From 2012 to 2015, Satterley wrestled under the name Adrian Neville in NXT, the developmental territory of WWE. He won the NXT Tag Team Championship twice, with his first reign coming as one half of the inaugural champions with Oliver Grey and his second reign being with Corey Graves. He is also a one-time NXT Champion, making him the first man to have held both the NXT Championship and the NXT Tag Team Championship.[7] He was promoted to the main roster under the shortened ring name Neville in 2015 and began competing in the cruiserweight division in 2016, becoming a record two-time (and longest-reigning) WWE Cruiserweight Champion.[8][9]
After leaving WWE in 2018, Satterley reverted to his previous ring name of Pac and returned to Dragon Gate, holding the Open the Dream Gate Championship for much of his time there and joining the villainous R.E.D. stable. In 2019, he left Dragon Gate and signed with AEW, where he became a member of the Death Triangle stable.
Early life
Benjamin Satterley[10] was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on 22 August 1986, the son of Jill and Stephen Satterley.[11] He was extremely active as a child and participated in sports such as basketball, football, hockey, roller hockey, and swimming. His interest in wrestling was sparked by one of his aunts, who was a fan of the WWF; his parents had banned him from watching wrestling at their house, so he would go to his aunt's house to watch it. His favourite wrestlers were The Undertaker and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan.
By the age of 16, Satterley had wrestled with backyard wrestling promotions TWXW in Gateshead and FXW in Middlesbrough, as well as the promotions Scarborough Wrestling Alliance in Scarborough and Essex Championship Wrestling in Essex. Even as one of the younger wrestlers in the group, his technical ability and athleticism ensured he was always in the most entertaining matches. Many of the FXW roster went on to form 3Count Wrestling (3CW), to which he would later return. He started training as a wrestler on a more permanent basis at the age of 18 at St Joseph's Hall in Gateshead, which he later described as "pretty much the only wrestling school in the area".[12]
Professional wrestling career
European competition (2004–2012)
Satterley made his debut at Independent Wrestling Federation on 27 March 2004, under the ring name Pac, losing to Assassin. For the first two years of his career, he wrestled mainly for IWF and 3 Count Wrestling. He won his first championship on 26 August 2005 when he teamed up with Harry Pain to defeat Chris Prime. In 2006 he began to wrestle all across Britain and Europe.
Satterley later performed in British promotion 3 Count Wrestling. He debuted on 14 October 2005 and defeated EdEn and Falcon in the opening match. Pac then went on to capture the 3CW North East Championship on 24 February 2006.[13] He then captured the 3CW Triple Crown Championship at an ICW event, which he held for 110 days.[14] Pac was defeated in his last 3CW match by Liam Thomson on 30 April 2010.
Pac made his debut for International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom in April 2006, wrestling for the IPW:UK Title on his debut, coming up short in a triple threat against Leroy Kincaide and champion and match winner Martin Stone. He later had two more shots at the top title in IPW:UK against Stone and then against Andy Boy Simmonz but came up short. After a September 2006 triple threat against Kevin Steen and El Generico, the two Canadian wrestlers recommended Satterley to PWG head-booker Super Dragon and as covered below, he made his PWG debut two months later as a result of this match.
