What would you like to know about "The Rotten Gold" Devin Golden? Let's start from the beginning.
Golden debuted in the FWA in July of 2008 under the moniker of "The Golden One" Devin Golden. He was signed to Crossfire and quickly began chasing the X Championship in the Fall of 2008. Despite some unsuccessful attempts to win the belt, Golden had a stellar showing in Carnal Contendership, finishing eighth. In May of 2009, after a brief hiatus, he won the X Championship at the Payback PPV.
This was the breakthrough Golden needed. He became the longest-reigning X Champion ever (at that time; the record has been broken twice over since) with a reign of more than eight months. More impressively, Golden was a fighting champion, defending the belt six times before losing it to Ryan Rondo in January of 2010. In the summer of 2010, Golden further established himself as one of the young and rising stars on Crossfire. He became a World Tag Team Champion on Crossfire. He won the belt three times and in the Fall of 2010 became the FWA World Heavyweight Champion, defeating the legendary Stu "The Snake" St. Clair at the Mile High PPV.
His success continued with blood feuds and the formation of the Crossfire Great Siege faction in 2011. His attempt to unite the two Tag Team Championships failed, but in 2012, he and Ryan Rondo formed the tag team Sunrise-Sunset and won the FWA Tag Team Championships from the Wolfpack at the Mile High PPV, once again a successful one for Golden. He and Rondo held the belts until May of 2013. Golden remained a central figure to the FWA throughout 2013 but took a break towards the end of the year until the Fall of 2014. However, many fans believe he continued under the "Whyte Thunder" superhero moniker, although this is unconfirmed. Whyte Thunder feuded with Golden's long-time friend-turned-rival Ryan Rondo at the Back in Business VIII PPV in 2014. Whyte Thunder and Maroon Monsoon made scattered appearances throughout the Sunrise-Sunset title run in 2012, which fans believed were Golden and Rondo. Again, it's just a rumor, but Whyte Thunder and Golden have never been seen in the same place (same for Rondo and Maroon Monsoon).
After the hiatus for a year (or a couple of months, depending on if you believe the Whyte Thunder rumor), Golden returned with a darker persona and the moniker of "The Rotten Gold" in the Fall of 2014. His appearance was "emo", with eyeliner and pink highlights in his bangs, and a five o'clock shadow, rather than the clean-cut vanilla look he had for the seven years prior.
Golden began a winning streak in the Fall of 2014. He started on the smaller show, FWA SMASH, defeating newcomers, rookies, and returning veterans. Golden's winning streak stretched to 16 in a row heading into Back in Business IX, when he attempted and failed to win the FWA World Heavyweight Championship from Ryan Rondo in a four-way match that also included Wolf and Phillip A. Jackson.
Golden was drafted to the Crossfire brand in 2015 as part of the second attempt at a brand split and second show. The year of 2015 included Golden and Rondo reigniting their rivalry, trading the FWA World Heavyweight Championship back and forth. Golden won the belt from Rondo in the summer of 2015, but Rondo won it right back. Golden then won the World Heavyweight Championship in thrilling fashion in a Hell in the Cell match at the Mile High PPV against Rondo and four other competitors from Crossfire. Around this time, Golden also won the X Championship from KAIZEN at the Anniversary Show in one of the greatest X Championship angles, stories, and matches ever. Despite the result, KAIZEN kept the match going past midnight and thus held the belt one day longer than Golden's record-setting X title reign from six years prior.
In the Fall of 2015, Golden and Rondo faced one last time in his "retirement" match, at the Crossfire Reunion Show in 2015. It was a proper swan song for Golden, as he ended with his back to the mat and looking up at the lights against his long-time friend and foe. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame one year later.
After stints on the commentary booth and as general manager, Golden returned to the ring in 2019. He had feuds with [redacted] and Krash before joining the Tag Team Carousel drawing and tournament. Golden was paired with "Rockstar" Randy Ramon in the summer of 2020 for the tournament, which was to end with new FWA Tag Team Champions. Golden and Ramon had never teamed up before, but their chemistry was automatic. The team, which was named by fans "Golden Rock", went undefeated through the tournament and won the Tag Team Championships at the Mile High PPV in 2020, another feather in Golden's Mile High cap.
Golden Rock became two-time FWA Tag Team Champions at Back in Business XV in 2021 when they defeated TxR, the team of Ramon's long-time rival Danny Toner and Golden's long-time rival Ryan Rondo. TxR had won the belts from Golden Rock only two months earlier.
A few weeks before Back in Business XV, Golden began showing a darker side and "The Rotten Gold" seemed back in full force. Golden then committed one of the most heinous acts in FWA history. Following a match, Golden took a shard of glass and carved the letters "F" "W" and "A" into the chest of Alyster Black, a member of the Gang Stars and a challenging team to Golden Rock's FWA Tag Team Championships reign. Alyster has scars on his chest in the shape of the letters. The scene was deemed so violent and grotesque that it was pulled from all re-airings of that episode of Fight Night.
Golden remained in his slightly sadistic state as he and Ramon continued their quest to remain atop the tag team division. Golden became a mentor to Ramon, who eventually won the FWA World Championship on Fight Night. Golden took this win as a testament to himself, and he became a mouthpiece for Ramon on both Meltdown and Fallout shows despite only being rostered officially to Meltdown. Golden even began carrying around a shard of glass and holding it up to the camera as a warning symbol for Alyster Black and anyone willing to cross he, Ramon, or the duo of Golden Rock.
