Dabba-Kato Explained

Babatunde Łukasz Aiyegbusi (; born May 26, 1988) is a Nigerian-Polish professional wrestler and former American football player. He is currently working on the independent circuit under the ring name Babathunder. He is best known for his tenure with WWE, where he performed under the ring names Dabba-Kato, Babatunde, and Commander Azeez. He previously played for a number of teams in the Polish American Football League and German Football League, and had a stint with the Minnesota Vikings during the 2015 preseason.^[3]

Early life and football career

Born in Oleśnica, Wrocław Voivodeship (now part of Lower Silesian Voivodeship) of South-West Poland on May 26, 1988,^[4] to a Polish mother and an immigrant Nigerian father, Aiyegbusi began playing American football in 2005 as an offensive lineman. He played in the Polish American Football League for the Giants Wrocław (formerly known as The Crew Wrocław) and the Warsaw Eagles and in the German Football League for the Dresden Monarchs. In 2015, Aiyegbusi was signed by the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League and he participated in their preseason program, playing three preseason games before being released as part of roster cuts prior to the 2015 NFL season.^{[5] [6]}

Professional wrestling career

WWE (2016–2023)

On April 12, 2016, Aiyegbusi joined the WWE Performance Center as part of a new class of recruits. He made his professional wrestling debut under his birth name, portraying a face, at a NXT house show in Orlando, Florida, on September 30, 2016, competing in a battle royal.^[7] In April 2018, Babatunde started to accompany Lio Rush to the ring at NXT live events until Rush was called up to the main roster as part of 205 Live. Babatunde made his televised debut on April 27 at the Greatest Royal Rumble, entering the match as the 37th entrant and being eliminated by Braun Strowman.^[8]

In 2019, Babatunde had several matches for Evolve, a WWE affiliated promotion. During his time in the company, he would challenge for the Evolve Championship.^[9]

On August 3, 2020, Babatunde would make his return to television and his Raw debut. He would debut as part of a Raw Underground segment under the ring name Dabba-Kato.^[10] He would develop a winning streak on Raw Underground defeating several local wrestlers until he was defeated by Strowman on the September 21 episode of Raw.^[11] As part of the 2020 Draft in October, Dabba-Kato was drafted to the Raw brand.^[12] However following the draft, he would not make a single appearance on the brand.

On Night 2 of WrestleMania 37 on April 11, 2021, he returned to help Apollo Crews win the Intercontinental Championship from Big E.^[13] Crews would then re-introduce him as Commander Azeez the following Friday on SmackDown, with no mention made of his previous time as Dabba-Kato on Raw, thus transferring to the SmackDown brand.^[14] As part of the 2021 Draft, both Crews and Azeez were drafted to the Raw brand.^[15] In June 2022, Crews and Azeez were sent to NXT and reunited at NXT Vengeance Day.^[16] On September 21, 2023, Aiyegbusi was released from his WWE contract.^[17]

Independent circuit (2024–present)

On February 4, 2024, Aiyegbusi made his debut for Prime Time Wrestling (PTW) and later revealed his new ring name to be Babathunder.^[18]

Other media

Aiyegbusi, as Commander Azeez, made his video game debut in The Whole Dam Pack DLC for WWE 2K22.^{[19] [20]} He also appeared in WWE 2K23 as the same character.

Aiyegbusi portrayed the villainous Samson in the 2020 film The Main Event.^[21]

