EJ Nduka is proof that patience is more than just a virtue. This is a profile piece on the former MLW Champion and recent AEW signee.
When Patience Isn’t Just a Virtue
The wrestling landscape has never felt more dynamic. So much opportunity, so many options, and everyone – fans and wrestlers alike – demanding and pushing for their wants and desires.
It’s quickly becoming cliché for wrestlers to “shoot” their frustrations; to demand opportunities. Whether a gimmick, a work or legit, some tell the world how they should be booked and treated.
The justification is taken subjectively. The mileage a wrestler gains varies, but the reality is it only takes them so far.
Lots of wrestlers are happy to talk smack. To “shoot” hard. And yet, EJ Nduka, a wrestler who has been on my radar after competing in MLW in 2021, proves patience is more than a virtue.
After leaving MLW in January 2023, online reports in June suggested Nduka had signed with AEW. During that time, fans waited to see what would happen to “The Judge”. And have waited.
Yet, looking at Nduka’s social media pages, everything posted or written shows he is motivated and ready when the call comes.
You’d be reaching or in bad faith to suggest The Judge is anything but self-motivated, self-disciplined, and always self-improving. That’s a lot of self-centric focus.
Yet, as pointed out during a short documentary, “I am Nduka the Judge”, this isn’t a gimmick. This is the man.
The Judge is confident because he knows his ability. That with focus and hard work Nduka will only improve.
Patience is more than a virtue. It separates Nduka from the potential pack of stars in waiting.
Rather than telling you he is the future with bombast, swears or blame, Nduka is going to show you when the opportunity is given.
EJ Nduka Is Built On The Grind
“All I knew was how to work and how to grind, and so, humility always came first. That’s why whenever I get an opportunity, I look it dead in the face and I cherish it because I know not everyone gets an opportunity,”
EJ Nduka, “I am Nduka The Judge”, Youtube
The son of Nigerian immigrants, Nduka was born in Dallas, Texas. By his own admission, he was born with the sauce.
Yet, Nduka was raised with the mentality that hard work and perseverance are required to achieve your goals in life. As an athlete, Nduka would often train harder to secure his spot.
Raised in Jackson, New Jersey, Nduka was a three-sport athlete. Playing basketball, running track, and playing football.
Nduka would go to Jacksonville University in Florida playing both basketball and football, but quickly decided to focus on football. Nduka was a defensive end before transferring to Sam Houston State in Texas, giving himself the nickname, “The Soul Collector” due to his enjoyment of tackling and taking out the opposition.
Playing and understanding how football has its peaks and valleys helped Nduka keep humble. Realizing nothing is given and everything must be earned formed the bedrock of Nduka’s journey.
Post-college, The Judge signed for the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL. He would also play arena football. Afterward, Nduka’s attention turned to bodybuilding.
The Judge competed in the IFBB professionally in the Classic Physique division. When fans and wrestlers talk about the grind, few have lived it like Nduka.
Some wrestlers come from the disciplined world of football and bodybuilding. Few, however, have done both. Competing professionally in three sports, Nduka is in an elite club of wrestlers that includes Lex Luger.
Nothing But Good Things To Say
Scouted by Scotty 2 Hotty, Nduka attended two Performance Centre trials for WWE. Signed on August 15, 2019, with the ring name Ezra Judge, the life lessons, determination and experiences of his prior sporting career helped Nduka slip into wrestling with ease.
However, what can not be taught is a love and passion for pro wrestling. Even with the right mindset, some athletes find wrestling is not for them.
EJ was not one of them, telling Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful:
“I fell in love with this business in the last 20 months. This business is unique, amazing, and captivating. It’s something I’ve fell in love with. I love going to practice, going to weights, watching film, skull (sessions), all that stuff. There’s so much detail and so much to it. I was telling my buddy, ‘If I have to go to war, I’m bringing a wrestler with me.’ Wrestlers are some of the most phenomenal athletes in the world and you have to be mentally sharp and cognitive.”
EJ Nduka, Fightful.
In his short time in NXT, The Judge made an impact in training and with the coaches. Nduka understood the hierarchy of wrestling and the need to pay dues and earn respect.
Seizing each opportunity, from setting up and taking down the ring, training hard, and watching other people’s classes to soak in as much knowledge as possible. Positive feedback came from everyone.
Nduka’s work ethic was even praised and compared with The Rock’s by Triple H. Terry Taylor, on the Friday before Nduka’s release told him how everyone had nothing but positive things to say about his abilities and work.
He was also told that someday he would make lots of money in the business.
Blindsided and Blessed
All this positivity would leave Nduka surprised and feeling “blindsided” by his release. Although WWE’s loss became MLW and the Indies’ gain. A story about a confrontation between Nduka and then NXT referee Drake Wuertz (former deathmatch wrestler Drake Younger) also made its way through the grapevine.
It made Nduka a wrestling folk hero and stand out from the crop of releases. Something Jamie Greer has written about here.
However, any conspiracy theories to suggest this was the reason for the release ignore The Judge’s own account. Nduka stood up for himself against a demanding veteran who was asking him and another trainee to do something while they were already occupied.