After joining One Pro Wrestling in May 2006, Pac became the first-ever Openweight Champion on 26 November after winning a battle royal.[10] He successfully retained the title on several occasions before losing it to James Wallace on 30 June 2007 in a match that started immediately after Pac retained the title in a four-way match.[10] On 29 December, Pac failed to reclaim the title after losing to then-champion Darren Burridge.[10]
On 29 September 2006, Pac teamed with Sheamus O'Shaunessy to defeat Micky L and Tony Spitfire for British Championship Wrestling'sRetribution event.[16] He returned for BCW No Blood, No Sympathy VI in 2008 to score a singles victory over CJ Hunter.[17] Pac made his as yet final appearance for BCW at BCW PAC Is Back on 12 April 2019 where he unsuccessfully challenged BT Gunn for the BCW Heavyweight Championship in a triple threat with Jody Fleisch.[18]
In 2007, Satterley began wrestling in the Italy-based Nu-Wrestling Evolution under the ring name Jungle Pac. As Jungle Pac, Satterley's character was that of a jungle native, which is emphasised by his attire consisting of a loincloth or a lava-lava over his trunks as well as being billed from "The Jungle". On 19 April 2008, Jungle Pac competed in a four-way ladder match for the vacant Cruiserweight Championship against Juventud Guerrera, Matt Cross and Super Nova, which was won by Guerrera.[19] On 26 October, Jungle Pac wrestled against Guerrera and Super Nova in a three-way match for the Cruiserweight Title, but was unable to win the title.[19] He wrestled against Guerrera and Nova in two more three-way matches for the title on 1 and 2 November, but was again unable to win the title. PAC wrestled in Premier British Wrestling (PBW) on two occasions before signing with WWE.[19]
On 17 November 2009, Pac debuted in American Wrestling Rampage during its European Invasion tour, and lost to Dunkan Disorderly in a three-way match also involving Shawn Maxer for the promotion's No Limits Championship.[20] Two days later, he wrestled against Disorderly in a singles match for the title, but was defeated.[20] After defeating Disorderly in tag-team matches over the next two days, Pac and Maxer wrestled against Disorderly for the No Limits Title in another three-way match on 22 November, but were again defeated.[20] After trading wins with El Generico over the next few days, Pac finally won the title after defeating Generico and new champion Michael Knight on 29 November.[20] After successfully retaining the title against Generico on 4 and 6 December, Pac lost the title to Dunkan Disorderly on 8 December.[20] The next day, Pac and Generico defeated Disorderly and Shawn Maxer in a tag-team match.[20]
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2006–2008)
On 17 November 2006, Pac made his debut in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. He competed against A.J. Styles in a losing effort of the first night of All Star Weekend IV. The next night, he faced El Generico in a match that was considered by those in attendance a serious Match of the Year contender. Pac returned to PWG on 24 February 2007, defeating Kevin Steen to pick up his first win in the promotion. He faced Generico again on 7 April, this time in the main event of the first night of All Star Weekend V with the PWG World Championship on the line. Generico once again came out on top. The next night, Pac faced All Japan Pro Wrestling star Kaz Hayashi in a losing effort.
On 29 July, Pac and Strong were scheduled to defend their World Tag Team Championship against the Briscoe Brothers in a 2 out of 3 falls match. However, they were replaced by Kevin Steen and El Generico, who ended up winning World Tag Team Championship in a one fall match. Pac was among the 24 participants in the 2007 Battle of Los Angeles Tournament in Burbank, California that ran from 31 August to 2 September. He defeated Jack Evans in a first round match then Claudio Castagnoli in a second round match before losing to eventual tournament winner Cima in a semi-final round match.[10] After almost a year-long absence from the company, Pac made his return to PWG at All Star Weekend VII on 30 August 2008, where he picked up the win for the team of himself and The Young Bucks by pinning Kevin Steen, who teamed with El Generico and Susumu Yokosuka.[23] The next night, Pac was unsuccessful in his attempt to win the World Championship from then-champion Chris Hero.[23] Pac returned to PWG on 23 July 2011, facing Kevin Steen in a losing effort.[24] On 29 January 2012, at Kurt Russellreunion 3, Pac teamed with El Generico and Masato Yoshino to defeat Akira Tozawa, Kevin Steen and Super Dragon in a six-man tag team main event.[25]
Independent circuit (2007–2012)
