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As the wrestling world descends on Las Vegas for WrestleMania Week, few competitors have more to gain—or more to prove—than Ice Williams.
A mainstay of the Las Vegas wrestling scene and a former FSW Champion, Ice will step into the spotlight as part of the WWE ID Championship Tournament, competing in front of his hometown crowd on April 18th at the FSW Arena. It's a full-circle moment for a performer who’s been grinding since 2017 and is finally seeing his hard work start to pay off.
“WrestleMania coming to the home turf of Las Vegas? Look, man, I low key run it down here,” Ice said. “This is Ice City when it comes to wrestling. Folks gotta check in with the kid when they step through the airport.”
Ice didn’t find wrestling—it found him.
“Wrestling was just always on the television growing up. It’s all I knew,” he explained. “My mom was a huge fan. She passed that down to me. I feel like I was born into this.”
He dreamed of being part of WWE—but didn’t always think he’d be in the ring.
“I was a creative writing major in college. I told myself, ‘Maybe I can write for WWE instead of wrestling for them.’ I didn’t think I had the size,” he said. “But I got sick of just talking wrestling with my brother. So I said, let me try this for one month. Just one month. Let’s see what happens.”
What happened was destiny.
“The first time I took a bump, hit the ropes, rolled around—I was hooked. I knew it. I was locked in for life. Wrestling just felt like me.”
From the start, Ice had bigger plans than just being a name on a flyer.
“If I was gonna do this, I wasn’t gonna be just another wrestler,” he said. “I wanted to be the guy. The face. The one.”
He studied everything—promo work, business, travel, psychology.
“I made sure I understood what it took to be that guy,” he said. “You gotta check every box: charisma, presentation, work ethic, in-ring ability. I wanted to be undeniable.”
Even when he wasn’t getting opportunities, Ice kept grinding.
“Keep working. Job’s not done,” he said. “It’s you versus you. Don’t lose to yourself. Just keep going forward.”
It all came to a head at Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling, where Ice was stunned to receive his WWE ID contract from the two-time Hall of Famer himself.
“Time stopped, man,” Ice said. “I wasn’t a homegrown ROW guy, so I didn’t expect it. But I knew what I wanted. When Booker handed me that deal, I just thought—‘You’re doing the right thing. Stay on course. You’re almost there.’”
Even now, Ice says it still doesn’t feel real.
“We’re making it happen. I still can’t believe we’re doing this,” he said. “This whole thing—it still feels like a dream.”
Since joining WWE ID, Ice has trained multiple times at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.
“It’s more than humbling—it’s astonishing,” he said. “The best minds in wrestling? All in one place? Willing to help you grow? Come on. There’s no way you can fail in that system.”
And Ice didn’t walk in blind—he came prepared.
“I watched all the Breaking Ground episodes, all the tryout stuff, the PC footage,” he said. “So when I walked in, I was like, ‘Oh, I know where this ring is. I’ve seen this drill before.’ I was comfortable. Too comfortable maybe.”
“The coaches want you to win,” he added. “Because when you succeed, they succeed. That’s the energy in that building. It’s special.”
On Friday, April 18th, Ice will compete in the opening round of the WWE ID Championship Tournament against Brad Baylor, back at his home base: FSW Arena.
“Look, FSW—it’s in the name. Future Stars of Wrestling,” Ice said. “Zoey Stark came from here. Karrion Kross. Chris Bey. This place is a factory. And I held it down in the main event scene for a long time.”
He’s ready—and he’s watching Baylor closely.
“Brad Baylor? He’s good, but he gets distracted easy. And you don’t want that when you’re across from Ice,” he warned. “I’m locked in. I’ve been doing this. I’ve been working at this level. This ain’t new to me. FSW is my house.”
“It’s gonna be a bad night for Brad Baylor,” he added. “Promise.”
Being part of the tournament means more to Ice than a shot at a title.
“This isn’t just about me,” he said. “I feel like I have a responsibility to make the WWE ID program a success. If I succeed, that means it continues. That means other independent wrestlers—other guys like me—get that same shot.”
He knows what the moment means.
“Winning this championship? That’s history. There’s only ever going to be one first. And I feel like—it’s gotta be Ice,” he said. “If not Ice, then who?”
His family didn’t know he was training at first. He kept it a secret for almost a year.
“Then I told them the day of my first match. I hit the curtain and saw my mom in the front row crying,” he said. “She’s been my biggest supporter since day one.”
When she saw the footage of Booker T handing Ice the contract?
“She called me crying again,” he said. “I had to calm her down. I told her, ‘We just got our foot in the door.’ She’s like, ‘No, you’re right there.’ She still asks if I’m gonna be on WrestleMania.”
He laughed and said, “Card subject to change, right? They might throw Ice in there. Who knows?”
To anyone still grinding on the independents, wondering if their time will come, Ice had this message:
“Keep going. Keep showing up. Keep creating. Be undeniable,” he said. “Perform like you’re already there. Be ready, so you never have to get ready.”
“If you’re new to Ice, tap in,” he said. “Follow me on Instagram and X @IceWilliams. Go to my YouTube—Ice Ice Williams. Watch me vs. Chris Bey. Me vs. Hammerstone. Watch my stuff from Reality of Wrestling. And of course, WWE ID is posting matches too.”
As WrestleMania Week kicks off, Ice has one thing on his mind: legacy.
“We just getting started,” he said. “The work continues. The job’s not done. We halfway there. Stay frosty, stay focused, and know this—the Coldest on the Planet is coming for gold.”
Catch Ice Williams in the WWE ID Championship Tournament on Friday, April 18 at the FSW Arena, streaming live on Triller TV+.
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