Simon Gotch
Real name: Seth Lesser
Height: 6’0
Weight: 209 lbs.
Date of birth: October 18, 1982
Hometown: Hoboken, New Jersey
Pro debut: 2001
Trained by: Donovan Morgan, Michael Modest, Ric Thompson, Bryan Danielson & Harley Race
Finishing move: Gentleman’s Clutch
Biography
– On February 14, 2006, Drago appeared on TNA Impact, teaming with Donovan Morgan & Michael Modest in a loss to The LAX (Homicide, Machete & Konnan)
– On March 6, 2010, Drago & Brian Breaker entered the WLW Tag Team Title Tournament, but lost to Mark Sterling & Superstar Steve in the final
– On November 10, 2012, Stache & Burns (Ryan Drago & Elvis Aliaga) defeated High Level Enterprise (Jack Gamble & Jon Webb) to win the WLW Tag Team Titles
– On December 1, 2012, Stache & Burns defeated High Level Enterprise in a rematch to retain the WLW Tag Team Titles
– One week later, Stache & Burns defeated The Black Hand Warriors (Dark Shadow & Michael Magnuson) to retain the WLW Tag Team Titles
– On February 9, 2013, Stache & Burns defeated The Black Hand Warriors to retain the WLW Tag Team Titles
– On February 24, 2013, Stache & Burns fought High Level Enterprise to a time limit draw to retain the WLW Tag Team Titles
– On March 2, 2013, Stache & Burns defeated The Black Hand Warriors to retain the WLW Tag Team Titles
– On March 10, 2013, Stache & Burns defeated High Level Enterprise (Jack Gamble & Dan DeLorean) to retain the WLW Tag Team Titles
– In the summer of 2013, Drago signed a WWE development deal and was assigned to NXT as ‘Simon Gotch’
– On September 5, 2013, Gotch made his NXT debut, defeating Luther Ward
– In mid-2014, Gotch formed a tag team with Aiden English known as ‘The Vaudevillains’. The duo debuted a unique ‘silent movie stars’ gimmick
– On May 30, 2014, The Vaudevillains made their televised debuts, defeating Angelo Dawkins & Travis Tyler
– On July 17, 2014, The Vaudevillains entered the NXT Tag Team Title Contenders Tournament, losing to The Lucha Dragons (Sin Cara & Kalisto) in the final
– On September 25, 2014, The Vaudevillains won a 5-team Battle Royal to become Number 1 Contenders to the NXT Tag Team Titles
– At NXT Takeover R:Evolution, The Lucha Dragons defeated The Vaudevillains to retain the NXT Tag Team Titles
– At NXT Takeover: Unstoppable, The Vaudevillains defeated The Mechanics (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) in a dark match
– In May 2015, after an extended hiatus from TV, The Vaudevillains returned and defeated Jason Jordan & Marcus Louis
– On June 18, 2015, The Vaudevillains defeated Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady to become Number One Contenders to the NXT Tag Team Titles
– At Takeover: Brooklyn, The Vaudevillains defeated Blake & Murphy to win the NXT Tag Team Titles
– Following WrestleMania 32, vignettes indicated the upcoming main roster debut of The Vaudevillains
– The Vaudevillains debuted on the April 7, 2016 edition of Smackdown, defeating The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto & Sin Cara)
– The Vaudevillains entered the New Day’s number one contenders tournament, defeating Goldust & Fandango and The Usos (Jimmy & Jey) on their way to the final
– At Payback ’16, The Vaudevillains defeated Enzo & Cass after Enzo Amore suffered a legitimate severe concussion during the match
– In the 2016 WWE draft, The Vaudevillains were allocated to Smackdown
– Shortly after WrestleMania 33, WWE released Gotch. He would return to the indies as Simon Grimm in July
– On July 23, 2017, Grimm defeated Doug Williams & Daisuke Sekimoto in Colchester, England to win the vacant XWA Frontier Sports Title
– On October 8, Grimm defeated Williams to retain the XWA Frontier Sports Title
– On March 11, 2018, Grimm defeated James Castle & Jonny Storm to retain the XWA Frontier Sports Title
– In April 2018, Gotch made his first appearance for MLW and would later become a regular for the promotion
– On September 16, Grimm defeated Dre Jacobs to win the XICW Xtreme Intense Title
– On the Saturday Night SuperFight 2019 pre-show, Contra Unit (Gotch & Ikuro Kwon) defeated The Spirit Squad (Kenny & Mikey) and Dominic Garrini & Douglas James
– Gotch spent much of 2022 on tour with Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan
– On October 7, 2023, Gotch defeated Jeremy Wyatt to win the US Highway Title, but lost it to The Iceman the following day
– Gotch had a brief run with Impact Wrestling in early 2024