Juice Robinson | |
---|---|
Birth name | Joseph Ryan Robinson |
Born | [1] Joliet, Illinois, U.S. | April 10, 1989
Spouse(s) | |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | CJP CJ Parker Juice Juice Robinson [2] Red Death Mask |
Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) [1] [3] |
Billed weight | 218 lb (99 kg) [1] [3] |
Billed from | Joliet, Illinois [3] [4] |
Trained by | Danny Daniels Hiroshi Tanahashi Kota Ibushi NJPW Dojo Truth Martini [5] WWE Performance Center |
Debut | 2008 [1] |
Joseph Ryan Robinson (born April 10, 1989), [6] better known by his ring name Juice Robinson, [lower-alpha 1] is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he is a member of the Bang Bang Gang stable. He also wrestles in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW).
From 2011 through 2015, he worked for WWE, where he wrestled in their developmental territories Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) and later NXT under the ring name CJ Parker. He won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship twice, with Jason Jordan and Donny Marlow respectively.
After departing WWE, Robinson started his NJPW career as young lion before becoming a full-time roster member. Since then, he has become a record three-time IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion and a one-time IWGP Tag Team Champion (with David Finlay). He was also the winner of the 2019 World Tag League with Finlay.
Robinson was trained at Truth Martini's House of Truth wrestling school. In 2008, he made his debut for Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA) under the ring name "Juice Robinson", losing to Jason Dukes. He competed in an IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship number one contender seven team Royal Rumble, losing to Devon Moore and Nick Gage. His last match for IWA Mid-South was a loss in a three-way to Shane Hollister. Robinson then wrestled for a variety of promotions, including AAW Wrestling, where he unsuccessfully competed for the AAW Tag Team Championship twice (once with Mike Sydal as his partner and once with Kyle O'Reilly), Border City Wrestling (BCW), and DreamWave Wrestling, where he unsuccessfully challenged for both the DreamWave World and DreamWave Tag Team Championships. His last match for DreamWave was a victory against Colt Cabana. Robinson made his National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) debut with a win against Doctor X. His last match in NWA was a win against Dom Vitalli.
In 2011, Robinson signed a developmental contract with WWE and was sent to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). On July 7, he made his debut under the ring name "CJ Parker" and was defeated by Leo Kruger. He then formed a tag team with Donny Marlow. At the FCW taping on July 21, Parker and Donny Marlow defeated Calvin Raines and Big E Langston to win the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. At the FCW taping on September 22, Parker and Marlow successfully defended their titles against Calvin Raines and James Bronson. They lost the championships on November 3 to the team of Brad Maddox and Briley Pierce. After losing the titles, Parker and Marlow disbanded as a team and transitioned to singles competition. On January 26, 2012, Parker was defeated by Dean Ambrose. He then competed mostly in tag team matches with a variety of partners for the rest of his tenure in FCW, teaming with the likes of Jason Jordan and Mike Dalton until FCW was closed and replaced by NXT in August 2012. Shortly before the promotion's closure Parker won the Florida Tag Team Championship for a second time, winning the title with Jason Jordan at a live event.
On the July 4 episode of NXT, Parker teamed with Nick Rogers in a losing effort against Corey Graves and Jake Carter. He was then initially used as a jobber on NXT and was defeated by the likes of Roman Reigns and in a tag team match with Mike Dalton against The Ascension, [7] before suffering an injury that kept him out of action for several months.