A highlight reel showcasing some of PAC's manoeuvres while performing in DragonGate USA, c. 2011
In August, Pac returned to Chikara at their International Invaders weekend. On the first night, he was defeated by Ricochet. The next night, he was defeated by Claudio Castagnoli. On 23 August, he participated at the eighth Ballpark Brawl, where he lost a six-way elimination match that featured Sterling James Keenan, Trent Acid, El Generico, Xtremo and John McChesney, which was won by Keenan.[10] On 27 May 2012, Pac made his New Japan Pro-Wrestling debut, when he entered the 2012 Best of the Super Juniors tournament, defeating Jushin Thunder Liger in his first match.[28] When the round-robin stage of the tournament concluded on 9 June, PAC finished with five wins out of his eight matches, winning his block and advancing to the semifinals of the tournament.[29] He lost to Ryusuke Taguchi the following day, and was eliminated from the tournament.[30]
Dragon Gate and affiliates (2007–2012)
PAC posing during an appearance for Dragon Gate in 2009
Pac (bottom centre) posing with various Dragon Gate wrestlers
After Typhoon disbanded in 2008, Pac joined World-1 in 2009.[32] On 22 March 2009, Pac, BxB Hulk and Naoki Tanisaki represented World-1 in a losing effort to the Open the Triangle Gate Champions Kamikaze (Dragon Kid, Shingo Takagi and Taku Iwasa) in a three-way match also involving Real Hazard (Kenichiro Arai, Yamato and Yasushi Kanda).[32] World-1 again challenged for the title on 24 May, but were defeated by the new champions Warriors-5 (Cima, Gamma and Kagetora).[32] On 7 June, World-1 finally won the Open the Triangle Gate Championship after defeating Warriors-5.[32] World-1 made their first successful title defence on 19 July, where they defeated Kamikaze (Akira Tozawa, Dragon Kid and Taku Iwasa).[32]
On 7 February 2010, Pac lost to K-ness in a match for the Open the Brave Gate Championship.[33] On 5 July 2010, Pac made his debut for Dragon Gate's international expansion Dragon Gate USA, wrestling in a match where he and BxB Hulk were defeated by Yamato and Shingo.[34] At the following day's tapings of the Uprising pay-per-view, PAC and Naruki Doi defeated Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush.[35] On 14 October, World-1 lost the Open the Triangle Gate Title to Akebono, Fujii and Mochizuki in a rematch.[33] On 20 December 2010, Dragon Gate USA announced that they had signed Pac to a contract that would make him a regular member of the promotion's roster.[36] On 30 January 2011, PAC and Masato Yoshino defeated Chuck Taylor and Johnny Gargano to become Dragon Gate USA's first ever Open the United Gate Champions.[37] On 11 September, Pac and Yoshino lost the Open the United Gate Championship to Open the Twin Gate Champions, Cima and Ricochet, in a title vs. title match.[38] On 29 August 2010, Pac defeated Susumu Yokosuka in a tournament final to win the vacant Open the Brave Gate Championship for the first time.[39] On 14 April 2011, Pac, BxB Hulk and Susumu Yokosuka failed to win the Open the Triangle Gate Championship from Blood Warriors (Cima, Dragon Kid and Ricochet) and, as a result, World-1 was forced to disband.[40] On 24 April former World-1 members Pac, Hulk, Yokosuka and Yoshino agreed to form a new alliance with Masaaki Mochizuki to battle Blood Warriors.[41]
On 8 June, the new group was named Junction Three in reference to it being a union between the former members of World-1, Kamikaze and the Veteran-gun.[42] On 19 June, Pac and Dragon Kid defeated the Blood Warriors team of Ryo Saito and Genki Horiguchi to win the Open the Twin Gate Championship. They lost the title to Blood Warriors representatives Cima and Ricochet on 17 July.[43] On 19 November, Pac lost the Open the Brave Gate Championship to Ricochet, ending his record reign at 447 days.[44] On 9 February 2012, Junction Three was forced to disband, after losing a fourteen-man elimination tag team match to Blood Warriors.[45] On 4 March, Pac received a shot at Dragon Gate's top title, the Open the Dream Gate Championship, but was defeated by defending champion, Cima.[46] On 25 March 2012, Pac joined Masato Yoshino, Naruki Doi, Ricochet, and Rich Swann and formed World-1 International. On 6 May 2012, Pac, alongside World-1 International members Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi defeated Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!, Jimmy Kanda, and Ryo "Jimmy" Saito at the 2012 Dead or Alive pay-per-view to become the 34th Open the Triangle Gate Champions. On 22 July, Pac made his final Dragon Gate appearance, during which he, Yoshino and Doi successfully defended the Open the Triangle Gate Championship in a three-way match.