Refusing to be shouted at or talked down to, Nduka said he received no backlash or ill will for standing up for himself. NXT trainer Robbie Brookside told him “Good on you”.
There were no further issues with Wuertz. With a three-week-old son and without his “dream job” during the Pandemic, it wasn’t fear that gripped Nduka – it was urgency.
The need to provide as a father and a husband became the driving force. It became the impetus to become “The Judge”.
To put all that hard work and creativity into the character that it would become in MLW. Post-release, Nduka had offers from various promotions.
What made MLW so appealing was their focus on Nduka’s future. MLW’s ability to maximize a wrestler’s strength and size is something I’ve discussed elsewhere that WWE and AEW could learn from (here).
The Judge Goes To Work
The Judge debuted for MLW during Battle Riot III, the promotion’s version of the Royal Rumble. Entering at number 22, Nduka eliminated 10 men, throwing them from the ring like they were paper airplanes.
The Judge set a new record for MLW with the most eliminations. Those eliminated included future MLW World Champion, Alex Kane (who has been profiled here) and former Strikeforce MMA fighter King Mo.
The Judge would exit the match via a double elimination with future tag team partner, Calvin Tankman. Post-Battle Riot, The Judge offered his services to the number one contender and future MLW World Heavyweight Champion, Alex Hammerstone (whose profile can be found here) in his war against Contra Unit.
Joining Team Dynasty for War Chamber, MLW’s WarGames variant, Nduka’s power and athleticism were again showcased. Nduka’s charisma strengthens his traditional big-man offense.
The prowess and intensity of his offense hit with believability. Spears, clotheslines, suplexes, and spinebusters are wince-inducing. Less is more, when the sauce is this potent.
Behind the scenes, Nduka’s confidence grew as he seized control of his character. Deciding quickly to ask for bullet points instead of just following the script allowed The Judge to become a more defined character.
Nduka’s mindset, to show in and show out, was clear in those early showings. By February, The Judge formed a team with Tankman, Hustle and Power.
The heavy hitters won the MLW World Tag Team Championships in their first match teaming together. The pair were popular with fans for their combined sauce and tandem hard-hitting offense.
Nduka’s standout singles moment in MLW came during his MLW World Heavyweight Championship shot against Alex Hammerstone in a last-man-standing match.
From Dark To In the Dark
“In 2022 I said I was going to shock the world, and I did I was the fastest rising star in pro wrestling. I went from no one knowing who I am at the performance centre to world tag team champion in less than a year… At the beginning of 2023, I was blessed with the opportunity to have an AEW Dark match with one of the best wrestlers in the world.””
EJ Nduka, DailyDDT.
Watching Nduka take on Konosuke Takeshita in a five-minute exhibition, the growth in Nduka’s confidence and ability was there after one year of competing for MLW in a handful of taped matches. Let’s be clear and fair.
Nduka is still green and a prospect with only 23 matches under his belt, according to Cagematch. Yet, against Takeshita, still the up-and-coming babyface, Nduka played his role as the heel and challenged the up-and-comer well.
His positioning, his offense, and his facial expressions given his limited experience showcased his potential. Nduka’s signing with AEW felt like another huge get for the company.
Another opportunity to gain from WWE’s inability to see what they had. And then time moved on. So did the news cycle.
Following Nduka on social media, he has not been quiet but he has been patient. Some fans might have forgotten about him, but others have been anticipating when he will eventually be allowed to unleash the brunt of the gavel on an opponent.
With a stoic approach focused on taking ownership and power over his own body and ability, Nduka is a rare example of a wrestler today in the two major North American promotions that are on TV. He is allowing his moment to come, rather than taking it.
Something that, at times, is quickly becoming cliché, less impactful, and less meaningful.
The Trial Is Coming
It’s Sunday 30th June. I’m scanning through social media to find out what happened on Collision. The first clip that flashes up is the ending of Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland’s weigh-in.
Pushing and shoving. Entourages colliding. I pop twice.
Not Ospreay, my fellow Brit, who quickly has solidified himself as one of AEW’s most compelling characters (read about here). Not Strickland, who has grown leaps and bounds into the role of the champion.
It’s the towering, jacked colossus in-waiting who shoves Ospreay and Kyle Fletcher across the stage. EJ Nduka is finally on TV!
Then he’s hit by the hidden blade. And I pop again at Nduka’s selling.
In my mind, the possibilities post-Forbidden Door arrive. Beating me to it, fans on X make the comparison.
Nduka as the Diesel to Strickland’s Shawn Michaels. The team of Nduka and Strickland would fit like a fur coat with gold grills.
Although Nduka has not yet appeared again alongside the AEW World Champion since then, The Judge has shared a picture of himself alongside Strickland and Prince Nana on X. If this is the opportunity, then there is no better person right now to learn from.
Strickland, through criticism and external doubts, is carrying the company on his shoulders. For Strickland, whose two previous entourages had mixed success, having someone with the sauce and “rizz” of Nduka would give the champion another foil alongside Nana to play off.
If Nduka’s time isn’t now, sooner or later, The Judge will be called to trial. When he does, be ready to rise.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
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