Parker returned to NXT in July 2013 with a new hippie character, beginning a feud with Tyler Breeze that saw the two trading wins over several months. [8] Although intended to be a fan favorite, Parker's hippie gimmick was largely unpopular and he was turned heel as a result on the February 12, 2014, edition of NXT, berating the fans for not getting behind him, calling them "Sheeple", and blaming them for the growing issues with the environment. He would tweak his character to that of an eco-warrior who berated fans for damaging the environment. [9] [10] Parker beat Tye Dillinger in January 2014 but was then largely unsuccessful, losing to main roster stars like Antonio Cesaro, The Miz and The Great Khali, as well as a defeat by Mojo Rawley at NXT Arrival. [9]
Parker began a feud with Xavier Woods, defeating Woods twice on NXT before resuming his losing streak against Adrian Neville. At NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way, Parker was squashed by Baron Corbin in Corbin's official debut, and he then suffered further losses to Corbin and Breeze in the following weeks before losing to the debuting Kevin Owens at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution. [11] During the match, Parker legitimately broke Owens' nose with a palm strike, himself suffering a deep gash to the hand. [12] On the February 18 episode of NXT, Parker attempted a protest due to him not appearing at NXT TakeOver: Rival. However, he was attacked by the debuting Solomon Crowe. His final televised appearance was in a losing effort to Hideo Itami on the taped in advance April 22 episode of NXT. [13] On March 31, 2015, it was reported that Parker had left WWE after requesting his release from the company. [14] WWE later announced that he officially confirmed his release on April 3, 2015. [15]
It was announced that Parker would be wrestling at Combat Zone Wrestling's CZW Best of the Best XIV on April 11, 2015, under the ring name "CJP". [16] He made it to the semi-finals before being defeated by Mike Bailey. In July 2015, Robinson competed for All Star Wrestling on the holiday camp circuit including shows at Butlins and forming a tag team with Sam Adonis. He also wrestled for other European indy groups including International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom (IPW:UK). Robinson retired the CJP persona at the end of August 2015, returning to the ring name "Juice Robinson". [17]
In 2016, Robinson worked in Japan for the first time. On March 27, he appeared on a show promoted by Minoru Suzuki, called We Are Suzuki-gun 2, in a special six man match between wrestlers of Pro Wrestling Noah and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Representing NJPW, he teamed with Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) in a defeat to Katsuhiko Nakajima, Maybach Taniguchi and Mitsuhiro Kitamiya. [18] On October 22, he appeared on Noah's Autumn Navigation tour, where he teamed with Katsuyori Shibata, defeating Taniguchi and Go Shiozaki. [19]
On June 21, 2017, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) announced that Robinson as a participant in the 2017 International Gran Prix. [20] On August 18, 2017, Robinson with Marco Corleone and Matt Taven defeated Diamante Azul, Valiente and Volador Jr. in Arena México. [21] On August 26, Robinson defeated Shocker in Arena Coliseo. [22] On September 1, Robinson was eliminated from the International Gran Prix torneo cibernetico by Volador Jr. [23] Robinson's Mexican tour concluded the following day.
On August 24, 2015, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) announced that Robinson would be working the following month's Destruction tour under his Juice Robinson ring name. [17] He made his debut on September 4 in a six-man tag team match, where he, Kota Ibushi and Tetsuya Naito were defeated by Katsuyori Shibata, Tiger Mask and Togi Makabe. [24] On October 11, NJPW announced that Robinson had signed a contract with the promotion, becoming a full-time member of its roster. [25] Robinson spent the rest of 2015 working as a Young Lion and in multiman tag matches, on December 16 he had his first singles match in New Japan facing fellow Young Lion Jay White, whom he defeated. Robinson participated in Fantastica Mania 2016 . On February 25, 2016, Robinson took part in the first of New Japan's Lion's Gate show, where he was defeated by Katsuhiko Nakajima. On March 20, Robinson received his first title shot in NJPW, when he, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin unsuccessfully challenged The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. [26] At King of Pro-Wrestling, Robinson wrestled Tiger Mask W as Red Death Mask, a character based in the anime series Tiger Mask W . [27] In late 2016, Robinson took part in the 2016 World Tag League, teaming with Hiroshi Tanahashi. The two finished the tournament with a record of three wins and four losses. [28]
On January 5, 2017, Robinson scored a major win over NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto in a ten-man tag team match and afterwards indicated he wanted a shot at his title. [29] Robinson received his title shot on February 5 at The New Beginning in Sapporo, but was defeated by Goto. [30] On April 9 at Sakura Genesis 2017, Robinson picked up the biggest win of his career, pinning former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito in an eight-man tag team match and afterwards challenging him to a match for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. [31] Robinson received his title shot on April 29 at Wrestling Toyonokuni 2017, but was defeated by Naito. [32] In early 2017, Robinson became part of the Taguchi Japan stable, [33] as part of which he unsuccessfully challenged for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship, first on June 11 at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall and again on June 20 at Kizuna Road 2017. [34] [35] On July 1 at G1 Special in USA, Robinson took part in a tournament to determine the inaugural IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, but was eliminated in his first round match by Zack Sabre Jr. [36] Later that month, Robinson entered his first G1 Climax tournament. [37] On August 5, Robinson picked up a major win over the winner of the 2016 G1 Climax and reigning IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega. [38] Robinson went on to finish in the bottom half of his block with a record of four wins and five losses. [39] On September 24 at Destruction in Kobe, Robinson unsuccessfully challenged Omega for the United States Heavyweight Championship. [40] At the end of the year, Robinson formed a tag team named "Death Juice" with the debuting Sami Callihan in the 2017 World Tag League. [41] The team finished second in their block with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals. [42]
