Timothy Thatcher is getting another NXT opportunity.
WWE has confirmed that the former NXT star will face Aaron Rourke in a WWE ID Showcase match on December 31 at Beyond Wrestling: Heavy Lies The Crown.
Thatcher has been wrestling for nearly two decades; The California native started his journey in 2005 and mainly competed on the local indie circuit in Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. That expanded to promotions such as Supreme Pro Wrestling, All Pro Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.
The 41-year-old really made a name for himself during his time in Westside Xtreme Wrestling and Evolve where he had a record setting title reign of 596 days. Thatcher had amazing matches against Trevor Lee, Johnny Gargano, Matt Riddle, and Zack Sabre Jr.
Thatcher signed a developmental contract with WWE in 2020. He had a solid run that saw Thatcher compete for both the NXT Tag Team and North American Championships, though he was unsuccessful in winning both. However, when Triple H’s NXT was revamped to NXT 2.0, the veteran knew that the writing was on the wall for him. Thatcher was released on January 5, 2022, and he explained during "The Wrestling Perspective Podcast," why it just didn’t work out.
"WWE is a television show, right?" Thatcher said. "And they have ideas at one point, and certain people fit those ideas, and then the ideas change, and then other people fit those ideas. It's like any other form of entertainment. It's not necessarily if you're good at your job, or good at what you do; it's what are they looking for at the moment."
He continued, "Thankfully, I got there right before COVID because if I wasn't working there during COVID, I would've been in very bad shape, so I will always be very grateful for them for that. But I got there at the end of when they were really pushing, 'We want independent talents.' And it was kind of just the tail end. So then they started, 'Okay, we want to go back to the way we used to do it, and we want to get athletes and all that stuff. And we want a younger crop.'"
With Triple H and Shawn Michaels back in charge, Thatcher has a better chance of succeeding in the WWE. If he can beat Aaron Rourke that is.