| Gates of Agony | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Statistics | |
| Members | |
| Name(s) | Gates of Agony |
| Debut | April 1, 2022 |
| Years active | 2022–present |
Gates of Agony is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona. They are signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and its sister promotion, Ring of Honor (ROH). They are two-time former ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions as part of Cage of Agony with Brian Cage.
At the ROH pay-per-view Supercard of Honor XV in April 2022, Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona teamed for the first time as "Gates of Agony" to defeat Shinobi Shadow Squad. During the event, Gates of Agony were announced as members of Tully Blanchard's new stable, Tully Blanchard Enterprises, along with Brian Cage. [1] Gates of Agony made their tag team debut for ROH's sister promotion, All Elite Wrestling (AEW), on the July 6 episode of AEW Rampage , defeating Jonathan Gresham (the ROH World Champion) and Lee Moriarty when Gresham turned on Moriarty and joined Tully Blanchard Enterprises. [2] [3]
On July 23, 2022, at Death Before Dishonor, Prince Nana was announced as having purchased Tully Blanchard Enterprises and folded it into his long-running stable, the Embassy. [4] [3] At the event, Cage and Gates of Agony wrestled their first match as a unit, defeating Alex Zayne, Blake Christian, and Tony Deppen in a six-man tag team match. [2] Also at the event, Gresham resigned from ROH, leaving Cage and Gates of Agony as the only wrestlers in the Embassy. [5]
In December 2022 at Final Battle, Cage and Gates of Agony defeated Dalton Castle and the Boys to win the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. At Supercard of Honor in March 2023, they successfully defended the Championship against AR Fox, Blake Christian, and Metalik. At Death Before Dishonor in July 2023, they successfully defended the Championship against Leon Ruffin, Master Wato, and Ryusuke Taguchi. In September 2023 at Grand Slam, they lost the titles to The Elite. [6]
In April 2023, the Embassy merged with Swerve Strickland's Mogul Affiliates stable to form a new stable, Mogul Embassy. [7] At Forbidden Door, Cage, Gates of Agony, and Strickland defeated Chaos in an eight-man tag team match. [2]
In November 2023 on AEW Dynamite , Cage and Gates of Agony defeated The Elite to regain the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. At Final Battle in December 2023, they successfully defended the titles against The Mighty Don't Kneel. In January 2024 on AEW Dynamite, Cage and Gates of Agony lost the titles to Bullet Club Gold. [8]
In May 2024, Cage and Gates of Agony attacked Strickland and split from Nana, disbanding Mogul Embassy. [9] Later that month, they dubbed themselves the "Cage of Agony". [10] At Double or Nothing in May 2024, Cage of Agony lost to The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn. At All In in August 2024, Cage of Agony and Undisputed Kingdom lost to Dustin Rhodes, Katsuyori Shibata, Marshall Von Erich, Ross Von Erich, and Sammy Guevara in a 10-man tag team match. [11] In October 2024, Cage joined the Don Callis Family, seemingly disbanding the Cage of Agony and leaving Gates of Agony as a tag team. [12]
In November and December 2023, Gates of Agony wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, competing in the 2023 World Tag League. The duo finished with four points and thus did not qualify for the semi-finals. [2]
Gates of Agony's finishing move is a double crucifix powerbomb known variously as "Fall from Heaven", "Heaven's Gate", or "Open the Gate". [13]
Tully Arthur Blanchard is a Canadian-American professional wrestler and manager. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation in the mid-to-late 1980s as a member of The Four Horsemen and The Brain Busters. Championships held by Blanchard over his career include the NWA World Television Championship, NWA World Tag Team Championship, WWF World Tag Team Championship, and NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. He was inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame in 2009 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012.
Nana Osei Bandoh, better known by his ring name, Prince Nana, is an American professional wrestling manager and former professional wrestler of Ghanaian descent. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he serves as the on-screen manager of Swerve Strickland.
Mogul Embassy, formerly simply the Embassy, was a villainous professional wrestling stable. Formed by Prince Nana in Ring of Honor (ROH) in 2004, in 2022 the Embassy also began appearing with All Elite Wrestling (AEW). In 2023, the Embassy merged with Swerve Strickland's Mogul Affiliates stable to become the Mogul Embassy. The Mogul Embassy disbanded in May 2024 when its members turned on Strickland, ending the stable's run after 20 years.
Brian Christopher Joseph Button, better known by the ring name Brian Cage, is an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Don Callis Family and a former one-time FTW Champion. Cage also performs in AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is the current ROH World Television Champion in his first reign and a former two-time ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion. He also competes on the independent circuit.
Stephen Blake Woltz, better known by his ring name "Hangman" Adam Page, is an American professional wrestler. As of January 2019, he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former member of The Elite. He is also a former AEW World Champion and AEW World Tag Team Champion.
Stephon Strickland is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Swerve Strickland. He is a former AEW World Champion and AEW World Tag Team Champion.
Jonathan Gresham is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He also makes appearances on the independent circuit. He has previously wrestled for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Champion, ROH Pure Champion, and ROH World Tag Team Champion with Jay Lethal.
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Austin Sopp, better known by the ring name Austin Gunn, is an American professional wrestler and reality television personality, signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Ring of Honor (ROH) where he is in a tag team with his brother Colten as The Gunns, and is a member of the Bang Bang Gang stable. Gunn is a former one-time AEW World Tag Team Champion and a one-time AEW World Trios Champions and ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions. Sopp is a second-generation professional wrestler, as he is the son of professional wrestler Monty Sopp, better known as Billy Gunn.
Paul Soren Gruber is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Wheeler Yuta and is a member of the Death Riders and one-third of the AEW World Trios Champions. He also makes appearances for AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former three-time ROH Pure Champion, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a member of the Chaos stable.
Darius Martin is an American professional wrestler, he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He also makes appearances for AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). He performs alongside his younger brother Dante Martin as part of the tag team Top Flight.
Jasper Kange is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Bishop Kaun or Kaun. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and its sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a one-half of Gates of Agony.
The 2022 Death Before Dishonor was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by American promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). It was the 19th Death Before Dishonor and took place on July 23, 2022, at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Massachusetts. It was ROH's first live event under the full ownership of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) president Tony Khan.
Bruce Orlando Leaupepe is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Toa Liona and is one-half of the tag team Gates of Agony. He also wrestles for AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former two-time ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion.
William Carr, known by the ring name Dutch, is an American professional wrestler, signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he is a member of The Righteous alongside Vincent. He also competes for AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion. He has previously worked as Bill Carr, Bobby Dutch in WWE, and William.
Carlie Bravo is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Ring of Honor (ROH) and is a member of Shane Taylor Promotions and its sub-group The Infantry.
Shawn Dean McBride is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Capt. Shawn Dean and is a member of Shane Taylor Promotions and its sub-group The Infantry. McBride also works behind the scenes in AEW as the Extras Coordinator.
Cage of Agony was a professional wrestling stable in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and its sister promotion, Ring of Honor (ROH), comprising Bishop Kaun, Brian Cage, and Toa Liona. Together they were former two-time ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions. Within the stable, Kaun and Liona formed a tag team named Gates of Agony.
Gates of Agony hit a double Razor's Edge on Oskar. (I have heard the name of this finishing move as "Open the Gate", "Fall from Heaven" or "Heaven's Gate" over the course of the tour.)