At the G1 Special in San Francisco, Robinson defeated Jay White to win the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, his first championship in NJPW. He also became the first American to hold the championship. Robinson entered the 2018 G1 Climax as part of the A block, [43] finishing with 6 points. [44] After an attack by Cody, Robinson was scheduled to face him at Fighting Spirit Unleashed, where he lost his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. Robinson then teamed with David Finlay, calling themselves FinJuice, in the 2018 World Tag League [45] and finished with 16 points, missing the tournament final. [46] At Wrestle Kingdom 13, he defeated Cody to reclaim the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, becoming the first wrestler to have held the championship more than once. He made his debut in the New Japan Cup in 2019, losing in the first round to Chase Owens. Owens then began challenging Robinson to a title match, while repeatedly assaulting Robinson, leading to a title defense at the New Japan Cup Finale. On March 24, in the semi-main event of the night, Robinson successfully defended the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Owens. On May 27, after weeks of New Japan Pro-Wrestling airing videos of a mystery man targeting Robinson, Jon Moxley was revealed as the culprit. [47] The match was made official for 2019 Best Of The Super Juniors finals at Ryōgoku Sumo Hall on June 5, [48] where Robinson lost the championship to Moxley, ending his reign at 152 days and three successful title defenses. [49] During this time, Robinson would shed his signature dreadlocks for a shorter hairstyle. Robinson would next compete in the 2019 G1 Climax in the B block, which he failed to win, ending with 8 points. [50] In the B block finals, Robinson defeated Moxley to eliminate him from the competition. [51] This would lead to Moxley issuing a challenge for Robinson to face him in a No Disqualification match for the IWGP United States Championship at King of Pro-Wrestling. However, Moxley was unable to defend his championship due to travel issues and was subsequently stripped of the title. Instead, Robinson faced Lance Archer at the event for the vacant title, but lost. [52] [53] [54] After a post match attack from Archer, former tag team partner David Finlay made his return from injury to save Robinson. [55]
Finlay and Robinson went on to reform FinJuice and competed in the 2019 World Tag League. On the last night of the tournament, FinJuice defeated Los Ingobernables de Japón (Evil and Sanada) in the finals to win the World Tag League, entitling them to a match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14. During the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 on January 4, 2020, FinJuice defeated the Guerrillas of Destiny (Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. [56] On night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom, Robinson faced Moxley for the United States Championship, but lost. [57] FinJuice lost the championship back to the Guerrillas of Destiny at The New Beginning in USA on February 1, ending the team's reign at 28 days. [58]
On May 1, Robinson returned to NJPW during Wrestling Dontaku 2022 wearing a Bullet Club vest, attacked Hiroshi Tanahashi, and stated his intentions to win back Tanahashi's newly won IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, turning heel in the process. At NJPW's Capital Collision event, he pinned Will Ospreay in a Four-way match to win the title for a record-tying third time. Robinson was scheduled to defend the title in a Triple threat match against Sanada and Ospreay at Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall but was stripped of the title and pulled from the match due to suffering from appendicitis, ending his reign at 28 days; however, he refused to return the physical belt, despite Ospreay beating Sanada for the vacant title, and claimed he was never beaten for it and therefore would refuse to relinquish it. [59] On June 12 during Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall, Robinson was announced as a participant in the G1 Climax 32 tournament starting in July, as a part of the D block. [60] Before the start of the tournament, Robinson appeared at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door, taunting Ospreay with the IWGP United States Championship belt from a luxury box, after Ospreay's successful defense against Orange Cassidy. [61] In the G1 tournament, Robinson scored 4 points in his block, finishing last in his block and failing to advance to the semi-finals, while also losing the physical IWGP U.S. belt to Ospreay. [62]
Robinson and Finlay appeared at the Ring of Honor (ROH) television tapings at Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia, and they had Tenille Dashwood, Mark Haskins, Tracy "Hot Sauce" Williams and Bandido by their side. Robinson announced that the group would be named Lifeblood, and their goal was to restore honor back to ROH. ROH World Champion Jay Lethal would come out to confront the new group and Robinson challenged Lethal to get four teammates and compete with Lifeblood in a 10-man tag team match. [63] However, in June, he left the promotion to prioritise his career in New Japan.
