Profile
Full Name: Anthony James Caruso
Ring Name: Carlo Mancini
Birth Date: April 6, 1993
Age: 31
Height: 5’ 11”
Weight: 224lbs
From: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Gear:
Top: Tony Caruso
Second Top: US Army
Middle: 04-06-1993
Second Bottom: E-4 CPL
Bottom: Catholic
For Segments/Promos:
Wrestling Style: Brawler; Technical (if needed)
Main Finisher(s): Carlo Somebody (Blue Thunder Bomb)
Accomplishments:
ROH World Champion (3x)
GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion (1x)
IWGP Intercontinental Champion(3x)
NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship (1x; with G.o.D)
Rank of Corporal in the US Army
Theme: “Come Alive” by Ashes Remain
Allies: Eimi Matsudo, SLK, Natsumi, Yurai Tauchi (Tam Nakano), Momo Watanabe, Utami Hayashishita, Azumi (AZM), and Rina
Love Interest: Eimi Matsudo
~Story~
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, into a very middle class Italian household, Anthony Caruso has always gotten into fights at school, causing him to lose his scholarship after many different schools throughout his young life.
By the time he graduated high school, Anthony would get drafted into the Army, his parents, his father a Vietnam War veteran and his mother a professional chef, hoping that Tony would fail, considering he always had problems with authority.
However, to their surprise, Anthony would change his attitude and become an adult, growing from immaturity to the point he’s more responsible and more successful.
Serving 26 months in the Army, Anthony would do his job proud, but one day, while on patrol, the very lower half of his left leg, the shin and ankle area, would get blown off by a random mine in Afghanistan.
Being honorably discharged, Anthony would be shipped home to Philly, pondering about what he wanted to do next in his young career.
Luckily, his father, being a wrestling fan and the childhood friend of ECW original Paul E. Dangerously, from New York, he gets into contact with Paul about helping Tony get into the business, which he agrees.
Getting a WWE tryout in 2013, Tony would do surprisingly well, despite being crippled with a prosthetic leg and having an awesome attitude throughout the training.
While the officials were impressed by his work ethic and all around positivity, they felt as if Tony could do well behind the scenes instead, but Heyman, being such an advocate for Anthony, he would push for Anthony to be a performer, and the officials had no choice but to offer Caruso a contract.
Performing at house shows to improve his craft and his status as a wrestler, Tony would get positive reviews from fans and peers alike, praising the fact he was willing to improve himself and show how reliable he was, but the next year, Tony was released.
However, Tony and Paul would keep in touch, making sure that whenever Caruso needed advice, he would always call or text his mentor.
Instead of giving up on his early wrestling career, Caruso would travel to Japan and start wrestling there, improving his skills and in-ring prowess towards the Japanese audience, showing that he can keep going.
After three years of hard work, Tony would actually earn his first Championship in Japan, the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship.
To Tony, it symbolized how much of a hard worker he was, being respected by his peers and just being an amazing human being while sharing his struggles.
Living in Japan since 2016, Tony would prove himself, winning the IWGP Intercontinental Championship on three separate occasions, while joining one of the most prestigious faction in Japanese wrestling history, the Bullet Club, where he would go on to unleash his dark side, but never joining The Elite, believing that he would turn on the OGs.
The BC OGs quickly respected Tony as Tony respected them back as him and the Guerrilas Of Destiny would become the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
During his reign, Tony would take the day off and have some fun, becoming an attendant at World Wonder Ring of Stardom, attracting the joshis, including one in particular, named Eimi Matsuda, or better known as Giulia.
The two would become very good friends after they found a lot of things in common, like how they were both Italian and speaking Japanese and the Italian as well. Eimi, however, would be very entranced by Tony by how much of a positive guy he is, and was very much shocked by how almost fluent his Japanese was, even though an Italian-American from Philadelphia.
That would cause the two to get even closer, becoming best friends in the process, but on August 29th, 2021, Tony would receive shattering news that his father had died after a long battle with COVID-19.
Feeling the need to return home, Tony would do so, letting Eimi know about the situation and he would be back soon.
Throughout that time, Tony would debut for Ring of Honor, winning the ROH World Championship after a 25 minute hard hitting match, dedicating the match to his father, holding the title for a few months before the company went on hiatus.
After his time in America, Tony would return to Japan, embraced by Eimi and many of the girls at Stardom, who would check on him every time they see him at one of their shows or them going to one of his.
However, on April 6, 2023, on his 30th birthday, Paul Heyman, Tony’s mentor, would personally call Tony to offer him a new contract with NXT. Shocking everyone, he signed with the company and would begin his new journey in NXT, making a lot of new friends.
Eimi was ecstatic when she learned that Tony debuted for WWE and expressed her happiness on Twitter, by showing a video of herself cheering on her friend as tears were visible on her face while her friends around her comforted her.
Replying to her tweet, Tony responded in Japanese, “I hope to see you here someday! Maybe tag together?”
Later on that same year, it was reported that WWE was targeting Eimi and it was apparent that she was interested, but knowing how much Tony to her, she signed with NXT.
However, she still had to help her trusted boss from Stardom, Rossy Ogawa, start up his new wrestling promotion, but she was required to make an appearance at NXT Stand And Deliver. Little did she know that Tony was waiting to surprise her when it was announced that he wasn’t on the card.
During the show, Eimi was featured on the titantron, shocked and amazed by how well known she was among the fans, but when Tony showed up from behind and surprised Eimi, causing her to immediately break down into tears and cry, making Tony cry too as they both embraced, knowing how much they missed each other after a year.
The fans around them cheer and applaud as the reunion was happening in front of them.
The two would hang out after the show, getting Cheesesteaks from Tony Luke’s, where Anthony’s friend Tony Luke Jr had worked at.
Anthony would pay for their meals as it was a reunion, but it was Eimi’s first time trying an authentic Cheesesteak from Philadelphia because before she took a bite of the sandwich, Anthony would take out his phone and start filming her.
Confused by it, Anthony said that since it was her first time trying a Cheesesteak, he should video her trying it. Eimi then took a bite, resulting in her eyes closing in such ecstasy as Anthony would find it adorable.
She would say in Japanese, with a huge smile, as the translations of Anthony and Eimi’s conversation would be captioned on the video,
Eimi: “My dietician will not be happy with what I am eating right now, but my belly will.”
Anthony: “None of our dieticians are happy with what we’re eating right now!”
Soon after Eimi helped Ogawa with the company, she would start competing in NXT, but over time, Anthony would start to fall for her after many years of friendship.
Remembering the video on YouTube, where she said that guys in their 40s wearing glasses were her type, he starts to doubt himself, but does he follow through?