WWE (2012–2018)
British Ambition (2012–2013)
In July 2012, it was reported that Satterley had signed a contract with WWE.[47][48] He joined WWE's developmental territoryNXT, and made his television debut using the ring name Adrian Neville on the 16 January 2013 episode of NXT, where he defeated Sakamoto.[49]
On the 29 May episode of NXT, Neville competed in an NXT Championship number one contender battle royal, eliminating Mason Ryan and Bray Wyatt (who had eleven and two eliminations respectively) to make it to the final two participants, but his former tag partner Dallas eliminated him to win the match.[57] Later, Dallas won his title match to become NXT Champion.[58] Neville continued his feud with the Wyatt Family by losing to them in two six-man tag matches, once while teaming with Corey Graves and Kassius Ohno, and once with Graves and William Regal.[59][60] On 20 June, Neville regained the NXT Tag Team Championship from the Wyatt Family with a new partner in Graves.[61] On the 6 August episode of NXT, Neville faced Dean Ambrose for his United States Championship, which Ambrose retained when the other members of The Shield caused a disqualification.[62] Neville and Graves lost the title to The Ascension (Conor O'Brian and Rick Victor) in September. Following this, the two feuded after failing to regain the title.[citation needed]
Neville first became number one contender to the NXT Championship on the 27 November episode of NXT by defeating Sami Zayn, after both men previously tied a beat the clock challenge.[63][64] Neville faced former tag partner Bo Dallas for the title on the next episode and won by countout, which meant that the title did not change hands.[65] Two episodes later, Neville faced Dallas again for the title in a lumberjack match, but lost when lumberjack Tyler Breeze interfered.[66] Neville once again became number one contender after Dallas failed to defeat Neville in a beat-the-clock challenge match on the 22 January episode of NXT that arose due to Dallas' boasting.[67] At NXT Arrival, Neville won the NXT Championship from Dallas in a ladder match.[68] A rematch was scheduled for the 20 March episode of NXT, which he won after debuting a new finisher, the imploding 450° splash.[citation needed]
Neville's first feud as champion began following a non-title match against Brodus Clay, where Neville won by countout. The feud ended with Neville scoring a No Disqualification match victory over Clay to successfully defend the NXT Championship. At NXT TakeOver, Neville successfully defended the NXT Championship against Tyson Kidd. Two weeks later, Neville retained his championship against Kidd again after Natalya prevented Kidd from using a chair. On the 31 July episode of NXT, he successfully defended his title against Tyler Breeze by disqualification as Tyson Kidd attacked Neville after being super kicked by Neville. On 8 September, Neville made his first appearance on Raw as part of an NXT showcase match to promote NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way, he teamed with Sami Zayn to defeat Kidd and Breeze in a tag team match. On 11 September at the NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way event, Neville successfully defended his NXT Championship against Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze and Tyson Kidd in a fatal four-way match. On 4 December, Neville became the longest reigning NXT Champion of all time, surpassing the record set by Bo Dallas (which was surpassed by Finn Bálor in April 2016). Later, on 11 December at the NXT TakeOver: R Evolution event, Neville lost the championship to Zayn, ending his reign at 287 days. When Zayn offered a handshake, Neville kicked it away and instead hugged Zayn in respect.[7]
Various feuds (2015–2016)
Neville made his debut for WWE's main roster in March 2015
The following week on the 18 December episode of NXT, Neville faced Kevin Owens, but the match ended in a double countout. Owens powerbombed Neville into the apron after the match.[69] Neville received a rematch on the 15 January 2015 episode of NXT, but failed to regain the title. Neville went on to compete in a NXT Championship number one contender's tournament, defeating Tyson Kidd in the quarterfinals on 28 January and Baron Corbin in the semifinals on 4 February, but lost in the finals to Finn Bálor at NXT TakeOver: Rival.