On February 13, 2021, at No Surrender, a video package aired FinJuice arriving to Impact Wrestling as part of a partnership between Impact and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. [64] [65] Three days later, on the following week's Impact! , they made their debut and defeated Reno Scum. [66] Afterwards, they would have a feud with The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson), defeating them at Sacrifice to win the Impact World Tag Team Championship. [67] FinJuice would lose the titles two months later on the May 17, 2021, episode of Impact! to Violent By Design. [68]
Robinson made his debut for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on the September 28 edition of Dynamite where he faced Jon Moxley in an AEW World Championship Eliminator match in a losing effort. [69] On December 2, it was reported Robinson officially signed with AEW. [70] Robinson returned to Ring of Honor, now AEW's sister promotion through AEW Owner Tony Khan's purchase, at Final Battle on December 10, facing champion Samoa Joe for his ROH Television Championship, which he failed to win. [71]
On the March 8, 2023, episode of Dynamite, Robinson made a surprise appearance attacking Ricky Starks by distracting him with the Bullet Club entrance theme music. [72] The two men were set to face off on the April 5 edition of Dynamite, though before the match former Bullet Club leader Jay White made his debut after signing with AEW, attacking Starks alongside Robinson, causing a no-contest and reuniting the former stablemates. [73] One week later on the April 12 edition of Dynamite, White referred to himself and Juice Robinson as Bullet Club Gold. [74] On the April 28 edition of Rampage, White and Robinson successfully defeated Starks and Shawn Spears. [75] On May 28 at Double or Nothing, both White and Robinson competed in the Blackjack Battle Royale for the AEW International Championship, but both men were eliminated by Starks. After eliminating Starks from the match, the three men brawled backstage, until Starks was saved by the AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR. [76] On the July 1 episode of Collision , Robinson competed in the Owen Hart Foundation Men's Tournament, losing to Starks in the quarterfinals of the tournament. [77] On the October 18 edition of Dynamite, Robinson competed in the Dynamite Dozen Battle Royale, last eliminating Max Caster to add the Dynamite Diamond Ring as a second prize to his AEW World Championship match. [78] On the October 25 edition of Dynamite, Robinson unsuccessfully challenged for the Dynamite Diamond Ring against MJF. [79] On November 20, it was reported that Robinson would be taking some time off due to a back injury that would require surgery. [80] During his hiatus, Bullet Club Gold was renamed to Bang Bang Gang, with The Gunns (Colten and Austin Gunn) joining the stable. [81]
On May 26, 2024 at Double or Nothing, Robinson returned from injury by assisting his fellow Bang Bang Gang stablemates to defeat Death Triangle (Pac, Rey Fénix, and Penta El Zero Miedo) to retain their Unified World Trios Championship (AEW World Trios Championship and ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship). [82] On the June 5 Rampage tapings, Robinson wrestled his first match since his return, teaming with the Gunns to win a trios match. After the match, White announced that he was giving Robinson a share of the Unified Trios Championship held by White and the Gunns, thus invoking the Freebird Rule. [83] However, on the July 13 episode of Collision, interim AEW Executive Vice President Christopher Daniels overruled Bang Bang Gang's attempt to invoke the Freebird Rule and stripped them of the Unified World Trios Championship. [84] On the following week, Robinson and The Gunns failed to win the vacant AEW World Trios Championship, which was won by The Patriarchy (Christian Cage, Killswitch and Nick Wayne) after interference from Mother Wayne. [85]
Robinson is good friends with David Finlay and acted as groomsman at his wedding in May 2018. [86] He has been married to fellow New Zealand professional wrestler Toni Storm since 2022. [87]
Lance Hoyt is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Lance Archer. He also makes appearances for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He is also known for his time with WWE as Vance Archer, and impact Wrestling (TNA) under his real name and as Lance Rock.
Kenta Kobayashi, known mononymously as Kenta, is a Japanese professional wrestler. He currently works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of the Bullet Club stable. A former amateur kickboxer, Kobayashi's wrestling style is based upon strong kicks and strikes. Kobayashi pioneered both the Go 2 Sleep and Busaiku Knee kick finishing manoeuvres, later popularized by CM Punk and Bryan Danielson, respectively.
