Becoming Trick Williams: How former South Carolina football walk-on achieved WWE stardom

More than 100 hopeful South Carolina football players crammed elbow-to-elbow inside a small room at the Gamecocks facility in 2014.

The weather outside hovered between a crisp 40 and 45 degrees, as is customary for a late January day in Columbia. But the hot breath and nervous sweat coming leaking out of as USC’s 2014 walk-on hopefuls created a tropical climate. Apathetic to their anxieties, a staffer began his opening monologue:

“Hey guys, this is the University of South Carolina,” he said. “The truth is, we don’t need any of you. We’re doing just fine.”

At this time, South Carolina (with its 11-2 record in 2013) ranked No. 4 in the nation.

“So if you don’t run a 4.4 40 (yard dash), you’re probably not going to make the team.”

Woof.

“What did I get myself into?” thought Columbia native Matrick Belton, who had aspirations to play wide receiver for USC.

As tryouts dragged on, the pool of walk-ons whittled down fast and hard. From triple digits to 20. Then 20 to eight — with Belton among them.

After two seasons as a scholarship player at Hampton University, Belton walked away. South Carolina was where he was meant to be, Belton thought. He applied as just another student, got into school that spring and never looked back.

Divine signs and calculated risk.

These are the forces that guide Matrick Belton, better known as two-time NXT champion and WWE rising star Trick Williams. From his decision to leave Hampton to his professional wrestling career, Belton — aka Williams — isn’t afraid to take chances. He’s made a life out of not knowing what’s on the other side of a decision.

“I feel like that’s the main thing that you can take from Trick Williams,” Belton said. “... I’m gonna put the work in, and I’m gonna have faith in what I do.”

Swallowed by a whale

Belton’s dad Patrick played fullback at South Carolina State for the legendary Willie Jeffries. Pictures of Patrick in his uniform donned the walls of Matrick’s childhood home and, in his eyes, became synonymous with greatness. They inspired Matrick to start playing at 4 years old.

“He used to carry a football and some gloves with him everywhere we went,” said Hassan Belton, Matrick’s younger brother and future USC teammate. “Just in case some other kids were there and they wanted to play football.”

All three Belton brothers — Andre’, Matrick and Hassan — would pursue the sport.

As Matrick grew up and grew into a solid athlete (earning all-state honors as a senior at Keenan High School, accumulating 1,157 receiving yards and nine touchdowns), USC football entered a renaissance. He watched in real time and admired greats like Jadeveon Clowney, Stephon Gilmore and Alshon Jeffery, who helped USC defeat No. 1 Alabama and win the school’s lone SEC East Division title in 2010.

It was, for Gamecock football fans, the best of times.

But as Matrick looked to play in college, his hometown team showed no interest. He had two scholarship offers coming out of high school in 2012: S.C. State and Hampton University.

At the time, Hampton threw the ball more, which was attractive to Matrick as a wide receiver. But the campus’ 30-mile proximity to the beach and its 2-to-1 female-to-male student ratio was especially enticing.

“So I decided to take my talents to Hampton University,” Matrick said through a cheeky grin.

He loved school. Football not so much.

Things weren’t bad, per se. He started his first four games but after that was on and off the bench as Hampton went with different rotations.

On the last day of camp before summer vacation, strength and conditioning coach “Big John” Williams called for Matrick.

“I wanna holla at you,” Big John said.

“Hampton, it’s a cool school, but I think you can do more,” he said. “I suggest you transfer back home to either South Carolina or Clemson.”

Wait, Matrick thought. Like, the University of South Carolina? Home of the No. 8-ranked Gamecocks ? His dream school South Carolina?

When Matrick got home later that day he went into his room and grabbed his Bible. He opened it up, incidentally to the Book of Jonah. Just as God instructed Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh, Matrick took this as a sign to leave Hampton for USC.

But just as Jonah ran from his mission, so would Matrick.

“I had a girlfriend back at Hampton University,” Matrick said. “All my boys that I got recruited with were back at Hampton University.

“… Coaches started calling me like, ‘Are you sure you want to leave? We got this whole game plan ready for you.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m going back to Hampton University.’ ”

Instead of spending three days in the belly of a whale for this transgression, Matrick pulled his hamstring, went through a breakup and saw a significant decrease in his playing time. He did not record a single stat during the 2013 season .

When Hampton traveled to South Carolina State on Sept. 28 of that year, Matrick expected a triumphant homecoming performance. Instead he sat the whole first half and was relegated to special teams for the second. After the game, his mom told him his grandfather had died.

“Man, ever since I decided to go back to the school that I knew I wasn’t supposed to be at, it just kept getting worse and worse and worse,” Matrick thought.

So he quit. He wasn’t proud of it then, going back on his commitment to the school, and he isn’t proud of it now. But he knew he belonged at South Carolina.

‘I’m here to play football’

Matrick drove to Williams-Brice Stadium over Thanksgiving break in 2013, walked through a set of glass doors and scanned the elevator directory for Steve Spurrier’s name.