On the 30 March 2015 episode of Raw, Satterley made his main roster debut, under the shortened ring name Neville, defeating Curtis Axel.[70] He then defeated Bad News Barrett at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view the following month.[71] Following this, Neville competed in the 2015 King of the Ring tournament, where he was defeated by Barrett in the finals.[72] Following this, Neville would begin a feud with Bo Dallas,[73] setting up a match at Elimination Chamber, which Neville won.[74]
At the Royal Rumble on 24 January 2016, Neville competed in his first Royal Rumble match as the number 16 entrant, lasting over 10 minutes before being eliminated by Luke Harper.[80][81] In March 2016, Neville injured his ankle during a match with Chris Jericho on Raw, rendering him out of action for an estimated two to three months and forcing him to miss WrestleMania 32, at which he was scheduled to compete.[82][83]
On 19 July, at the 2016 WWE draft, Neville was drafted to Raw.[84] On the 25 July episode of Raw, Neville made his televised return, defeating Curtis Axel.[85] Neville teamed with Sami Zayn to defeat The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) at SummerSlam.[86] The following night on Raw, Neville failed to defeat Kevin Owens to qualify for a fatal four-way elimination match for the vacant WWE Universal Championship after the interference of Chris Jericho.[87] On the 31 October episode of Raw, Neville participated in a battle royal for a spot on Team Raw at Survivor Series, but was eliminated by eventual winner Braun Strowman.[88]
Cruiserweight Champion (2016–2017)
On 18 December at Roadblock: End of the Line, Neville returned to seemingly congratulate Cruiserweight ChampionRich Swann after his match only to attack Swann and his opponent T. J. Perkins, turning heel and joining the Cruiserweight division.[89] The following night on Raw, Neville cemented his villainous turn after claiming that the fans only cheered him because he was "vulnerable or small" and proceeded to attack Swann along with Brian Kendrick after he interrupted him, followed by Perkins after he attempted to save Swann.[90] Over the coming weeks, Neville would defeat multiple Cruiserweights in singles competition including Perkins, Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado and Swann in a non-title match. On 29 January 2017 at the Royal Rumble, Neville defeated Swann to capture the Cruiserweight Championship for the first time, marking his first title win on the main roster.[8] Neville then started a feud with Jack Gallagher, and successfully defended his title at Fastlane against Gallagher.[91]
The following night on Raw, Neville defended his title against Swann successfully. After the match, Austin Aries seemingly appeared to interview Neville only to attack him and start a feud between the two.[92] At WrestleMania 33, Neville would defeat Aries in his WrestleMania in-ring debut.[93] Aries won a fatal-four-way match two days later on 205 Live,[94] to earn a rematch against Neville at Payback, which Neville lost by disqualification, retaining the title as a result.[95] Around this time, Neville formed an alliance with T. J. Perkins, who would assist him in his rivalry with Aries, in exchange for a promised championship opportunity. Neville defeated Aries again in a submission match at Extreme Rules to retain the Cruiserweight Championship, concluding their rivalry in the process.[96] He ended his alliance with Perkins the following night,[97] attacking him and later going on to successfully defend his championship against him on the 6 June episode of 205 Live.[98]
Neville then began feuding with Akira Tozawa who was granted a championship match for Great Balls of Fire by Titus O'Neil, in which Neville retained the title.[99] He was also set to defend his title against Tozawa for the second time at SummerSlam, until the 14 August episode of Raw, where Neville lost the championship to Tozawa, ending his record setting reign at 197 days. However, Neville won the title back from Tozawa on the SummerSlam pre-show, making him the first-ever two-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion with the current belt.[9]
Afterwards, he was confronted by Enzo Amore, the latest member of the Cruiserweight division.[100] On 24 September at No Mercy, Neville dropped the title to Amore after being hit with a low blow while the referee was distracted. The following night on Raw, a double turn took place; Amore turned heel by disparaging the cruiserweight division, while Neville turned face when he spoke on behalf of the cruiserweights and attempted to attack Amore. Amore revealed he had a no-contact clause, which prevents any of the cruiserweights of receiving a future title shot should they attack him, but Neville attacked him nonetheless after the cruiserweights prevented Amore from leaving. The next night on 205 Live, after Neville defeated Ariya Daivari, he was attacked by Amore with a crutch. This would be Neville's final appearance on WWE programming.
