WWE superstar Trick Williams, a former Gamecock, ready for hometown return
It’s homecoming week for Matrick Belton.
The former South Carolina Gamecock receiver, who goes by the name of “Trick Williams,” will be back in Columbia with the other wrestling superstars as WWE’s “Smackdown” (airing on USA Network) takes place at 8 p.m. Friday at Colonial Life Arena.
“This is a home game,” he said Tuesday during an interview with 107.5 FM’s The Game. “Being from the city, being born right there at the hospital, and going to Keenan High School. My brothers going to Ridge View and Blythewood, my mom going to Columbia High and dad going to CA Johnson. Then I graduated from University of South Carolina, it is a beautiful thing.”
This will be his second time wrestling in his hometown of Columbia. He came with NXT wrestling, WWE’s developmental organization, in December. But since then, his career has skyrocketed after he was called up to the WWE’s main roster in January.
Trick Williams has become one of the most popular wrestlers in the business. Fans shout and sing along when his entrance music, “Whoop That Trick,” hits each week.
Williams won the United States championship by beating Sami Zayn at Wrestlemania last month in Las Vegas with his parents and family in attendance. He beat Zayn again at WWE’s Backlash event Saturday in Tampa.
“It has been lightning in a bottle and everything that has come in fruition that you wanted it to,” Williams said of winning the title. “Wrestlemania is what the business is all about. It is the Super Bowl, the SEC championship, the national championship. That is the time to get the job done. For me to have my first Wrestlemania on the main roster and to come home with a championship is unbelievable.”
Williams’ story is well-known by now, and he’s been able to share it on various national interviews over the last few months. He played football at Keenan High School before starting his college career at FCS Hampton College in Virginia. After two seasons there, he decided to return to home and walked on at South Carolina.
Williams finished his career with the Gamecocks, where he caught 11 passes for 121 yards. He had a tryout with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles before being cut. He also spent time as a coach at Airport High School before turning to wrestling and beginning the process of working his way up to where he is now.
During the 30-minute interview Tuesday, Williams reflected on his time at USC and meeting then-coach Steve Spurrier for the first time and going through tryouts to make the Gamecocks roster. He also remembers the advice Steve Spurrier Jr., his position coach, gave him early on during his career.
“Be the best at what you do,” Spurrier Jr. said. “... That has always stuck with me. That is exactly what we do at WWE. Whatever you do best, make sure you are the best at it.”
Williams played for Spurrier and then Will Muschamp with the Gamecocks. While he hasn’t talked to Spurrier in a while, he did eat some lamb chops at the Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille restaurant in Gainesville.
Williams has returned to USC football games a couple of times since he started his wrestling career. But coming home for “Smackdown” will be a memory he won’t forget.
“The city has given me so much to be proud of, and I want to represent it in the right way,” Williams said. “This is a beautiful day.”
Williams even has his own TicketMaster discount code (Lemon Pepper) for 15% off tickets, a nod to him wearing No. 15 at USC and to his Lemon Pepper stepper shoes.
Williams will have his own Lemon Pepper section for the event and is asking people to wear white in honor of his ring attire. He teased in Tuesday’s radio interview the idea of using white towels similar to ones fans use when the Gamecocks are playing at Williams-Brice Stadium and “Sandstorm” is blasting.
“I’m going to bring ‘Sandstorm’ to the WWE,” Williams said. “We are going to show the WWE universe how South Carolina does it.”