The sophomore stuffed his 6-foot-4, 205-pound frame in a suit and tie to meet the Head Ball Coach. Matrick’s game plan? March right up to Spurrier, introduce himself and let him know he wanted to play football for the University of South Carolina.

“It’s so crazy,” Matrick said, “but this is what happened.”

When he stepped through the elevator doors, Matrick found Steve Spurrier Jr., the Head Ball Coach’s son in charge of USC’s wide receivers.

“My name is Matrick Belton, and I’m here to play football,” he told Spurrier Jr.

“OK, well, you have good size,” Spurrier Jr. replied. “You have a good look. But you don’t attend the school?”

“No,” Matrick answered, “I don’t attend the school. I’m still at Hampton University.”

“Well, I can’t talk to you, son!” Spurrier Jr. said. “You have to transfer in. Tryouts are in (the spring).”

Two months later, Matrick was accepted into the University of South Carolina. And by the end of walk-on tryouts, he was officially a Gamecock.

Matrick’s work ethic, build and attention to detail impressed Spurrier Jr. Even now, nine years after his time at South Carolina came to an end, Spurrier Jr. wishes he’d had more time with Matrick to develop him into a successful wide receiver. The current Tulsa offensive coordinator didn’t anticipate Matrick’s transition from football to wrestling, but sees why he’s so successful at it.

“There was something about him that you liked, because his presence was lively,” Spurrier Jr. said. “He always had a smile on his face.

“…He was always around. ‘Coach, what does it take to play?’ ‘What does it take to be a part of this team?’ He was always goal-driven, which certainly is a skillset that successful people possess.”

After the 2015 season, Steve Spurrier left the Gamecocks and Will Muschamp took over as head coach . Matrick, then a fifth-year senior, struggled to get on the field. In part because of the coaching change, and in part because of the internship he had to complete as a physical education major in order to graduate.

He went to Airport High School every morning of the 2016 season to fulfill that requirement. But his working hours cut into practice time. Matrick went from playing in every game the previous year, including five starts, to just nine appearances primarily on special teams in 2016 .

“He thought he was going to be a focal point,” said Hassan, who was Matrick’s teammate that season. “But things not turning out that way, I know it was extremely hard for him. We had lots of long talks trying to figure out what was going to be next.”

NFL Pro Day came and went. Matrick received zero phone calls. Still, he wasn’t ready to abandon his NFL dreams.

Matrick took a job substitute teaching and coaching football at Airport High School. He showed students how to run routes with his cleats on, using the opportunity to also fine tune his craft. Matrick continued to train at the Gamecocks practice facility as well, where he ran into Eagles wide receiver Alshon Jeffery and former Eagles running back and coach Duce Staley.

Jeffery became a short-term training partner, while Staley encouraged Matrick to send over some tape.

So Matrick signed up for the 2018 season of The Spring League , a developmental league and scouting event, and balled out. He made a highlight reel from his college and Spring League tape and sent it to every head coach, wide receiver coach, tight end coach and offensive coordinator on all 32 NFL teams.

Two hit him back: The New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers. Their message, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

Matrick called Staley to catch up after sending the occasional “Good game, Coach” text over the last year. A couple weeks later Staley called Matrick back.

“You ever been to NFL camp?” Staley asked.

“No, I haven’t,” Matrick replied.

“Congratulations,” Staley said. “We’re bringing you to camp with the Philadelphia Eagles.”

Matrick’s rookie minicamp experience couldn’t have gone better, he felt. But the Eagles decided to cut him. Maybe this was another sign. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.

He decided to make one last attempt at a professional football career and send his tape in for the upcoming XFL season. Coincidentally (or perhaps not), WWE emailed Matrick the next day.

The now-defunct league was founded by recently ousted WWE CEO Vince McMahon.

“I didn’t know if it was real,” Matrick said of the email. “It seemed too good to be true. I’m like, ‘Oh, man, can I wrestle?’

“And I asked my dad, ‘What do you think? You think I should try wrestling?’ He said, ‘You better go out there. You ain’t making no money around here.’”

Becoming Trick Williams

Matrick always felt he deserved more attention.

Not in a vain way. In an I-know-my-self-worth sort of way, if you will. Younger brother Hassan calls it “a delusional faith in himself.”

Wrestling, much more so than football, satisfies Matrick’s desire to be the center of attention. Maybe it’s the middle child in him. But Matrick has always loved to entertain.

So when WWE reached out, it seemed like a perfect opportunity. He found a wrestling school in Philadelphia — Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) out of the 2300 Arena, home to WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman’s Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in the late 1990s — and moved in with his dad’s uncle, James.

James, affectionately nicknamed “Sweet Baby James,” inspired Matrick’s first wrestling character “Sweet Daddy Trick.” The two had never met before Matrick moved in, but James welcomed him anyway. He was a funny, charismatic man. Matrick worked at Orange Theory during the day and attended wrestling school at night, paying his great uncle what little he could “off the principle of being a man.”