Contract dispute and departure (2017–2018)
On 9 October 2017, Neville walked out on Raw, on which he was scheduled to lose to Enzo Amore. According to multiple sources Neville appeared to have quit the promotion, with one report stating that he had been unhappy for a while. WWE denied that Neville had left the promotion.[101][102] By 13 November, there had reportedly been "positive discussions" between Neville and WWE with some in the company believing he could be on his way back.[103] In January 2018, WWE froze Neville's contract, keeping him under contract indefinitely or until a release is agreed upon.[104] On 24 August, it was reported that Neville was no longer under contract.[105]
Return to Dragon Gate (2018–2019)
On 2 October 2018, two months after his WWE contract expired and almost exactly one year after he initially walked out on WWE, Satterley returned to Dragon Gate. Using his former ring name, PAC, he aligned himself with Eita and the villainous R.E.D. stable. In his return match, he pinned Shingo Takagi at Korakuen Hall. On 4 December, he defeated Masato Yoshino to win the Open the Dream Gate Championship at Dragon Gate's "Fantastic Gate 2018" from Korakuen Hall.[106] He held the championship until July 21, 2019, when he would lose it to Ben-K, ending his reign at 229 days.[107]
All Elite Wrestling (2019–present)
Feud with Kenny Omega (2019–2020)
On 8 January 2019, Pac was announced as one of the first signees to All Elite Wrestling (AEW).[108][109][110] At AEW's inaugural rally in Jacksonville, Pac interrupted Adam Page, setting up a feud between the two wrestlers.[109][110] At AEW's second rally in Las Vegas, a match between Page and Pac was officially announced for the company's inaugural event, Double or Nothing.[111] However, in late May the match was cancelled due to "creative differences". They wrestled a match for independent promotion Wrestle Gate Pro on 17 May a week before Double or Nothing. Page won the match by disqualification and after the match, Pac attacked Page's knee and said that his goal all along was to injure Page and with that done, he had no reason to show up at Double or Nothing, thus establishing himself as a heel in the process. This was done to write the match off the card.[112] On 23 August, Pac was revealed as Jon Moxley's replacement at All Out against Kenny Omega after Moxley was forced to pull out of the event due to injury.[113] At All Out on 31 August, Pac defeated Omega by making him pass out in a crucifix hold (commonly known as the Rings of Saturn or the Brutaliser).[114] On the premiere episode of Dynamite on 2 October, Pac defeated Page, thus rekindling their feud.[115] At Full Gear on 9 November, Pac was defeated by Page, thereby suffering his first singles loss in AEW.[116] Four days later on the 13 November episode of Dynamite, Pac defeated Page to end the feud.[117]
By the end of 2019 and going into 2020, Pac began a prolonged feud with Kenny Omega. After losing to him in a rematch on the Thanksgiving Eve special episode of Dynamite on November 27,[118] Pac began relentlessly pursuing a rubber match. After attacking Omega's friend Michael Nakazawa,[119][120] Omega agreed to the match on 5 February 2020.[121] The two wrestled in a 30-minute Iron Man match on the 26 February episode of Dynamite, which Pac lost after the match went to sudden death overtime. After the loss, Pac's post-match interview was interrupted by Orange Cassidy, leading to a match between the two being arranged for the Revolution event on 24 February,[122] in which Pac was victorious.[123]
On 4 March episode of Dynamite, Pac formed an alliance with the Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo. and Rey Fenix) called The Death Triangle, attacking Orange Cassidy and Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent).[124] Pac would become absent from AEW television soon after as he was unable to travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[125] After an eight-month absence from television, Pac returned to AEW on the 11 November episode of Dynamite where he confronted Eddie Kingston, thus turning face for the first time since 2016.[126] On the following episode of Dynamite, Death Triangle was reformed after Fénix and Pentagón Jr. saved Pac from an attack by Kingston, The Butcher and The Blade.[127]
At New Year's Smash on 13 January 2021, Pac defeated Kingston.[128] At Revolution on 7 March, Pac and Fénix won a Casino Tag Team Battle Royale to determine the next challengers for the AEW World Tag Team Championship.[129] They challenged The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) for the tag team championship on the 14 April episode of Dynamite, but were defeated. This match was awarded a five star rating from Dave Meltzer.[130] Ranked as the #2 contender for the AEW World Championship, Pac and Orange Cassidy faced off in a rematch to decide the #1 contender for Kenny Omega at Double or Nothing. The match ended in a double count-out, due to interference from Omega and Don Callis. However, Tony Khan signed a three-way match for Double or Nothing, in which Omega retained his championship.
After Double or Nothing, Pac started a feud with Andrade El Idolo, which led to a match on the 9 September episode of Rampage, where Pac was defeated. Pac and Andrade had a rematch on the 22 October episode of Rampage, where Pac emerged victorious. At Full Gear, Pac teamed with Cody Rhodes against Andrade and Malakai Black in a winning effort. On the 23 February edition of Dynamite, Pac again teamed with Penta El Zero Miedo, who was now using the name 'Penta Oscuro', to defeat Kings Of The Black Throne (Brody King and Malakai Black).[131][132] At Revolution's buy-in show, Pac and Oscuro would team with Erick Redbeard in a trios match against the House of Black (now completed with Buddy Matthews), which they lost.[133][134]
On the 24 August edition of Dynamite, Death Triangle would compete in the AEW World Trios Championship tournament, where they were defeated by United Empire (Will Ospreay, Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher) in the first round. Death Triangle would win the then-vacated AEW World Trios Championship on 7 September episode of Dynamite, making Pac AEW's first-ever double champion. He would lose his All-Atlantic Championship to Orange Cassidy on 12 October episode of Dynamite, ending his reign at 108 days.
