Profilin': Tyler Black

If you don’t know Tyler Black, you will soon.  He’s currently wrestling in WWE’s developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling, under the name Seth Rollins.  There, he recently participated in a tournament called the FCW 15.  The concept is a novel one – basically, the tournament is comprised of 15-minute Iron Man matches, and in the end, one man is declared the winner and presented the FCW 15 Medal.  At the conclusion of this tournament, Black (or Rollins, sigh), was left standing as the inaugural FCW 15 Champion.

Tyler Black was a star in his own right before ever getting the call from Stamford, however.  The former Ring of Honor champion was an indy draw for a couple years before inking his new contract, holding major championships on both coasts, and establishing himself as both a standout singles wrestler and a serious tag team competitor.  More on Black after the jump.

Black has been featured prominantly in a number of well known promotions, most notably Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and MTV’s short-lived Wrestling Society X.  Wrestling professionally since 2005, Tyler made a name for himself as a tag team wrestler, partnering with Jimmy Jacobs to win the PWG tag team titles.  Their partnership extended into ROH, where the duo formed a stable with Necro Butcher known as The Age of the Fall.  Black and Jacobs eventually won the ROH Tag Team Titles, defeating Mark and Jay Brisco at Final Battle 2007.  Two years later, at Final Battle 2009, Tyler Black cemented himself as a legitmate main event singles competitor when he wrestled World Champion Austin Aries to a 60-minute time limit draw.  Two months later, Black was Ring of Honor champion.

During his reign as champion, news broke that Black had signed a developmental contract with WWE.  Naturally, the Ring of Honor crowd turned on him for “selling out.”  In response, Black turned heel, threatened to take the title to WWE with him, and refused to defend it in ROH anymore.  Eventually, in his last appearance with the promotion, Tyler Black dropped the World Title to its current holder, Roderick Strong.

Black’s skill set may most closely match John Morrison’s as far as current WWE talent goes.  His tall and slender frame lends to a mix of agility and power.  He’s capable of getting some air, but his repertoire also features moves usually reserved for men bulkier than him, such as the F5.  Upon his arrival on WWE’s main roster, expect Black, or Seth Rollins as he’s now called, to make an immediate impact in the middle of the card.  It wouldn’t be unreasonable to predict an IC or US title reign within a couple months of his debut, depending on which show he lands.  We’ll discuss Black’s possible arrival in WWE more next week though, and the prospect of him being thrust into the main event scene sooner than later.