Pretty Deadly (professional wrestling)

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Pretty Deadly
Tag team
MembersElton Prince / Lewis Howley / Lightning Lewis
Kit Wilson / Sam Stoker / Sammy Smooth
Name(s)Greased Lightning[1]
Pretty Deadly[2][3]
Debut10 January 2015[1]
Years active2015–present

Pretty Deadly are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Lewis Howley (born 21 May 1997) and Sam Stoker (born 21 November 1994). They are signed to WWE, where they perform on the SmackDown brand under the respective ring names Elton Prince and Kit Wilson, although Prince is currently inactive due to a neck injury. In WWE, they are former two-time NXT Tag Team Champions and one-time NXT UK Tag Team Champions.

Professional wrestling career

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Independent circuit (2015–2020)

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Lightning Lewis trained with Dropkixx, whilst Sammy Smooth trained with International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom (IPW:UK).

Their first tag matches together were as Greased Lightning (Lightning Lewis and Sammy Smooth), making their debut on 10 January 2015 at the IPW:UK Weekend of Champions event, held by International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom (IPW:UK), defeating The Monsters (eXodus and Snare) in a pre-show dark match.[4] They went on to have four more matches on record under the name Greased Lightning, two for IPW:UK, two for WrestleForce - winning three and losing two overall.

They captured the IPW:UK Tag Team Championship one-time as a freebird trio including James Castle known as The Collective,[5][6] and one-time as Pretty Deadly (Lewis Howley and Sammy Smooth/Sam Stoker).[7] They are also known for their tenures with professional wrestling promotions such as Progress Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling, and New Generation Wrestling.[8]

WWE

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NXT UK (2020–2022)

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Lewis Howley and Sam Stoker had sporadic appearances across NXT UK in 2019, making their debut on 20 March 2019 episode of NXT UK, losing to The Hunt (Primate and Wild Boar).[9] In January 2020, it was announced that they had signed a contract with WWE and would report to the WWE Performance Center.[10]

On 28 January 2021 episode of NXT UK, Pretty Deadly became the number one contenders for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship after defeating The Hunt, Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews, and Ashton Smith and Oliver Carter in a fatal four-way elimination tag team match.[11] On 25 February episode of NXT UK, they defeated Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) to win the NXT UK Tag Team Championship.[12] They would retain the titles against Amir Jordan and Kenny Williams on 1 April episode of NXT UK after Williams turned on Jordan.[13] On the 4 June episode of NXT UK, Pretty Deadly would successfully defend their titles against Jack Starz and Nathan Frazer.[14] On 19 August episode of NXT UK, Pretty Deadly would retain against Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate).[15] However, they would lose the titles to Moustache Mountain in a rematch on 9 December episode of NXT UK, ending their reign at 287 days.[16]

NXT (2022–2023)

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On the 5 April 2022 episode of NXT, Pretty Deadly, now under the ring names of Elton Prince and Kit Wilson, revealed themselves as the Creed Brothers' attackers after they defeated Imperium (Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel), effectively making their debut on the NXT brand.[17] The following week, they won a gauntlet match involving the Creed Brothers, Legado Del Fantasma (Raul Mendoza and Joaquin Wilde), Josh Briggs and Brooks Jensen, and Grayson Waller and Sanga, to win the vacant NXT Tag Team Championship, making them the first tag team to win the titles on their NXT debut and the second team to have won the NXT and NXT UK Tag Team Championships.[18] They lost the titles to the Creed Brothers on 4 June at NXT In Your House, ending their first reign at 53 days.[19]

At Worlds Collide on 4 September, Pretty Deadly defeated Gallus, NXT Tag Team Champions the Creed Brothers, and NXT UK Tag Team Champions Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs in a fatal four-way tag team elimination match to unify the NXT and NXT UK Tag Team Championships and reigned as the NXT Tag Team Champions.[20] At NXT Deadline, Pretty Deadly lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods), ending their second reign at 98 days.[21] After failing to regain the titles, Pretty Deadly began feuding with Tony D'Angelo and Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo, and lost to them at Spring Breakin in a trunk match, and this would be their final NXT appearance.[22]

SmackDown; hiatus (2023–present)

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As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Pretty Deadly were drafted to the SmackDown brand.[23][24] Pretty Deadly made their SmackDown debut on 19 May episode, defeating The Brawling Brutes' Butch and Ridge Holland.[25] On 16 June episode of SmackDown, Pretty Deadly won a tag team gauntlet match to become the number one contenders for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship but failed to capture the titles from Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn on 30 June episode of SmackDown.[26][27] On 14 July episode of SmackDown, Prince suffered a separated shoulder during their tag team match against The Brawling Brutes and had to be sidelined.[28] Pretty Deadly returned on 13 October episode of SmackDown in a tag team match victory against Butch and Holland.[29] After being away in-ring since then, Pretty Deadly lost to Los Garza (Angel and Berto) on 10 January 2025 episode of SmackDown in a first round #1 contendership match to determine the next challenger for the WWE Tag Team Championship.[30]