See also

• List of gridiron football players who became professional wrestlers

Notes and References

1. Web site: Wrestlingdata.com – The World's Largest Wrestling Database. WrestlingData. August 12, 2020.
2. Web site: Babatunde Aiyegbusi. Cagematch. December 22, 2016.
3. Web site: WWE Performance Center welcomes new class of recruits. April 12, 2016. WWE.com Staff. WWE. June 25, 2022.
4. Web site: Babatunde Aiyegbusi - offensive lineman . ESPN . July 18, 2023 . en.
5. Web site: From the Line to the Ring: Former Viking Babatunde Aiyegbusi Joins WWE. November 19, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161119121049/http://www.vikings.com/news/article-1/From-the-Line-to-the-Ring-Former-Viking-Babatunde-Aiyegbusi-Joins-WWE/9f1b0ad5-3dbf-491b-b782-78ccef8fb19e. November 19, 2016. dead.
6. Web site: Vikings Announce Roster Moves, Set 53-Man Roster. Vikings.com. September 5, 2015. April 16, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20150906142402/http://www.vikings.com/news/article-1/Vikings-Announce-Roster-Moves-Set-53-Man-Roster/0c6d2c99-4b9d-4d88-a8e5-d05d3b714e83. September 6, 2015. dead.
7. Web site: WWE NXT Live. Cagematch. December 22, 2016.
8. Web site: Powell. Jason. Powell's WWE Greatest Royal Rumble live review: 50-man Royal Rumble match, Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns in a cage match for the WWE Universal Championship, AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship, John Cena vs. Triple H, Undertaker vs. Rusev in a casket match. Pro Wrestling Dot Net. April 27, 2018. April 27, 2018.
9. Web site: Evolve 130 results: Pipkin's review of Roderick Strong vs. Austin Theory, Tyler Breeze vs. Anthony Greene, JD Drake vs. Babatunde for the WWN Championship, Curt Stallion vs. Sean Maluta, the final show before the WWE Network special. prowrestling.net. Landon. Pipkin. July 13, 2019. June 27, 2020.
10. Web site:
    1. RawUnderground is HERE ... and so is DABBA-KATO.
    . Twitter. August 4, 2020.
11. Web site: WWE Raw 9/21/20 Results: Retribution Competes, Top Contenders Are Crowned & Randy Orton Returns!. Fightful.
12. Web site: See all the results from the 2020 Draft. October 9, 2020. WWE.com Staff. WWE. October 12, 2020.
13. Web site: Powell. Jason. WrestleMania 37 results: Powell's live review of night two with Roman Reigns vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan in a Triple Threat for the WWE Universal Championship, Asuka vs. Rhea Ripley for the Raw Women's Championship, Big E vs. Apollo Crews in a Nigerian Drum Fight for the IC Title. Pro Wrestling Dot Net. April 11, 2021. April 11, 2021.
14. Web site: Powell. Jason. 4/16 WWE Friday Night Smackdown results: Powell's review of the WrestleMania 37 fallout show with champions Roman Reigns and Bianca Belair, Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler vs. The Street Profits for the Smackdown Tag Titles, Rey Mysterio vs. Otis. Pro Wrestling Dot Net. April 16, 2021. April 17, 2021.
15. Web site: See all the results from the 2021 Draft. October 1, 2021. WWE.com Staff. WWE. June 25, 2022.
16. Web site: APOLLO CREWS' WWE STATUS GOING FORWARD, FUTURE FOR ANOTHER RAW STAR REVEALED. PWInsider.com. Mike. Johnson. June 8, 2022. June 25, 2022.
17. Web site: Jenkins . H. . September 21, 2023 . Dabba Kato Released From WWE NXT Contract . September 21, 2023 . Ringside News . en-US.
18. Web site: Taylor . Sanchez . 2024-04-19 . Released WWE Star's New Ring Name Revealed . 2024-05-29 . WrestleTalk . en-US.
19. Web site: Star Studded WWE 2K22 The Whole Dam Pack Brings The Noise. 2K. July 23, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220720062502/https://wwe.2k.com/dlc/the-whole-dam-pack/. July 20, 2022. live.
20. Web site: WWE 2K22 wrestlers list sorted by Raw, Smackdown, AEW and more. Wilson. Ben. July 6, 2022. GamesRadar+. July 23, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220720065821/https://www.gamesradar.com/wwe-2k22-wrestlers/. July 20, 2022. live.
21. Web site: The Main Event Full Cast & Crew . IMDB . October 26, 2022.