Jackson Drake
American professional wrestler (born 2003)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jackson Drake (born August 30, 2003) is an American professional wrestler. As of November 2024[update], he is signed to WWE, where he performs under his real name on the NXT brand. He is a former one-time and inaugural WWE Evolve Champion and is the leader of The Vanity Project.
August 30, 2003
Jackson Drake
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jackson Drake August 30, 2003 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Drake Thompson Jackson Drake |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Billed weight | 188 lb (85 kg) |
| Trained by | Cam Carter LaBron Kozone |
| Debut | June 28, 2017 |
Professional wrestling career
Training and debut (2017–2026)
Drake debuted on the independent circuit in 2017 after being trained by Cam Carter and LaBron Kozone. In 2019, he formed a tag team with Jay Malachi called the Wrestling Prodigies, winning the FSPW Tag Team Championship and PWF Tag Team Championship.[1] He also made appearances for AEW between 2022 and 2024, wrestling at least one match each year.[2][3], on January 15, 2026 Drake announced he would no longer take independent bookings moving forward.
WWE (2023–present)
Drake previously made a one-off appearance for WWE under the ring name Drake Thompson on the May 15, 2023 of Raw, teaming with Lavar Barbie in a losing effort against Indus Sher (Sanga and Veer).[4][5]
On November 15, 2024, it was reported that Drake had signed with WWE as part of the WWE ID program. He joined the Evolve brand under his real name.[6] On March 5, 2025, he competed on the first episode of Evolve.[7] On the April 23 episode of Evolve, Drake, Bryce Donovan, Zayda Steel, and Swipe Right (Brad Baylor and Ricky Smokes) joined together to form a stable called The Vanity Project.[8] On the June 4 episode of Evolve, he defeated Sean Legacy, Edris Enofe, and Keanu Carver in a fatal four-way elimination match to become the inaugural Evolve Men's Champion.[9][10] On January 13, 2026, Drake, Baylor and Smokes were moved to the NXT brand.[11] During the March 18 episode of Evolve (taped February 20), Drake defended the Evolve Championship one last time as a member of the Evolve brand before moving to NXT full-time. That episode, he lost the title to Aaron Rourke, ending his reign at 301 days (287 days as recognized by WWE due to tape delay).[12]
In 2026, Drake gifted Blake Monroe with a custom-made NXT Women's North Amercian Championship because she lost to the actual champion, Tatum Paxley in a casket match before Monroe is promoted to Smackdown. Drake then battles Jasper Troy and won thanks to the assistance from Myka Lockwood, his date from NXT Revenge week 2 two weeks ago.
Championships and accomplishments
- Elevation Pro Wrestling
- Elevation Pro Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Fire Star Pro Wrestling
- FSPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- FSPW South Eastern Championship (1 time)
- FSPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jay Malachi[13][14]
- Premier Wrestling Federation
- PWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Jay Malachi[15]
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- WWE
- WWE Evolve Championship (1 time, inaugural)[17][18]
