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WWE United States Champion Trick Williams makes hometown entrance with South Carolina mascot, Cocky

Danby: Daniel Hager05/16/26DanielHagerOn3

WWE United States Champion Trick Williams, who played wide receiver at South Carolina from 2014-2016, made a stellar hometown entrance in Columbia at Friday Night SmackDown.

Williams was flanked by rapper turned manager Lil Yachty, and South Carolina mascot Cocky. Prior to Williams’ entrance theme playing, the arena played Darude Sandstorm (South Carolina‘s pre-game song) while fans waved white towels. For a few minutes, Friday Night SmackDown turned into a Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium.

The U.S. Champion was successful in his return to Columbia, as he defeated The Miz in an 11-minute match.

“This is a home game,” Williams told GamecockCentral ahead of Friday night. “Coming back, it’s just a beautiful thing. This city has given me so much to be proud of and I want to represent the city the right way. This is a beautiful day.

“You gotta understand, I learned a good entrance from right here at the house. When that 2001 plays, it’s a very, very special thing. We pull out those white towels and that Sandstorm gets to rocking. I figured there’s only one way to do it, which is bringing those white towels out for the all white on with Trick Williams. We’re going to ‘Whoop that Trick’ and bring the Sandstorm to WWE.”

“We’ve got something a little special for everybody with WWE Smackdown. We’re going to show the WWE Universe how South Carolina does it.”

Trick Williams has thrived in WWE since making main roster debut in January

Williams, whose real name is Matrick Belton, has quickly risen up the WWE ranks since being called up to the main roster earlier this year. He had his first main roster match on the Jan. 9 episode of SmackDown (a win over Rey Fenix), and won the United States Championship at WrestleMania 42 Night 2 just months later. Williams defeated Sami Zayn to win the title, joining Jacob Fatu, John Cena, Kalisto, and Samoa Joe as Superstars to win/retain the United States Championship in their first career WrestleMania match.

Winning his first championship on The Grandest Stage of Them All was the culmination of a long and winding journey for Williams. The Columbia, SC native played college football at Hampton and South Carolina before signing with WWE in Feb. 2021. Williams made his WWE debut on the Sept. 14, 2021 episode of WWE NXT, and quickly emerged as one of the most charismatic personalities on the entire roster. 

Over the course of his NXT career, Williams won the NXT Championship twice, won the NXT North American Championship, and won the TNA Championship. It was a no-brainer for Williams to be a member of this year’s NXT call-ups, and he has more than proven that he is worthy of being near the top of the card on a weekly basis.