Best Friends
Stable
MembersChuck Taylor
Trent Beretta
Orange Cassidy
Kris Statlander
Name(s)The Best Friends
Billed heightsTaylor:
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1]
Beretta:
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Combined
billed weight		406 lb (184 kg)[1][2]
Former
member(s)		Wheeler Yuta
DebutAugust 30, 2013[3]
Years active2013–present

Best Friends are an American professional wrestling stable currently performing in All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Originally a tag team consisting of Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta, they first formed in Pro Wrestling Guerilla (PWG), where they were the winners of the 2014 Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament.

Since the inception of AEW in 2019, the duo has regularly appeared alongside Orange Cassidy. Starting in 2021, they would be joined by Kris Statlander and Wheeler Yuta, the latter of whom left the team in 2022, and would be replaced by Danhausen later in the year. Occasional appearances have been made by Trent's Roppongi Vice tag team partner Rocky Romero, and by Sue (Trent's real-life mother). The group is the AEW branch of the NJPW faction Chaos, as the two organizations have a working relationship.

The original team of Taylor and Trent are often seen as a comedy tag team, with Trent often acting as the straight man to the more eccentric Taylor as well as Sue occasionally appearing in a white minivan, bringing Trent to a match or for some other function.[4]

History

Pro Wrestling Guerilla (2013–2019)

Chuck Taylor and Trent? first teamed on August 31, 2013, at the Pro Wrestling Guerilla (PWG) 2013 Battle of Los Angeles,[5] alongside Joey Ryan, where they defeated the team of B-Boy, Tommaso Ciampa, and Willie Mack.[6] A string of victories followed, culminating in Taylor and Trent? defeating The Inner City Machine Guns to win the 2014 Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament on January 31.[7] They subsequently lost a match against The Young Bucks for the PWG World Tag Team Championship at Mystery Vortex II on March 28, 2014.[8]

Ring of Honor (2017–2019)

Best Friends first appeared in Ring of Honor (ROH) on May 14, 2017, joined by Beretta's Roppongi Vice partner Rocky Romero, in a victory over Bullet Club's The Young Bucks and Adam Page.[9] On October 10, Chuckie T and Beretta won a match against The Addiction to become number one contenders to the ROH World Tag Team Championship, but lost to defending champions The Motor City Machine Guns at Final Battle on December 15.[10][11]

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2017–2019)

Best Friends made their debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on the second day of the 2017 World Tag League on November 19, representing the CHAOS stable.[12] They went on to score four wins and three losses in the tournament, failing to advance to the finals.[13] They competed in the 2018 World Tag League as well, scoring 14 points and thus failing to advance to the finals. During the tournament, Chuckie displayed a much more aggressive attitude, attacking his opponents with steel chairs which often caused a disqualification loss for the team and caused tension to build between him and Beretta.

Ultimately, this storyline never developed further, as they both left NJPW and signed with upstart All Elite Wrestling in the beginning of 2019. On February 7, 2019, their profiles were removed from NJPW website.[14]

As a result of NJPW's partnership with All Elite Wrestling, Rocky Romero invited the entire Best Friends stable (now consisting of five members) to be part of CHAOS, which they accepted.

All Elite Wrestling (2019–present)

On February 7, 2019, Best Friends appeared at an All Elite Wrestling (AEW) rally in Las Vegas and announced that they were joining AEW. The duo participated in the AEW World Tag Team Title Tournament to crown the inaugural champions, but were eliminated in the first round.[15] During this time they also became friends with and added Orange Cassidy to the team, including adding him to their trademark hug and zoom out. On the October 30, 2019, episode of Dynamite, Best Friends and their newfound ally Orange Cassidy dressed up as Rick and Morty before they won in a 6-man tag-team match against Alex Reynolds, John Silver, and Q. T. Marshall. At Bash at the Beach on January 15, 2020, Best Friends competed in a four-way tag team match to determine the number one contenders for the AEW World Tag Team Championship, which was won by "Hangman" Adam Page and Kenny Omega.[16] At the Double or Nothing Buy-In, Best Friends defeated Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) in a number one contender's match for the AEW World Tag Team Championship after delivering the Strong Zero on Quen.[17] On the June 10th edition of Dynamite, Best Friends and Orange Cassidy defeated The Inner Circle's Jake Hager and Santana and Ortiz in a 6-man tag team match, after which they suffered a beatdown from the rest of The Inner Circle, with Orange Cassidy suffering the worst beating after Chris Jericho hit him with a bag of blood oranges. Best Friends would seek revenge against Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara (Le Sex Gods) while putting their tag team title #1 contendership on the line on the June 17th edition of Dynamite. They emerged victorious after Guevara tripped over the cameraman's hand which enabled Trent to pick up the victory for the team. The cameraman who was at ringside turned out to be Orange Cassidy who then proceeded to beat down Jericho.[18] Best Friends would receive their tag team title shot against Kenny Omega and "Hangman" Adam Page at Fyter Fest night 1, which they lost.[19]

In late August, while Cassidy resumed his feud with Chris Jericho, Trent and Chuck started feuding with Santana and Ortiz after (Trent's Mom) Sue's van was destroyed by Santana and Ortiz, leading to a match on an episode of Dynamite.

