Forever Hooligans | |
---|---|
Tag team | |
Members | Alex Koslov Rocky Romero |
Name(s) | Forever Hooligans |
Billed heights | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) – Koslov [1] 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) – Romero [2] |
Combined billed weight | 362 lb (164 kg) [1] [2] |
Debut | 2012 |
Disbanded | 2015 |
Forever Hooligans was a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero. [3] They are best known for working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where they are former two-time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. They have also worked for Ring of Honor, where they are former ROH World Tag Team Champions.
Alex Koslov returned to New Japan on July 7, 2012, now representing the promotion's top villainous stable, Chaos, [4] [5] as a member of which he also reunited with former AAA partner Rocky Romero, with the two dubbing their tag team "Forever Hooligans". [6] On July 22, Koslov and Romero defeated Jyushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. [7] Koslov and Romero made their first successful title defense on August 26 at a Sacramento Wrestling Federation (SWF) event in Gridley, California, defeating the team of A.J. Kirsch and Alex Shelley. [8] [9] Forever Hooligans made their second successful title defense on October 8 at King of Pro-Wrestling, defeating the Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida). [10] [11] On October 21, Forever Hooligans entered the 2012 Super Jr. Tag Tournament, defeating Jyushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask IV in their first round match. [12] On November 2, Koslov and Romero were eliminated from the tournament in the semifinals by Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi). [13] On November 11 at Power Struggle, Forever Hooligans lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to the winners of the Super Jr. Tag Tournament, the Time Splitters, ending their reign at 112 days. [14] [15] On February 10 at The New Beginning, Hooligans unsuccessfully challenged the Time Splitters for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. [16] On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2013, Koslov and Romero regained the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship from the Time Splitters. [17] [18] Koslov and Romero made their first successful defense of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on June 22 at Dominion 6.22 in a rematch with the Time Splitters. [19] [20] Koslov and Romero then got involved in Chaos' rivalry with the Suzuki-gun stable, which led to their second successful title defense on July 20 against Taichi and Taka Michinoku. [21] [22] The Forever Hooligans lost the title to Taichi and Michinoku in a rematch on October 14 at King of Pro-Wrestling. [23] On November 6, 2013, The Forever Hooligans lost to The Young Bucks in the finals of the 2013 Super Jr. Tag Tournament. [24] [25] On May 10, 2014 at Global Wars, a special event co-produced by NJPW and Ring of Honor (ROH) in Toronto, Forever Hooligans received another title shot for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships being defeated by The Young Bucks in a three-way match, also involving Time Splitters. [26] On January 9, 2015, Koslov announced he was taking an "indefinite sabbatical" from professional wrestling. [27]
Forever Hooligans made their debut for Ring of Honor at the ROH 11th Anniversary Show PPV, where they were defeated by the American Wolves (Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards). [28] The next day, they were defeated by reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. On July 27, 2013, Koslov and Romero returned to ROH and defeated reDRagon to become the new ROH World Tag Team Champions. [29] They lost the title to The American Wolves in their first defense on August 3. [30] At Manhattan Mayhem V, they defeated The Young Bucks in a Dream Match. On September 20 at Death Before Dishonor XI, The Forever Hooligans successfully defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against the American Wolves. [31] At the following day's tapings of Ring of Honor Wrestling , Koslov and Romero unsuccessfully challenged reDRagon for the ROH World Tag Team Championship in a three-way match, which also included C&C Wrestle Factory (Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander). [32]
On August 9, 2013, Forever Hooligans made their debut for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) at the promotion's tenth anniversary event, where they defeated the RockNES Monsters (Johnny Goodtime and Johnny Yuma). [33] On August 30, 2013, Forever Hooligans and TJ Perkins were defeated by Adam Cole and The Young Bucks.
On November 29, 2013, Forever Hooligans defeated Project Ego (Kris Travis and Martin Kirby) at RPW New Territory. [34] On November 30, 2013, Forever Hooligans unsuccessfully challenged Hot And Spicy (Axel Dieter Jr. & Da Mack) for the wXw World Tag Team Championship at wXw 13th Anniversary Tour Finale. [35] On December 7, 2013, Forever Hooligans competed in a one night tournament for the WCA Golden State Tag Team Championships defeating The Ballard Brothers (Shane Ballard and Shannon Ballard) in the first round and faced Team APW (Oliver John and Timothy Thatcher) in the tournament finals which ended in a no contest. [36]
From January 24 to 25, 2015, Forever Hooligans participated in the Alternative Wrestling Show's Race for the Ring Tag Team Tournament. They were defeated in the finals by the ASW Tag team Champions PPRay (Peter Avalon and Ray Rosas). It was Koslov's final wrestling match. [37]
On October 28, 2022 on New Japan Pro Wrestling PPV Rumble on 44th Street, Alex Koslov came back to wrestle one more time with fellow tag team partner Rocky Romero in a briefly reunion of the Forever Hooligans in a losing effort against The DKC and Kevin Knight, ending a 7-Year absence of Koslov from a ring of professional wrestling.
