Trick Williams is ready to level up. After WWE SummerSlam, Williams is without the United States championship. But after running into CM Punk and with Money in the Bank on the horizon, “The Anointed One” isn’t short on options.Williams’ road forward is clear after seemingly putting his issues with Baron Corbin behind him. One new avenue seemingly presented itself in July when he crossed paths with undisputed WWE champion CM Punk. Williams held his own trading barbs with one of professional wrestling’s most prolific talkers. Punk might have decades of experience on Williams, but he’s never seen a Williams family cookout.”CM Punk is one of the greatest of all time, and he’s proven that. He’s had his legendary moments when talking trash,” Williams told CBS Sports while discussing his brand ambassadorship for Chase Freedom. “But you gotta understand, I come from a long, long line of trash-talking passed down through my cells. It’s in my DNA to talk trash like only Williams can.” Williams traces much of his charisma to his father and uncle. His uncle James, affectionately known as Sweet Baby James, was the foundation of Williams’ wrestling career. When Williams decided to become a pro wrestler, his father told him to stay with an uncle Williams didn’t know he had. Sweet Baby James gave him a home base while he learned his new craft and helped inspire the earliest version of Trick Williams.
“It gives me ‘Why.’ It gives me purpose,” Williams stated. “When I’m able to go out on live television or partner with Chase Freedom Cards and have a back-and-forth with Kevin Hart, my family sees this. My uncle James, my mom, my dad, my nephew who’s six years old — shoutout to my nephew Adonis, who wants to be a wrestler. He wears his coat wide open with no shirt.
“It lets me know that I’m doing the right thing and that all the hard work, all the sacrifice, has been worth it to see it motivate and put a smile on my family’s faces.”
Williams had plenty to show them almost immediately after joining SmackDown. Already a two-time NXT champion and former TNA world champion, he captured the U.S. championship at WrestleMania three months after graduating to the main roster. That’s why his SummerSlam result came as a surprise. Williams lost the title to Corbin and failed to regain it in a rematch five days later.
The room deflated after Corbin, a veteran who recently returned to WWE, pinned Williams. Williams believes the fans’ silence says as much as their cheers do.
“It’s my life’s mission statement for every room I walk in. To light it up and set it on fire,” he stated. “I want everybody to feel better because Trick Williams is there. Even if that’s just one person, I’m still doing my job. To win a title and the crowd goes nuts or lose the title and the room goes silent, it lets me know I’m doing my job.
“That’s all that I want. I want to feel these fans and give them everything they need to do what they need to do in their lives. It’s the biggest compliment to me to see the fans want more Trick Williams.”
There’s a silver lining to the loss. It frees him up at an interesting time. His confrontation with Punk suggests WWE might have something bigger in mind, especially with Money in the Bank approaching. The briefcase has historically been one of WWE’s most direct routes to a world title.
“I’ve been thinking about nothing other than this for the past couple of weeks,” he stated. “New Orleans of all cities. Man, what a beautiful city full of good food to win a briefcase. So let’s see what happens.”
It’s no surprise why WWE might invest further in Williams. There’s a gravitational force around the gridiron veteran. He combines impressive athleticism with natural wit. In a relatively short wrestling career, Williams has become comfortable enough to trade words with Punk and take chances around living legends.
His encounter with The Undertaker best illustrated that.
“I’m glad you like to roll your eyes to the back of your head,” he once stated in a promo aimed at the WWE Hall of Famer. “Cause I might just knock your ass out tomorrow.”
Most fledgling WWE superstars would choke if addressing “The Deadman” with such venom. Not Williams.
“That’s some of my riskiest work,” he confessed. “Here’s the true backstory on that. I did not talk to him before saying that. I just threw it out there to see how he would respond. When I saw him, I took a chokeslam, but it was smiles after that. I think I earned his respect that night.”
The promo culminated with Williams and The Undertaker in an NXT ring, resulting in the aforementioned chokeslam. Williams admits his heart dropped when The Undertaker’s iconic gong hit, but those nerves didn’t stop him from committing to the moment.
“One thing about Trick Williams is, win, lose, or draw, I’m going to say what I need to say, and I’m going to do it. Even if that means doing it scared. You can’t let fear get in the way of getting the job done.
“So that’s definitely one of those situations when I had to jump on out there, regardless of how I may have felt on the inside. The people can’t tell the difference. You gotta say it with your chest, with everything you got.”
Standing tall in his Lemon Pepper Steppers, Williams is not deterred after SummerSlam. His first main roster title is gone, but he’s already setting his sights on the undisputed WWE championship and the briefcase that can get him there. Whatever comes next, Williams doesn’t plan on being quiet about it.