On the 2 May episode of SmackDown, Prince suffered a severe neck injury during a match with Fraxiom after the team took a double reverse DDT from Nathan Frazer. Prince received neck fusion surgery, rendering him out of action indefinitely and putting Pretty Deadly on hiatus.[31] Following Prince's injury, Kit Wilson began to appear as a singles competitor on Smackdown and Main Event, debuting a new theme song and flamboyant gimmick in which he claims to be on a mission to eliminate toxic masculinity.[32]

Other media

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Pretty Deadly made their video game debut as playable characters in WWE 2K23 as DLC[33] and have since appeared in WWE 2K24[34] and WWE 2K25.[35]

Personal lives

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Lewis Howley hails from Grays, Thurrock, Essex, England,[36] Howley attended Hassenbrook Academy in Stanford-le-Hope, Thurrock.[37] In 2017, Howley appeared on an episode of First Dates.[38] Howley is currently in a relationship with former professional wrestler and former NXT backstage reporter Kelly Verbil, who went by the on-screen name Kelly Kincaid. Their daughter was born on 20 September 2024.[39]

Sam Stoker hails from London, England.[40] Since 22 September 2024, Stoker has been married to fellow professional wrestler Lucy Bridge, who performed in WWE on the NXT brand under the ring name Stevie Turner.[41]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ a b Kreikenbohm, Philip (10 January 2015). "Pretty Deadly « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 17 March 2025.
  2. ^ "Elton Prince - WWE". WWE. Archived from the original on 15 January 2026. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Kit Wilson - WWE". WWE. Archived from the original on 14 November 2025. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  4. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (10 January 2015). "IPW:UK Weekend Of Champions 2015 - Tag 1 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 16 January 2026.
  5. ^ "IPW:UK SuperShow 11 - Havoc vs. Noir Results". International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  6. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (17 September 2017). "IPW:UK SuperShow 11 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 16 January 2026.
  7. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (13 March 2019). "IPW International Pro Wrestling #8 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Archived from the original on 18 January 2026.
  8. ^ Richards, Alex (20 November 2019). "Preview: PROGRESS – PROGRESS Chapter 98 (11/24/19)". lastwordonsports.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022.
  9. ^ Boone, Mat (22 February 2019). "NXT U.K. TV Spoiler Results From 2/22 Taping In Coventry, England". ewrestling.com. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  10. ^ WWE.com Staff (31 January 2020). "NXT UK signs five new Superstars". WWE. Archived from the original on 18 November 2025.
  11. ^ Currier, Joseph (28 January 2021). "Pretty Deadly Become Number One Contenders to NXT UK Tag Titles". F4WOnline.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  12. ^ Gibbons, Laurence (25 February 2021). "2/25 NXT UK TV results: Gibbons' review of Mark Coffey and Wolfgang vs. "Pretty Deadly" Sam Stoker and Lewis Howley for the NXT UK Tag Titles, Xia Brookside vs. Nina Samuels, Bailey Matthews vs. Tyler Bate, Lana Austin vs. Aoife Valkyrie". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on 30 April 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  13. ^ Gibbons, Laurence (1 April 2021). "4/1 NXT UK TV results: Gibbons' review of vs. Amir Jordan and Kenny Williams for the NXT UK Tag Titles, Aoife Valkyrie vs. Stevie Turner, and Teoman vs. Josh Morrell". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  14. ^ "WWE NXT UK Results: Pretty Deadly Successfully Defend WWE NXT UK Tag Team Champions, Joseph Conners Nabs Win Over Flash Morgan Webster". The Overtimer. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  15. ^ "WWE NXT UK Results: Meiko Satamura and Pretty Deadly Defend Their Titles". News18. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  16. ^ Gibbons, Laurence (9 December 2021). "12/9 NXT UK TV results: Gibbons' review of "Pretty Deadly" Lewis Howley and Sam Stoker vs. "Moustache Mountain" Tyler Bate and Trent Seven for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship, Emilia McKenzie vs. Blair Davenport, Sha Samuels vs. Sam Gradwell, Jordan Devlin promo". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on 12 March 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  17. ^ Moore, John (5 April 2022). "4/5 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of the Stand & Deliver fallout edition with Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez vs. Jacy Jayne and Gigi Dolin for the NXT Women's Tag Titles, Nikkita Lyons vs. Lash Legend". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  18. ^ Moore, John (12 April 2022). "4/12 NXT 2.0 results: Moore's review of a five-team gauntlet for the vacant NXT Tag Titles, Cameron Grimes vs. Solo Sikoa for the NXT North American Title, Mandy Rose vs. Dakota Kai for the NXT Women's Championship, Von Wagner vs. Kushida, Xyon Quinn vs. Draco Anthony". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  19. ^ Moore, John (4 June 2022). "NXT In Your House results: Moore's live review of Bron Breakker vs. Joe Gacy for the NXT Title, Mandy Rose vs. Wendy Choo for the NXT Women's Title, Pretty Deadly vs. The Creed Brothers for the NXT Tag Titles, Cameron Grimes vs. Carmelo Hayes for the NXT North American Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  20. ^ Moore, John (4 September 2022). "NXT Worlds Collide results: Moore's live review of NXT Champion Bron Breakker vs. NXT UK Champion Tyler Bate in a unification match, NXT Women's Champion Mandy Rose vs. NXT UK Women's Champion Meiko Satomura vs. Blair Davenport in a unification match, Carmelo Hayes vs. Ricochet for the NXT North American Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  21. ^ Moore, John (10 December 2022). "NXT Deadline results: Moore's live review of Bron Breakker vs. Apollo Crews for the NXT Championship, Pretty Deadly vs. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods for the NXT Tag Team Titles, men's and women's Iron Survivor Challenge matches, Alba Fyre vs. Isla Dawn". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  22. ^ Hazelwood, Bruce Lee (25 April 2023). "4/25 NXT Spring Breakin' Report: Hazelwood's live report on Hayes-Waller and Hartwell-Perez-Stratton title matches, Breakker vs. Chase, Femi debuts, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  23. ^ "See all the results from the 2023 Draft". WWE. 28 April 2023.
  24. ^ Keller, Wade (1 May 2023). "5/1 WWE Monday Night Raw results: Keller's report on WWE Draft, Riddle vs. Uso, Judgment Day vs. LWO mixed tag, Lesnar, Cody". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  25. ^ Pretty Deadly make their in-ring SmackDown debut: SmackDown highlights, May 19, 2023, 19 May 2023, retrieved 20 May 2023
  26. ^ Barnett, Jake (16 June 2023). "WWE Friday Night Smackdown results (6/16): Barnett's review of Roman Reigns' return and Jey Uso's decision, Pretty Deadly vs. The Street Profits vs. The OC vs. Sheamus and Butch vs. Joaquin Wilde and Cruz Del Toro in a gauntlet for a tag title shot, Charlotte Flair on The Grayson Waller Effect, Iyo Sky vs. Zelina Vega". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  27. ^ Barnett, Jake (30 June 2023). "WWE Friday Night Smackdown results (6/30): Barnett's review of Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair for the WWE Women's Championship, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs. Pretty Deadly for the Undisputed WWE Tag Titles, Roman Reigns on the MITB go-home show". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  28. ^ Mrosko, Geno (15 July 2023). "Pretty Deadly's Elton Prince injured on SmackDown". Cageside Seats. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  29. ^ Nash, Anthony (14 October 2023). "Pretty Deadly Win In-Ring Return On 10/13 WWE SmackDown". Wrestlezone. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  30. ^ Powell, Jason (10 January 2025). "WWE Smackdown results (1/10): Powell's live review of Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight for the U.S. Championship, Chelsea Green vs. Mia Yim for the Women's U.S. Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
  31. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (9 January 2026). "Kit Wilson Shows Support For Elton Prince". Fightful | WWE News, AEW News, Pro Wrestling Backstage News. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  32. ^ Harrison, Steven (17 January 2026). "Kit Wilson's Breakout Moment: Why WWE Fans Are Suddenly Obsessed". Athlon Sports. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  33. ^ Wilson, Ben (20 February 2023). "WWE 2K23 roster reveal with every confirmed wrestler". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 23 February 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  34. ^ Wilson, Ben (25 January 2024). "WWE 2K24 roster guide with every confirmed wrestler". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 27 February 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  35. ^ Wilson, Ben (12 March 2025). "Full WWE 2K25 roster guide with every confirmed wrestler sorted by brand". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 30 March 2025.
  36. ^ "Lewis Howley Profile & Match Listing". Internet Wrestling Database. Archived from the original on 10 December 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  37. ^ Feeney, Sally (6 May 2023). "Former Hassenbrook pupil makes WWE". Thurrock Nub News. Archived from the original on 16 May 2023.
  38. ^ "Last night's First Dates had us witness the most painful date of all time". her.ie. 3 October 2017. Archived from the original on 10 February 2025.
  39. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (21 September 2024). "Kelly Kincaid And Elton Prince Welcome Child Into The World | Fightful News". Fightful. Archived from the original on 22 September 2024.
  40. ^ "Sam Stoker Profile & Match Listing". Internet Wrestling Database. Archived from the original on 10 December 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  41. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (22 September 2024). "Kit Wilson And Stevie Turner Get Married | Fightful News". Fightful. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024.
  42. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip (17 September 2017). "IPW:UK Tag Team Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Archived from the original on 19 November 2025.
  43. ^ "IPW:UK Tag Team Title". wrestling-titles.com. 17 September 2017. Archived from the original on 7 December 2024.
  44. ^ "NXT Tag Team Championship". WWE. Archived from the original on 1 November 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  45. ^ "NXT UK Tag Team Championship". WWE. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
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