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With WrestleMania Week looming, few talents have more momentum—and pressure—heading into Las Vegas than WWE ID standout Cappuccino Jones. From his debut in Tulsa to the new spotlight he's receiving under the ID program and WWE EVOLVE, the 2.5-year pro is poised to make a mark next week as part of the WWE ID Championship Tournament, competing in both an EVOLVE six-man tag team rematch and the men’s singles tournament during WrestleMania week.
“I’m prepared to go through hell and back,” Jones told PWInsider. “I just want people to know—you’re going to see some great wrestling, you’re going to see some fights, you’re going to see just utter chaos. I don’t even know what to expect, but I’m expecting everything.”
Jones is no stranger to feeling like the underdog. A product of Oklahoma’s limited wrestling scene, he had to fight—sometimes literally—for every opportunity.
“Oklahoma’s not exactly a hotbed,” he said. “Within my first two months of wrestling, I realized I had to get out and start traveling. I didn’t know how to get booked, so I started doing every seminar I could. I figured, even if I didn’t get an opportunity that day, I could at least learn something that would help me grow.”
Seminars with names like Rocky Romero, Jay Lethal, and Scotty 2 Hotty gave him invaluable insight.
“I learned how to travel smarter, how to carry myself like a pro, and just how to stand out in a sea of talent,” he said. “A lot of it went over my head at first, but what was meant to stick stayed with me. That’s why I’m here now.”
Jones vividly recalls when wrestling grabbed hold of him for the first time: July 2011. Rey Mysterio winning the WWE Championship on Monday Night Raw - and then losing it to John Cena later that night.
“I only knew five wrestlers, and Rey was the one I always picked in the games,” he said. “When I saw him hit the 619 and win, I was hooked. I remember saying out loud, ‘I’m going to be a WWE Superstar.’ That moment changed my life.”
As for Cena? “Yeah,” Jones chuckled, “I wasn’t a John Cena fan for the next three years. It took some time to forgive him for that.”
When WWE called to invite him into the first-ever ID class, Jones was parked in his car outside his home.
“I didn’t see it coming,” he said. “I hadn’t heard a thing. I was just sitting there, frozen in disbelief. It didn’t feel real.”
But it wasn’t just the dream of WWE that drew him in.
“Hearing about the program, how it would work with indie promotions, how unique it was—it wasn’t just about me,” he said. “I knew right away I wanted to be part of history. I wanted to be one of the first. It felt like something that could really change things.”
Jones doesn’t just wrestle—he creates.
“I’ve always been into art, ever since I was a kid,” he explained. “Wrestling is the broadest art form there is. You can express yourself through your gear, your moves, your background. There’s no ceiling. I see it as a blank canvas, and I want to add a color of paint no one’s ever used before.”
He knows the pressure is real, especially with WWE watching closely.
“It’s definitely pressure, yeah,” he admitted. “But I remind myself: I got this call for a reason. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t ready. The pressure just means you care. It means you’re alive in the moment.”
Being part of the debut main event of WWE Evolve—streaming on Tubi and WWE Network internationally—was another milestone moment.
“When they told us we were in the first main event, I was like, ‘Oh man, they’re really giving me a gift here,’” he said. “I was nervous, but more than that—I was grateful. That’s history. Nobody can take that away from me.”
With the rematch against Jackson Drake and Swipe Wright coming up at GCW’s WrestleMania Week event on Wednesday April 16 on TrillerTV, Jones isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to his performance.
“It’s Vegas. It’s GCW. It’s Mania Week. We’re going nuts,” he promised. “Nothing’s being held back. We’re all hungry, we all want that ID Championship. I think the first match set the bar—but this one’s going to top it.”
Vegas is all shining, neon lights, a world away from Tulsa.
The early days or Jones weren’t glamorous. In fact, they were mostly unpaid, uncertain, and exhausting.
“We’d hop in a car, sometimes 14 hours, just to hit a seminar and hope for an opportunity,” Jones recalled. “Sometimes we didn’t get on the show....but every mile mattered.”
That grind paid off. He’s wrestled in Memphis, at AEW Dark, and most recently at Wrestling Open, a promotion he respects for its weekly, TV-ready format.
“Wrestling Open is a long way from Oklahoma,” he said. “But it gave me a taste of what consistent TV work feels like. It’s why so many guys from there are in WWE ID now. It prepares you.”
Obviously, Jones wants to win the WWE ID Championship. But he also wants to leave something behind.
“I want to inspire people,” he said. “Especially kids. It all started with me being a kid, watching Rey Mysterio. If I can make someone feel what I felt watching Rey, I’ve done my job.”
Looking ahead, the goals are clear.
“I want to be in WWE long-term. That’s the dream,” he said. “But more than that, I want to add to pro wrestling. I don’t want to just exist—I want to give back to the thing that gave me so much. I want to be a needle mover. I want to be someone who made people care.”
“To the fans just discovering me—thank you,” Jones said. “Keep watching. I’ll keep showing up...and for the fans who’ve been with me since the beginning—thank you for still being here. I hope the way my career has transformed inspires you in whatever you’re doing. Whether it’s wrestling, your job, or chasing any dream—if I can do this, so can you.”
As he blazes his trail through Vegas and beyond, Jones indeed does live his gimmick
“Oat milk, cinnamon, two shots of vanilla. Hot, of course,” he said, laughing. “It changes sometimes. But I’ve been putting cinnamon on my cappuccinos lately. It’s been really good.”
Perhaps good enough to make history with some WWE ID gold.
Cappuccino Jones competes April 16 and 18 in Las Vegas as part of the WWE ID Championship Tournament, streaming on Triller TV+. Watch him weekly on WWE Evolve via Tubi, and follow him on Twitter @ColdBrewJones.
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