the NXT Championship after pulling him away from a hold by then-champ Bron Breakker. Williams later won the NXT North American Championship.
During his South Carolina football career, Matrick Belton worked his way up from a transfer walk-on to a scholarship player as he became a valuable special teams contributor for the 2015 and 2016 Gamecocks under head coaches Steve Spurrier and Will Muschamp (and interim head coach Shawn Elliott).
Belton is not the first former South Carolina football player to make it big in professional wrestling. All-time great Gamecock offensive lineman Del Wilkes wrestled in the '90s, most notably under the names The Trooper and The Patriot, but injuries cut short his professional wrestling career just as he was becoming a star.