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Parker Boudreaux

Parker Boudreaux
Birth nameParker Boudreaux
Born (1998-03-09) March 9, 1998 (age 26)
Winter Garden, Florida, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Central Florida
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
  • Harland
  • Parker Boudreaux
Trained byWWE Performance Center
DebutDecember 14, 2021

Parker Boudreaux (born March 9, 1998) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently performing for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. He also worked for WWE as Harland, and All Elite Wrestling under his real name.

Early life

Boudreaux was born in Winter Garden, Florida, on March 9, 1998. Growing up in Orlando, Florida, he played football and attended Bishop Moore Catholic High School. He helped Bishop Moore to a 14–1 record and a Florida Class 5A championship, the school’s first state title since 1970. A highly decorated football recruit, he gained numerous awards and accolades, most notably being named a 2015 MaxPreps First Team All-American, an Associated Press Class All-State First-Team selection, and the 5A Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) Player of the Year. Boudreaux was the nation’s No. 13-ranked offensive guard by 247Sports. A four-star recruit by ESPN and Rivals.com. Boudreaux was originally recruited and offered by over 75 schools and eventually committed to play football for Notre Dame, where he redshirt his freshman year. A year later he transferred to University of Central Florida (UCF), playing football from 2017–2020.[1]

Collegiate football career

Parker Boudreaux
No. 61
PositionOffensive Line
MajorInterdisciplinary Studies
Personal information
Born:March 9, 1998 (1998-03-09) (age 26)
Winter Garden, Florida
Height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight301 lb (137 kg)
Career history
College
Bowl games
High schoolBishop Moore Catholic High School
Career highlights and awards

As he did in high school in Orlando, Boudreaux continued to play offensive line at Notre Dame but sat out redshirting his freshman year. He transferred in 2017 to UCF and was a member of the UCF Knights football team during his freshman year in 2017, and won that year's Colley national championship.

In 2018, he played in 12 games and helped the Knights break the single-season rushing record. Boudreaux was known as a key player and a leader on the offensive line. In 2019, he started in all 13 games at right guard. Boudreaux played a key role on the line as UCF rated first in the AAC in scoring, passing, and total offense and third in rushing in the nation. Boudreaux did not play his last season due to a concussion. Boudreaux ended up never giving up a single sack in his college career as a UCF Knight.[2]

Professional wrestling career

Noted by his resemblance to Brock Lesnar and even Paul Heyman calling Boudreaux a very rare athlete that only comes around ever so often and "The Next Big Thing",[3] Boudreaux signed a development contract with WWE in 2021.[4][5][6] Boudreaux made his debut under the ring name Harland on December 14, 2021, at NXT, defeating Guru Raaj.[7] He worked in NXT during the next 4 months, where he joined Joe Gacy,[8][9] until his release on April 29, 2022.[10]

After his release, Boudreaux worked a few matches with Major League Wrestling.[11] He also began to appear on All Elite Wrestling's programs AEW Dark, AEW Dark: Elevation and AEW Rampage with Ari Daivari and Slim J as part of a stable named The Trustbusters.[12][13][14] In August, he signed a contract with AEW.[15] He made his AEW Dynamite debut on December 21, 2022, aligning with Swerve Strickland as a new member of Strickland’s stable named Mogul Affiliates. In June 2023, it was reported that Boudreaux had suffered an injury and would be out of action.[16] While still under contract with AEW, Boudreaux made his debut for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) by attacking Octagon Jr..[17][18] On April 1, 2024 Boudreaux was released from his AEW contract.[19][20]

References

  1. ^ Sayles, Damon (April 16, 2015). "4-Star OL Parker Boudreaux Opens Up on Narrowing Down 75 Offers to a Top 10". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  2. ^ "Parker Boudreaux". Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  3. ^ "Paul Heyman very high on 22 year old next big thing". January 5, 2021.
  4. ^ "WWE: Parker Boudreaux, el nuevo Brock Lesnar para Paul Heyman, revela que sí luchará en el futuro | FULL-DEPORTES". January 5, 2021.
  5. ^ "Parker Boudreaux firma con WWE: El nuevo Brock Lesnar a NXT | Superluchas". February 5, 2021.
  6. ^ "Parker Boudreaux Looks Impressive in Training Video After WWE NXT Release". July 2, 2022.
  7. ^ Bajpai, Anutosh (July 17, 2022). "Former NXT Star Joins New AEW Stable On His Debut". SEScoops. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  8. ^ Middleton, Marc (December 21, 2021). "Joe Gacy To Apologize For Harland On Tonight's WWE NXT". WrestlingInc.com. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  9. ^ Mukherjee, Subhojeet (June 4, 2022). "Joe Gacy Opens Up About No Longer is Working With Harland". Ringside News. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  10. ^ Jenkins, H. (April 29, 2022). "WWE Releases Harland From NXT Contract". Ringside News. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  11. ^ "Parker Boudreaux debuta en MLW después de su despido de WWE". June 24, 2022.
  12. ^ DeAngelo, Dominic (August 2, 2022). "Parker Boudreaux's AEW Debut Match Announced". WrestlingInc.com. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  13. ^ "Parker Boudreaux is All Elite; Sonny Kiss turns heel". MSN. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  14. ^ Clark, Ryan (August 13, 2022). "Sonny Kiss Appears On AEW Television For The First Time In Two Years, Turns Heel". eWrestlingNews.com. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  15. ^ "Parker Boudreaux signs contract with AEW". August 12, 2022.
  16. ^ Fisher, Kieran (June 11, 2023). "AEW's Trench And Parker Boudreaux Reportedly Sidelined With Injuries". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  17. ^ "Parker Boudreaux Makes Debut In AAA | Fightful News". www.fightful.com. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  18. ^ Lafferriere, Nicolas (April 1, 2024). "Se revela el estado contractual de Parker Boudreaux en All Elite Wrestling". SoloWrestling (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 9, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  19. ^ Lafferriere, Nicolas (April 2, 2024). "All Elite Wrestling realiza un recorte de personal". SoloWrestling (in Spanish). Archived from the original on April 14, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  20. ^ Rose, Bryan (April 1, 2024). "Stu Grayson, Parker Boudreaux among several AEW releases". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved April 2, 2024.