Karl Fredericks Recalls Competing In Strap Matches And NXT Underground Matches In WWE

Karl Fredericks loved doing stipulation matches in NXT.

Throughout his time with the brand as Eddy Thorpe, Fredericks competed in three different NXT Underground matches and two separate strap matches.

At first, he was undefeated in Underground bouts, picking up wins over Dijak and Damon Kemp. The streak came to an end when Trick Williams defeated him in under four minutes on the March 18, 2025 episode of NXT.

In a new interview with Fightful Overbooked’s Jeremy Lambert and SP3, Fredericks said that he wish his match with Trick had more time.

“It was by design, not my design [laughs]. Again, in that situation, I understand my role in that and what me being 2-0 and that being my match, what that does. The Stand & Deliver main event, that was the next [match for Trick] — To me, the bummer was that we only had four minutes. I wish we had ten maybe, but there was like five minutes of aftermath. That’s just how the show is. That’s one I haven’t watched back, but I remember being fine with it at the time. I was just bummed that we didn’t have time — but the other two [matches], man.”

Fredericks continued on and recalled learning Muay Thai with Katsuyori Shibata at the NJPW Dojo.

“I had never done Bloodsport or any of those things, it was just really my time in the Dojo. I wanted to wear kick pads, Shibata was asking about my costume. It’s crazy for me — in Japan, a place where it’s as real as it gets, they don’t say ring gear, they call it a costume, which is so crazy to me. I was like, I want to do kicks and he was like, alright bitch, you’re going to learn Muay Thai. So, he was coming by, I was doing Muay Thai. You’re going to be safe and you’re going to be real.”

When it comes to his first Underground match, both Fredericks and his opponent, Damon Kemp, were blanking on what to do for the bout.

“So with Damon Kemp, I had never done one of these. I was like, I have more than enough knowledge to at least try and defend on the ground. This is like an All-American or top level collegiate wrestler. I was like, I’m taller than him, I’m longer than him, quicker laterally, things like that. Okay, I should shine in this stand up but if a guy like that gets hold of me — that’s what it was. Shining, boom, takeover. That one was really cool. He was new, he was young. Neither of us knew what they wanted, what they didn’t. When we met with the agent, he was like, ‘What do you guys have?’ We essentially didn’t have anything much. Then, we just kind of start walking through like a skelton and that ended up being what it was, which I really enjoyed and thought kept the natural flow of it to where we’re just doing stuff and doing real things and getting to big things.”

Following that up, Fredericks recalled his late 2023 feud with Dijak.

“The Dijak one, just the story behind that one was deep. That was one of those, especially as far as the character Eddy Thorpe and the cultural things go. We touched on the Deceleration Of Independence, we’re mentioned as merciless Indian savages in the Deceleration. This heel character, something about he had jumped me enough to where it was like, I want to bring out your wild side, come on, let out your blood. Well, just say it you coward. Savage, okay, that’s what you want. Doing the strap match was tight, that was Wahoo’s match. For all these conversations we had, there’s these things about pro wrestling that are silly and dumb, I still would’ve loved to be able to call it the Indian Strap Match. I remember joking with Shawn, you’re not slick Shawn, I know what you’re doing. It was cool, it was dope though to get that passed down.”

Before losing to Trick in the previously mentioned NXT Underground match, Fredericks beat him in a Strap Match.

“That match as well, 2-0 in that. Me beating Trick, that was huge for Eddy, for me. It was also important for me. It’s my match but Lola was doing dope ass Underground matches too. The girls were doing awesome shit at the same time but out of the men on the roster, yeah, that was my match. That’s one that makes sense to lose and elevate someone. But like, the Indian Strap Match, that’s gotta be mine man. That’s gotta stay me.”

Going back to his Strap match with Dijak in NXT, Fredericks recalled his family being in the front row for the match.

“I remember even touching on like what he did after the strap match. My family is there front row, that was the other beautiful thing about it. My niece is there front row crying, in tears. He beating me right in front of them. They were worried about whether we should do it or could do it, how the way he hangs me up upside down and beats me with his real belt after the match, after I win. That’s the other thing too, if evil prevails in these things, yeah, that bad. The bad behavior gets paid off, that’s not good. I remember my dad afterwards — who was a police officer — sees a police figure doing this, beating me with this strap. That was his favorite part of the deal. He’s like, his cousins at that age and his aunt and his family, all your relatives got scars on their backs from being whipped in those schools, being beat with belts. That shit happened and for him, seeing a portrayal of that, it’s harsh but then again, what does Eddy do? He prevails. I have one hang up that gets me so upset when I watch the Dijak underground match. Right in the middle, I get his belt, this is the first time since he whipped me. I start giving it to him, I could’ve kept going. He would’ve wanted me to, I could’ve kept going for another ten to twenty seconds, just losing it. But, we also went way over time on that. Thankfully it was a taped show, so they pieced some stuff together.”

Fredericks closed out by the general conversation by giving some praise to Dijak, saying that he’s great to work with.

“Some of the things in the storytelling was dope and I’m really proud of those matches, especially Dijak, he’s so good. He’s great to work with, I’m a lot closer with him obviously after having worked. He’s pretty quiet and reserved. You talk to him and you get to know him.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Fredericks spoke about his upcoming PRODUCE match with Gabe Kidd. Check out his full comments by clicking here. Also, check out our full interview with Karl Fredericks in the video linked at the top of this article.

PRODUCE Wrestling returns to MyAEW PPV on October 12 in Brooklyn, NY with their Season 2 premiere, SKODEN, co-produced by Karl Fredericks on the occasion of Indigenous People’s Day. Fans can pre-order PRODUCE Season 2 in its entirety on MyAEW.com for 50% off using the code PRODUCESeason2.