Hirooki Goto is a Japanese professional wrestler. Since his debut, he has wrestled primarily for New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
David Stephen Finlay III is a German-born Irish-American professional wrestler who performs under the ring name David Finlay. He is signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current and longest reigning IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion in his record-setting second reign, and is the seventh and current leader of Bullet Club. He also is the leader of the War Dogs subgroup.
Gregory "Greg" Marasciulo, better known by the ring name Trent Beretta, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Don Callis Family. He is also known for his time with WWE as Trent Barreta and New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Ring of Honor under the ring name Beretta. As part of Roppongi Vice alongside Rocky Romero, Beretta is a former four-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. He is also known for his tenures with Pro Wrestling Guerilla and various independent promotions.
Jonathan David Good is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Jon Moxley and is a member of the Blackpool Combat Club. He also makes appearances for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and a former two-time IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion. He became widely known for his tenure with WWE, where he performed under the ring name Dean Ambrose from 2011 to 2019.
Tevita Tu'amoeloa Fetaiakimoeata Fifita is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Tonga Loa, and is a member of The Bloodline.
Tomohiro Ishii is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He also makes additional appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Conglomeration stable. He is also known for his work with the independent Fighting World of Japan Pro Wrestling promotion, where he worked backstage as the chairman.
Bullet Club, stylized as BULLET CLUB and sometimes shortened to BC, is a professional wrestling stable primarily appearing in the Japanese promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In the United States, the group currently appears on events run by the company's U.S. subsidiary, New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America, as well as U.S. partner promotions Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The group additionally appears on events promoted by Tamashii, NJPW's Australasian affiliate, as well as on events of other Australasian independent promotions.
Jeffrey Cobb is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of the United Empire stable and the current NJPW World Television Champion in his first reign.
Michael Nicholls, better known by his ring name Mikey Nicholls, is an Australian professional wrestler, currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he is a member of The Mighty Don't Kneel (TMDK), and is one-half of the current IWGP Tag Team Champions and Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions with Shane Haste. He is best known for his work in Pro Wrestling Noah, where, also with Haste, he is a former two-time GHC Tag Team Champion. He has also wrestled in the United States for WWE in their promotion NXT, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) and Ring of Honor (ROH).
reDRagon was a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly, formed in 2012, and lasting until September 1, 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.
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 member of The Elite. He is also a former AEW World Champion and AEW World Tag Team Champion.
William Peter Charles Ospreay is an English professional wrestler. As of November 2023, he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former AEW International Champion. He is also known for his eight year tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he held various championships, including the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Jamie White, better known by the ring name Jay White, is a New Zealand-Dutch professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling, where he is the leader of the Bang Bang Gang. White is a former Unified World Trios Champion. Prior to signing with AEW, White had a decorated career in New Japan Pro-Wrestling as the first ever NJPW Grand Slam Champion.
The IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" are the initials of NJPW's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix. The final champion was Will Ospreay, who was in his second reign at the time of the title's deactivation. On December 11, 2023, the title was replaced by the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.
G1 Supercard was a professional wrestling supershow co-produced by the American Ring of Honor (ROH) and Japanese New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotions. It was the 13th annual Supercard of Honor event and took place on April 6, 2019, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The event was streamed live on Honor Club, New Japan Pro-Wrestling World, FITE TV, and broadcast live on traditional pay-per-view outlets. It is the final Supercard of Honor to be produced under Sinclair ownership.
Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome was a two-night professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on January 4 and 5, 2020, at the Tokyo Dome, in Tokyo, Japan. It was the 29th January 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the 14th promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom name; it was also the first time the event was held over two days.
FinJuice was an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of David Finlay and Juice Robinson. The team name consists of Finlay's surname and Robinson’s first name Juice. Trained in the dojo of the New Japan Pro-Wrestling promotion, the two came together as a team, in August 2017. In December 2019, the duo won the 2019 World Tag League, followed by the IWGP Tag Team Championship in January 2020 at Wrestle Kingdom 14. FinJuice have also worked for Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling, where they are former Impact World Tag Team Champions. As of 2023, both Finlay and Robinson are currently members of Bullet Club branches in different promotions, with David Finlay being currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as the leader of Bullet Club War Dogs and Juice Robinson to All Elite Wrestling as a member of Bullet Club Gold.
Aussie Open are an Australian professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher. They are currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and also wrestle for AEW’s sister company Ring of Honor (ROH), where they are former ROH World Tag Team Champions and Fletcher is the current ROH World Television Champion, in his first reign.