“He showed grace and mercy with me being his nephew,” Matrick said, “and I honestly couldn’t have started wrestling without him.”

So Sweet Daddy Trick, a “Dolemite”-esque character honoring the Beltons’ love of throwback movies, made his debut on the independent scene. While working to channel this character, Matrick wrote, filmed and directed shorts starring Sweet Daddy Trick with friends and family as supporting cast. Now that he’d committed to wrestling, Matrick was all in.

When the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, Matrick decided moving out of his elderly uncle’s home was the responsible thing to do. He went home to South Carolina for a time, then packed up and moved to California. Matrick delivered for DoorDash, taught online classes and auditioned for television shows to afford his one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles. All while training at KnokX Pro Wrestling Academy and patiently awaiting a WWE audition.

At the end of the year his opportunity finally came. WWE signed Trick Williams, “and the rest is history,” he said.

A damn cool dude

Matrick logged onto a Zoom interview wearing black pants and a fitted black shirt. Once his audio connected, his furrowed brow melted away to reveal a warm smile.

When he found out both audio and visual feed were being recorded, he requested a quick costume change.

Minutes later Matrick re-entered view sporting a black cut-off-sleeve vest. He left every button unfastened, opting to show off two tennis chains and his chiseled physique.

Meet Trick Williams.

Trick, Matrick’s in-ring persona, is an extension of his real self. More amplification than caricature.

“I’m actually very, very fortunate that Matrick Belton and Trick Williams are the same person,” he said. “Like, Matrick is always the life of the party. But Trick Williams, he probably turns it up.

“If Matrick is on six, Trick Williams is on 10.”

This in-ring persona was inspired by Attitude Era acts like John Cena, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Growing up, Matrick’s first cuss word was “whoop-ass.” (Or “whoop-A,” as Matrick referred to it on the Zoom call, a reflexive self edit that probably would’ve eluded Williams in the ring.) And no doubt he draws fashion inspiration from The Rock with his Versace shirts and blinged-out buffs.

But there are aspects of Trick Williams that are unique.

He oozes charisma and authenticity few Black wrestlers have been afforded in professional wrestling history . He wears his chains and dreaded twists with pride. Trick turned up with world-famous rapper Sexyy Red during NXT in May and did the Electric Slide to chants of “Whoop that trick!” on Juneteenth.

But his Blackness is not a gimmick. Nor is it exploited to fit insensitive stereotypes. Trick Williams is who Matrick Belton wanted to be when he grew up: A damn cool dude.

“I’ll always remember that I said, ‘I don’t want to try to be this, or try to make people like me,’ ” Matrick said. “ ‘I’m just going to be who I thought was cool.’ Because I’m pretty sure somebody else thinks that’s cool, too. Because they grew up in something similar to what I grew up in.”

Evidently, a lot of people agree. Trick Williams is cool. So cool that his theme “Whoop that Trick!” has achieved viral status.

Earlier this year when now-Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and the Bloodline were beefing, The Rock went on Friday Night Smackdown and dissed Rhodes’ mom . In his silk vest, shiny buffs and sparkly chain, The Rock told “Mama Rhodes” she’d be getting a belt. Not the championship belt her son sought, but The Rock’s weight lifting belt.

As he reached inside a black bag for the brown leather strap, the crowd began to chant: “Whoop that Trick! Whoop that Trick! Whoop that Trick!”

The Rock smiled. Matrick, whose next logical step in WWE is a call-up to the main roster and a coveted role on either Monday Night Raw or Friday Night SmackDown, lost it.

“For me to look up to The Rock that much, and for the people to acknowledge the chant,” he said, “I ain’t gonna say it was for me. I ain’t gonna say they wanted me to pop out and confront The Rock. That’s not what it’s about. But that’s my catchphrase, and they’re chanting that. And I feel like I had a big part of ‘Whoop that Trick!’ being a movement in WWE.”

Coming home

Matrick Belton has returned to Williams-Brice Stadium (as Trick Williams) twice since his meteoric ascension within WWE. First for South Carolina vs. Clemson in 2023 , and second for South Carolina vs. LSU in 2024 featuring ESPN’s “College GameDay.”

As a player, Matrick watched Gamecock Nation welcome former players back home with great enthusiasm. Men whose stellar play launched USC into national prominence before they took their talents to the NFL. Matrick yearned for such love, such raucous reception.

He had hoped to gain their validation through football. (Make no mistake, though, Hassan said. Matrick still believes he could suit up on Sundays. A byproduct of that “delusional faith in himself.”). But it’s just as special to have earned it through wrestling.

Hassan sees the love as “delayed gratification.” “That’s what he felt like he deserved in college,” Hassan said. From feeling under recruited in high school, to a lack of playing time at USC, to falling short of his NFL dream, Matrick always felt overlooked. But not anymore.

Now he’s beloved. Now he’s a star.

“I grew up a lot to become the man that I am today,” Matrick said, reflecting on his tumultuous journey. “A lot of it had to do right there at the University of South Carolina. So to be embraced coming back is amazing.”