Golden Rock became three-time Tag Team Champions at the Mile High 2021 PPV when they won a Mile High Massacre match. They were technically not allowed to team, and the team was disbanded after losing the belts to the Gang Stars a couple months earlier at Lights Out, due to them being drafted to separate brands in the third attempt at a roster brand split in the FWA's long history. However, Golden Rock created the masked Osos Locos guise of a new team joining the e-fed, and with qualification for the match as Osos Locos, they defeated the other teams in the MH Massacre. Golden Rock officially disbanded after losing the FWA Tag Team Championships to Men Out of Time.
Golden Rock finished with 20 wins and 4 losses. In their short sprint of 18 months, they were one of the most successful tag teams in FWA history. Golden Rock does not have a losing record against any team. The only teams they do not have winning records against are the three teams that beat them: Gang Stars (2-2); TxR (1-1); and Men Out of Time (1-1).
Golden's next monumental title win was at Meltdown X, when a Bounty was held involving all former World Champions. Golden shocked the world by being the last man to earn a pinfall, and then fleeing the scene with the FWA World Championship, a belt he had never won (three-time World Heavyweight Champion on Crossfire). It was Golden's climactic title achievement of his long career.
In the twilight of Golden's FWA career, he has come under belief that the entire experience of the FWA is a dream, all in his head as he lays in a coma inside a New Orleans, LA, medical facility. He changed his appearance, again, this time to wearing a black top hat, carrying around a walking cane he doesn't use, and sporting a handlebar mustache. Golden elongates his words by stretching out vowels and using regular, annoying pauses in his melodramatic speech. It is all part of his warped (or, possibly, correct?) mentality that the FWA is not real and there are no consequences for any actions in this dream world he has built in his mind. He is, essentially, enigmatic for the sake of it, confounding others in the FWA and making people believe he has lost his mind (has he?).
Golden has even used this solipsism mentality to bend the rules and even claim that he is the "true" World Champion despite no longer having the belt (due to Nova Diamond's cash-in of the Golden Opportunity contract on Meltdown XIII). Golden began walking to the ring with the retired FWA World Heavyweight Championship, which was stolen by Executive Excellence right before Back in Business XVI. Golden then began appearing with a paper cutout and marker drawing of the FWA World Heavyweight Championship. This arc helped Golden compete in a triple threat match for the undisputed FWA World Championship at the 17th Anniversary Show against officially recognized World Champion Danny Toner and X Champion Alyster Black, two recent rivals of Golden in tag team feuds since his return from retirement in 2019. Despite not winning the match, old-man Golden gave a valiant effort in what's considered one of the greatest World Championship feuds, angles, and matches in FWA history.
In the Fall of 2022, a total of 14 years after his FWA debut and a good 10 years of active membership on the FWA roster, Golden has implied that his days are numbered. A second, and final, retirement is in the very near future. He overcame a massive hurdle on the first Fallout of 2023 by defeating Alyster Black for the FWA World Championship in a Winter Wasteland match, which combined a triple cage with a tapei death match. The match was signed as a belt-versus-retirement match, where if Golden lost, he would retire and in his view leave the dream world of the FWA forever. He won, which led to a win-forever situation until a retirement.
At the Back in Town PPV, Golden lost the FWA World Championship to Chris Peacock, which means Golden would retire.
His accomplishments put him squarely in the conversation of one of the greatest ever: 14 total title reigns (the most in FWA history); seven Tag Team Championship reigns (tied for the most); five World Championship or World Heavyweight Championship reigns; and two X Championship reigns. He has been part of five title-winning tag teams, participated in three brand splits, and has won every active championship aside from one.
Name: Devin Golden
Nickname: "The Golden One" or "The Rotten Gold" (also believed to be the superhero persona Whyte Lightning, although this is unconfirmed)
Height: 6'1
Weight: 202 pounds
Place of birth: New Orleans, Louisiana
Date of birth: April 18, 1988
Age: 34
FWA accomplishments: FWA X Champion (x2), FWA Tag Team Champion (x7), FWA World Heavyweight Champion (x3), FWA World Champion (1x)
Non-FWA accomplishments: None
Win/Loss record: 126-74-17
Style of wrestling: A balance between high-flying and suplex variations
Notable feuds: Stu "The Snake" St. Clair, WOLF, Ryan Rondo, Xander Xavier Xerxes, Draven St. Germain, Ryan Hall, KAIZEN, Michael Garcia, TxR (Toner & Rondo), Alyster Black, Gang Stars (Alyster Black & Krash), Danny Toner, Chris Peacock
Notable allies/partners: Ryan Rondo, Ashley 'O Ryan, "Rockstar" Randy Ramon, "The Rave" Lizzie Rose
Basepic: Jimmy Jacobs
Introduction music:
Original — "Lose Yourself" By Eminem
Previous — "House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals
Current — "Zombie" by The Cranberries
General wrestling moves/attacks:
Snap suplex
Suicide dive through the top and middle ropes to the outside floor
Running, front-flip blockbuster
Springboard plancha
10-count punch
One-armed running bulldog
Single-leg Boston crab
Football/soccer-style kicks to the shins
Repeated knife-edge chops
Belly-to-belly suplex
Perfected wrestling moves/attacks:
Vertical suplex into a sitout faceplant (The Rotten Touch)
Split-legged moonsault
Bridging fisherman suplex
Rolling German suplex (x3)
Liontamer
Finishing move(s):
Top rope frogsplash (The Golden Touch)
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