Trent Barreta was born Greg Marasciulo in 1987 in New York. Trained by former ECW Champion Mikey Whipwreck, Marasciulo began wrestling for the New York Wrestling Connection under the name of Plazma. He went on to win most of the titles in the NYWC and he began having tryout matches for the WWE in August 2007- January 2008 under the name Greg Cardona.

He was signed to a contract and was sent to Florida Championship Wrestling. He won the FCW Tag Team championship with Caylen Croft twice. He also attempted to win the "Queen of FCW" crwon by posing as The Girl from Mexico under a mask but was eliminated in a Battle Royal. During this time, his name was changed to Trent Barreta.

In December 2009, Croft and Barreta debuted on ECW.