10 Things Fans Should Know About WWE Trainer Matt Bloom

Matt Bloom is one of the most important names in WWE as of this writing, owing to his backstage work as a trainer at the company's state-of-the-art Performance Center, where he helps to groom the superstars of tomorrow. Before that, the fans knew him for his time as a wrestler between 1997 and 2014, during which time he competed for various promotions under different names. He has also added quite the accolades to his resume as he has captured several high-profile championships throughout his in-ring career.

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He's now taken a role on the sidelines away from the spotlight, but his contributions are still saying his name out loud to the world. With that said, let's take a look at ten things fans should know about Matt Bloom.

10 He Was A School Teacher

Before beginning his pro wrestling career, Matt Bloom received a degree in sign language in 1996. After certain events, he started working as a teacher for children with behavioral problems and deaf children at Revere High School in Revere, Massachusetts.

He taught Mathematics and English to the special children at the school and put his sign language degree to good use. He worked as a teacher for an undisclosed period between 1996 and 1997 before he chose to pursue a career in professional wrestling.

9 Trained Under Killer Kowalski

As part of his teaching duties, Matt Bloom took some extra initiative and rewarded three of his bright students with a trip to a professional wrestling event. He was a fan of the sport right from his childhood, and his presence at the event rekindled his passion for pro wrestling.

It prompted him to meet Killer Kowalski and express his interest to learn wrestling. Kowalski invited him to attend his wrestling school, where he trained notable wrestlers like Triple H, Chyna, and Kofi Kingston.

8 Worked Under 12 Names Throughout His Career

Matt Bloom is also well-known among the fans for the frequent change of names he underwent throughout his career. He first started wrestling under the name Baldo in 1997 before changing it to The Mongolian. After making his debut for Ohio Valley Wrestling, he worked under his real name Matt Bloom before reverting to Baldo when he moved over to Power Pro Wrestling.

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He then got renamed Prince Albert after making his debut for WWE, where he also worked under the names Albert and A-Train. Following his exit from WWE, he moved over to Japan, where he worked as Giant Bernard and Train before working as Gigante Bernard in Mexican promotions. His final run with WWE saw him perform as Lord Tensai, which the promotion later shortened to just Tensai.

7 His Accolades In NJPW

Apart from his first run in WWE, Matt Bloom became a high-profile star in Japan, where he performed for NJPW, AJPW, and other promotions. Throughout his time in Japan, Matt Bloom went on to become a 2-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, one run each with his partners Travis Tomko and Karl Anderson.

He also won the 2006 New Japan Cup tournament, the 2009 G1 Tag League, and also won the GHC Tag Team Championship during his time in Pro Wrestling Noah with Karl Anderson to sum up the major accolades he earned in Japan.

6 Retired In 2014

Following his failed run as Lord Tensai and as Tensai of the Tons of Funk tag team alongside Brodus Clay, Matt Bloom chose to hang up his boots for good and announced his retirement from in-ring competition.

He had his final match at an NXT live event on January 18, 2014, where he lost to Adam Rose. After that, he quietly retreated to a backstage position out of all the spotlight and started working in a backstage role for WWE from the same year.

5 Is The Current Head Coach At The WWE Performance Center

Following his retirement from in-ring competition in 2014, Matt Bloom got the opportunity from WWE to work as a commentator in NXT in January 2014 under the name Jason Albert.

He then became working as a trainer in the WWE Performance Center, where he started grooming future superstars. After the Head Coach Bill DeMott departed from the company in March 2016, Matt Bloom became the interim-Head Coach before getting promoted as the head trainer of NXT in May 2016, and continues to perform his duties under the role to this date.

4 Was Supposed To Debut As George "The Animal" Steele's Son

WWE Hall of Famer George "The Animal" Steele was the one who introduced Matt Bloom to WWE talent scout Tom Prichard, which resulted in Bloom signing a contract with the promotion. Steele pitched the idea of having Bloom debut as his illegitimate son in a storyline, which would've also marked his return to WWE television. The description of the original character was that of an illegitimate son who hates his father for abandoning him but still loves him because he was a wrestler on TV.

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Vince McMahon, Matt Bloom, and George Steele were okay with the idea and were good to go, but it never came to fruition for some reason.

3 Professional Football Career

Matt Bloom attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he played football as an offensive tackle and an offensive guard. He looked to pursue a career in professional football and got signed to the San Diego Chargers after the 199f NFL Draft.

He got signed as an undrafted free agent for the team and served as a practice squad member before getting waived by the team. Matt Bloom then went on to become a school teacher, as mentioned earlier, which, in turn, led him to eventually follow his childhood passion in professional wrestling.

2 Starred In One Movie

After he retired from professional wrestling in 2014, Matt Bloom found some extra time, which he used to expose himself to other ventures. It led to Bloom getting the lead role in the 2016 romance comedy film The Dog Wedding.

The movie revolves around two bulldogs who develop love at first sight for each other, which also brings together their owners, a German businesswoman and an American Pro-Wrestler. Matt Bloom played the role of Matthew 'The Manimal' Pierce in the film against the female lead Rosalie Thomass. The movie received decent reviews from the fans and has an audience score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes.

1 The Undertaker Helped Him Get Rehired In WWE

Matt Bloom had reached out to WWE multiple times over the years to see if they had any work for him, only to get turned down on all occasions. However, his close friends in the business, John Laurinaitis and The Undertaker helped him to get rehired by WWE.

The original idea was to have Bloom debut as a henchman to Laurinaitis but ended up getting repackaged under the Lord Tensai character. Following his debut, he picked up high-profile wins over John Cena and CM Punk, but soon the push watered down, and Bloom got relegated to a jobber status after getting paired with Brodus Clay.