Patrick Kenneth Martin is an American professional wrestler and physical therapy clinician, better known by the ring name, Alex Shelley, currently signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is a former one-time TNA World Champion. He is also a former one-time X Division Champion and three-time World Tag Team Champion.
Wesley David Richards, best known under the ring name Davey Richards, is a retired American professional wrestler. Best known for his time in Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor, and for several independent promotions, including Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Full Impact Pro, he was previously signed to Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he was a former MLW National Openweight Champion.
John Raymond Rivera, better known by his ring name Rocky Romero, is a Cuban-American professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is a member of Chaos. He also makes appearances for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), and Major League Wrestling. Also known by his nickname "Azúcar ", he is best known for his accomplishments as a tag team wrestler. He was member of tag teams like The Havana Pitbulls/Los Cubanitos, Forever Hooligans, and Roppongi Vice. His tenure as the fourth incarnation of Black Tiger was also met with praise and recognition.
Chad Allegra is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Karl Anderson. He is currently signed to WWE where he performs on the SmackDown brand. He is a member of the stable The O.C. as well as a former member of the Bullet Club.
Alex Sherman is a Moldovan-born Russian semi-retired professional wrestler and color commentator, currently working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling under the ring name Alex Koslov.
The Young Bucks are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Matthew and Nicholas Massie, who perform under the ring names Matthew and Nicholas Jackson. As of January 2019, they are signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where they are also executive vice presidents and co-founders of the company. As performers in AEW, they were the inaugural and two-time AEW World Trios Champions with Kenny Omega; the trio team together as The Elite. They are also former two-time AEW World Tag Team Champions.
Yujiro Kushida is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist, better known by his mononymous ring name Kushida. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
Kyle Emmanuel Greenwood is a Canadian professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs under the ring name Kyle O'Reilly. He is also known for working in Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2009 to 2017, and WWE from 2017 to 2021, using the same ring name in both companies. He is a record three-time NXT Tag Team Champion, and was a founding member of The Undisputed Era.
Chaos is a professional wrestling stable, primarily performing in the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion and All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The group was formed in 2009, when nearly all the members of the Great Bash Heel (G.B.H) stable turned on leader Togi Makabe and reformed under new leader Shinsuke Nakamura. Soon after, the new group was named Chaos, with Nakamura as the leader. As the leader of Chaos, Nakamura was one of NJPW's top wrestlers, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship as well as the 2011 G1 Climax and the 2014 New Japan Cup.
Power Struggle (2012) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on November 11, 2012, in Osaka, Osaka, at the Bodymaker Colosseum and featured nine matches, five of which were contested for championships. It was the second event under the Power Struggle name.
King of Pro-Wrestling (2012) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on October 8, 2012, in Tokyo at Ryōgoku Kokugikan. The event featured nine matches, five of which were contested for championships. This event marked the first time a NJPW PPV could be bought outside Japan, through Ustream. It was the first event under the King of Pro-Wrestling name.
The New Beginning (2013) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on February 10, 2013, in Hiroshima, Hiroshima, at the Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall. The event featured nine matches, four of which were contested for championships. It was the fourth event under the New Beginning name.
Wrestling Dontaku 2013 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on May 3, 2013, in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center. The event featured ten matches, four of which were contested for championships. It was the tenth event under the Wrestling Dontaku name. This event also marks the start of Bullet Club.
Global Wars was a professional wrestling supershow co-produced by the American Ring of Honor (ROH) and Japanese New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotions. The event took place on May 10, 2014, at the Ted Reeve Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and aired live on internet pay-per-view (iPPV) through Ustream. The event was originally announced as "Border Wars", a name ROH had used for events in 2012 and 2013, before being re-branded as "Global Wars".
War of the Worlds was a professional wrestling supershow co-produced by the American Ring of Honor (ROH) and Japanese New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotions. The event took place on May 17, 2014, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, New York, U.S. and aired live on Internet pay-per-view (iPPV) through Ustream.
Time Splitters is a professional wrestling tag team formed by Kushida and Alex Shelley. They were best known for their time with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). They are former two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions while Kushida was a three time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion during the team's existence.
reDRagon was a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly, formed in 2012, and lasting until September 1st, 2022 when Fish quietly left All Elite Wrestling (AEW). They are also known for their work in Ring of Honor (ROH), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and WWE. In WWE, they wrestled together under the name The Undisputed Era, as a stable with Adam Cole; the three formed the stable as The Undisputed Elite after leaving WWE, although Fish and O'Reilly had resumed using the named reDRagon when working as a duo.
King of Pro-Wrestling (2014) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on October 13, 2014, in Tokyo at Ryōgoku Kokugikan and featured ten matches, six of which were contested for championships. It was the third event under the King of Pro-Wrestling name.
No Remorse Corps was a professional wrestling stable, made up of Davey Richards, Rocky Romero and Roderick Strong. The stable worked for Ring of Honor (ROH) between 2007 and 2008, with Richards and Romero capturing the ROH World Tag Team Championship. Richards and Romero later reunited as a tag team in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where, between 2010 and 2012, they won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on two occasions.
Roppongi Vice is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Trent Beretta and Rocky Romero who currently compete for All Elite Wrestling (AEW).