Who Is Axiom? WWE's European Masked Sensation Explained

WWE kicked off in Barcelona, Spain, a two-week run of shows in Europe this past Friday on SmackDown. In the main event, WWE crowned new WWE Tag Team Champions with The Street Profits after they defeated D.I.Y. In addition to that, the match that may have stolen the night was between World Heavyweight Champion, Gunther, and Axiom.

As one-half of the WWE NXT Tag Team Champions, Axiom has made quite a name for himself across the world for his talent in the squared circle. Along with his tag team partner Nathan Frazer, Fraxiom is approaching 200-plus days as champions. After putting in the work on the developmental brand, Axiom received a huge opportunity this past Friday in front of his home country of Spain to face the World Heavyweight Champion and exceeded all expectations of the wrestling world.

Axiom's Journey To Becoming The First-Ever Spanish Wrestler in WWE

Making History For His Home Country

Carlos Ruiz, aka Axiom, is on a journey to becoming the first-ever Spanish-born wrestler to hold a championship in the WWE. Despite his young age of 27, Axiom's professional wrestling career has already spanned over a decade. Once known as A-Kid, Axiom began his professional wrestling career back in the early 2010's. Prior to all he's accomplished in WWE, Axiom made a name for himself in Spain in White Wolf Wrestling, based in Madrid, Spain. There he became the face of the promotion by becoming a three-time Triple W Absolute Champion, and won the Triple W Extreme Championship and Triple W Heavyweight Championship as well.

After spending a few years on the independent circuit, wrestling for notable promotions such as Progress Wrestling, PWG, and Chikara, he then signed with WWE UK in 2019. During both of these tenures, he wrestled without a mask for his character A-Kid. He had an impressive couple of years on the brand, where he actually became the inaugural WWE NXT UK Heritage Cup Champion. After a couple of years in NXT UK, the company made a decision that in hindsight helped transcend his career and repackaged him into the masked enigma he is today: Axiom.

Axiom's WWE Future Is Bright

A New Generation of Masked Wrestlers Is Taking the Stage

In 2022, after the NXT UK brand was discontinued, Axiom was moved to the US-based NXT brand, a rare chance for a European-born wrestler and the first time a Spanish wrestler was given such a high-profile spot in the WWE. Last spring, Axiom's career was elevated to an entirely new level. In the tag team Fraxiom, he won the NXT Tag Team titles not once, but twice, and he made surprise appearances on WWE's main roster and even for TNA. Axiom thus became the first Spanish-born person to win a championship in the WWE.

In 2018, as A-Kid, he became the youngest wrestler to be awarded five-stars for a singles match by Dave Meltzer. He is also the first Spanish wrestler to get a five-star rating from the WON.

Since becoming a two-time NXT Tag Team Champion last year, Axiom has kept improving both on the microphone and in the ring. It's not hard to imagine that Fraxiom will get a main roster spot soon, considering their popularity and the great performances they put up in the ring. In addition to that, Axiom has also made his home country proud. Every time he steps in the ring, Spain is represented in magnificent fashion, especially every time he hits the Spanish Fly off the top rope.

Axiom's recent performance on SmackDown in Barcelona wasn't just the WWE playing into the old "hometown hero" trope, it was a chance for a young talent to showcase his ability on a big stage, and Axiom lived up to the task. With Penta being pushed as a big star, and his brother Rey Fenix possibly on the way, there is a whole new generation of masked wrestlers making waves in the WWE, and Axiom will surely be a standout.