On the 11 January 2023 edition of Dynamite, Death Triangle would lose their Trios titles to the Elite (Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks) in the finale of a Best of Seven Series. During that series of matches, Pac suffered a major nose injury during a ladder match at Full Gear (2022).[135] Following the conclusion of the series with the Elite, Pac became inactive in order to heal his injury.[135]
On the 12 July 2023, episode of Dynamite, Pac returned from the nose injury[135] and was announced as the fifth member of the Blackpool Combat Club's team for the Blood and Guts match the following week, alongside Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta and Konosuke Takeshita.[136] Pac would enter as the BCC's second member, even swinging from the top of the cage to fall onto Matt Jackson of The Young Bucks on top of a table, but ended up using bolt cutters to cut the lock and chain that closed the cage door shut to leave the match, which, along with Takeshita leaving the match at the request of Don Callis, led to the BCC losing against The Golden Elite.[137] Castagnoli, frustrated with how Pac left the match, would challenge him to a match for the Ring of Honor World Championship at Death Before Dishonor the Friday after Blood and Guts, which Pac lost.[138]
On the 26 July episode of Dynamite, in what was perhaps a nod to Pac's nickname on the independent scene and in WWE ("the man gravity forgot"), he would face the luchador Gravity, with Pac winning via submission.[139] During the match, Pac was reinjured. The exact injury was not publicly disclosed, but it was described as serious in nature and took Pac out of action for several months.[140]
On 6 March 2024 edition of Collision, Pac made his return, as a face, to save Eddie Kingston and Penta from an attack from The Elite (who are now heels and including Kazuchika Okada). On 21 April at Dynasty, Pac unsuccessfully challenged Okada for the AEW Continental Championship. On the 10 July episode of Dynamite, Pac defeated Claudio Castagnoli, Kyle Fletcher, and Tomohiro Ishii to earn the right to challenge for the AEW International Championship (formerly known as the All-Atlantic Championship). On 26 May at Double or Nothing, Death Triangle unsuccessfully challenged the Bang Bang Gang (Jay White and the Gunns) for the AEW World Trios Championships.
On August 25 at All In, Pac teamed with Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta in the Four-way London Ladder match for the AEW World Trios Championship, which they won.[141] On September 7 at All Out, Pac failed to capture the AEW International Championship from Will Ospreay. Later in the show, Pac turned heel again when he held Yuta back and prevented him from interfering in a violent attack on Yuta's Blackpool Combat Club (BCC) teammate Bryan Danielson at the hands of his other BCC teammates Castagnoli and Jon Moxley, officially joining the BCC in the process.[142] On September 28 at the Collision edition of Grand Slam, Pac, Castagnoli, and Yuta successfully defended their titles against Komander and Private Party.[143] In November 2024, the BCC rebranded to the "Death Riders" a nod to Moxley's nickname in New Japan Pro-Wrestling.[144]
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2024)
It was announced that PAC and Death Triangle would be making their unit debut for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), with Penta going under the ring-name Lucha Brother, and Fenix going as King. They took on Mistico, Mascara Dorada 2.0 and Volador Jr. in a six-man tag team match on the July 27 Super Viernes show.
Pac utilizes a corkscrew shooting star press,[145][146] previously known as the "Red Arrow", as a finishing maneuver. It is now known as the "Black Arrow".[147] After turning into a villain in December 2016, he started using a double underhook crossface submission maneuver called the "Rings of Saturn"[148] as a finisher in tribute to Perry Saturn.[149] After leaving WWE, he changed the move's name to "The Brutalizer". During his independent career and the first part of his WWE run, he was known as "The Man That Gravity Forgot" due to his high-flying style and aerial attacks.[150][unreliable source?]
After his heel turn and move to 205 Live, he became known as the "King of the Cruiserweights" and adopted the gimmick of a deluded man who referred to himself as a king and viewed the Cruiserweight Championship as his crown.[151]Mark Henry assisted him in creating his villainous character, including methods of agitating the crowd such as climbing up to the top rope to tease his "Red Arrow" move, only to jump down without performing the move and lock in a submission.[152] Upon leaving WWE, Pac would tweak his villainous character by dropping the "king" aspect and presenting himself as a self-proclaimed "bastard" with no morals or empathy.
Satterley made his video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K15 as Adrian Neville, in which he has his own path in the "Who Got NXT" mode for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game, documenting his matches in NXT.[156] He is also a playable character in WWE 2K15 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. He appeared as Neville in WWE 2K16,[157]WWE 2K17,[158] and WWE 2K18.[159] And he appears as PAC in AEW Fight Forever video game.
Christopher Lindsey, better known by his ring name Roderick Strong, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Undisputed Kingdom stable and is a former one-time AEW International Champion. He also performs in AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH).
Rami Sebei is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Sami Zayn.
Kevin Yanick Steen is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Kevin Owens.
Theodore James Perkins, better known by the ring name T. J. Perkins, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion and is a member and leader of the United Empire stable. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).
Akira Tozawa is a Japanese professional wrestler. As of 2016, he is signed to WWE where he performs on the Raw brand and is a member of the Alpha Academy stable. He is a former one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion and 16-time WWE 24/7 Champion.
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were a Canadian professional wrestling tag team. The teams' members are both signed to WWE, but each member is assigned to a different WWE brand.
Trevor Dean Mann, known by his ring name Ricochet, is an American professional wrestler. As of August 2024, he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his tenure in WWE from 2018 to 2024, where he is a former WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, NXT North American Champion, the 2019 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic winner, and the inaugural WWE Speed Champion.
Jonathan Huber was an American professional wrestler known as Brodie Lee. Huber performed under the ring name Luke Harper in WWE from 2012 to 2019, and as Mr. Brodie Lee in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in 2020.
The Young Bucks are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Matthew Massie and Nicholas Massie, who perform under the ring names Matthew Jackson 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 are three-time and AEW World Tag Team Champions, and were the inaugural and two-time AEW World Trios Champions with Kenny Omega as The Elite.
Gregory 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.
John Anthony Nicholas Gargano is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand and is one-half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with Tommaso Ciampa in their second reign. Gargano is best known for his time in NXT, where he became the first-ever NXT Triple Crown winner by winning the NXT Championship once, the NXT North American Championship a record three times, and the NXT Tag Team Championship once. His popularity and success in NXT led him to be nicknamed "The Heart and Soul of NXT".
Austin Kirk Jenkins, known by the ring name Adam Cole, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Undisputed Kingdom. He is also known for his tenures with WWE and Ring of Honor (ROH).
Kyle Richard Thomas Greenwood, better known by his ring name Kyle O'Reilly, is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Conglomeration. 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.
Ryan Nemeth is an American professional wrestler, writer, actor, and comedian. As a wrestler, he is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Prior to joining TNA, he performed for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and its sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), and WWE, performing on its then-developmental brand Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) and current brand NXT under the ring name Briley Pierce.
Emanuel Alejandro Rodriguez is a Mexican-American professional wrestler, currently performing on the independent circuit under the ring name Samuray Del Sol. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Kalisto, as a member of both the Lucha Dragons and Lucha House Party.
Richard Anthony Swann is an American professional wrestler signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He is a former Impact World Champion, TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Impact X Division Champion and Impact Digital Media Champion. He also wrestles for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), where he is a former CZW World Heavyweight Champion.
Anthony Nese is an American professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He also appears for AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor, where he is a member of The Premier Athletes stable. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he is a former one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion.
Matthew Adams is an Australian professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Buddy Matthews as a member of the stable House of Black and is a former one-time AEW World Trios Champion. Adams also makes appearances on the independent circuit and is best known for his time with WWE where he performed under the ring name Buddy Murphy.
Tom Büdgen is a Dutch professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Malakai Black and is the leader of House of Black. He is also former one-time AEW World Trios Champion. He is also known for his work in WWE, where he performed as Aleister Black from 2017 to 2021.
Keith Gerald Lee II is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former AEW World Tag Team Champion. He is on hiatus due to an undisclosed injury. He is also known for his time in WWE and Ring of Honor (ROH), as well as on the independent circuit, in promotions such as Evolve, All American Wrestling (AAW), and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where he held the PWG World Championship.
↑ Cook, Steve (29 January 2017). "Cook's Royal Rumble 2017 Review". 411mania. Neville locks in a Rings of Saturn with a crossface & Swann taps the title away.
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