In April 2021, Trent would take time off to receive spinal fusion surgery. In his absence, the group recruited Wheeler Yuta, taking him under their wing as a young lion, and later, Danhausen initially became an associate before going on to become an official member of the group on the February 22, 2023 edition of AEW Dynamite by sporting his own tracksuit. Trent returned in December, and friction began to form between the two throughout early 2022, with Trent antagonizing Yuta in backstage segments and supplementary material. At the same time, Bryan Danielson, while floating the idea of a stable with Jon Moxley, made overtures towards Yuta by naming him as a potential understudy.[20] On March 16, 2022, Yuta and Taylor lost a tag team match to Danielson and Moxley, now led and managed by William Regal, but after the match, a spurned Yuta would return to the ring and offer a handshake to Regal. Regal would instead slap him, causing Yuta to confront him immediately afterwards, impressing Regal.[21] On the March 30 and April 8 episodes of Dynamite and Rampage respectively, Yuta would lose to the newly christened Blackpool Combat Club in increasingly competitive matches, with the latter match with Moxley finally resulting in Regal offering a bloodied Yuta a handshake, which he accepted, before painting "BCC" on his chest with his blood, signifying his departure from Best Friends and CHAOS and initiation into BCC.[22][23]

Members

* Founding member(s)

Current

Member Joined
Chuck Taylor* August 31, 2013
Trent Beretta* August 31, 2013
Orange Cassidy August 31, 2019
Kris Statlander March 25, 2021

Former members

Member Joined Final appearance
Wheeler Yuta July 7, 2021 April 6, 2022

Associates

Associate Joined
Rocky Romero May 14, 2017
Danhausen January 26, 2022
Katsuyori Shibata June 26, 2022
Bandido April 26, 2023
Hook September 22, 2023

Sub-groups

Current

Affiliate Members Tenure Type Promotion(s)
Best Friends Chuck Taylor
Trent Beretta		 2013–present Tag team AEW
NJPW
ROH
PWG
Independent circuit
Best Friends and Orange CassidyChuck Taylor
Trent Beretta
Orange Cassidy		2019–presentTrioAEW
Kris Statlander and Orange CassidyKris Statlander
Orange Cassidy		2021–present[lower-alpha 1]Mixed tag teamAEW
ChaosChuck Taylor
Trent Beretta
Orange Cassidy
Rocky Romero		2017–2019[lower-alpha 2]
2021–present		StableAEW
NJPW
Roppongi Vice Trent Beretta
Rocky Romero		 2022–present[lower-alpha 3] Tag team AEW
NJPW
ROH
Best AmigosChuck Taylor
Trent Beretta
Bandido		2023–presentTrioAEW

Championships and accomplishments

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Statlander and Cassidy began teaming in 2019, but Statlander joined Best Friends in 2021.
  2. ↑ Taylor and Beretta were originally members of CHAOS until they left NJPW in 2019. They re-joined the stable in 2021, with Cassidy, Statlander, and Yuta joining them.
  3. ↑ Beretta and Romero had been originally teaming since 2015, but disbanded in 2017
  4. ↑ During Cassidy's first reign, he won the title as the AEW All-Atlantic Championship. The title was renamed on March 15, 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 "Chuck Taylor". Chikara. Retrieved 2018-04-04.
  2. 1 2 "profile 727". New Japan Pro-Wrestling Official Website. New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "Matches << Best Friends << Tag Teams Database << CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". CAGEMATCH -The Internet Wrestling Database. Philip Kreikenbohm. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  4. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Best Friends Tag Team". CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  5. ↑ "AEW's Best Friends Reveal The Origin Of Their Team Name". 2022-09-18. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  6. ↑ "2013 Battle of Los Angeles - Night Two". prowrestlingguerrilla.com. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  7. ↑ "PWG DDT4 2014". Cagematch. Philip Kreikenbohm. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  8. ↑ "Mystery Vortex II". prowrestlingguerilla.com. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  9. ↑ its999maggle (15 June 2017). "Ring of Honor Wrestling Ep. 299 recap & review: TV Championship!". Cageside Seats. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved 5 April 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ Cook, Ryan. "Ring of Honor Episode 321 Results - Kenny King Defends his ROH Television title against Mark Briscoe, Best Friends vs The Addiction & More!". Fightful Wrestling. Shazzu, Inc. Archived from the original on 5 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  11. ↑ Currier, Joseph. "ROH Final Battle 2017 live results: Cody vs. Dalton Castle". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Wrestling Observer. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  12. ↑ "鉄拳Presents World Tag League 2017". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  13. ↑ "鉄拳Presents World Tag League 2017". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  14. ↑ "WHERE AEW TALENTS STAND WITH NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com.
  15. ↑ "AEW Dynamite #3". CAGEMATCH -The Internet Wrestling Database. Philip Kreikenbohm. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  16. ↑ Barnett, Jake (January 15, 2020). "1/15 AEW Dynamite TV results: Barnett's live review of Pac vs. Darby Allin and Jon Moxley vs. Sammy Guevara in matches to determine the No. 1 contender to the AEW Title, Young Bucks vs. Kenny Omega and Hangman Page vs. Santana and Ortiz vs. Best Friends in a four-way for an AEW Tag Title shot". prowrestling.net. Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  17. ↑ Ravens, Andrew (May 23, 2020). "AEW Double Or Nothing Results". Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  18. ↑ Michel, Jai (June 18, 2020). "AEW Dynamite Results & Highlights(6/17)-Young Bucks vs Superbad Squad, Best Friends vs Le Sex Gods". Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  19. ↑ Powell, Jason (May 27, 2020). "5/27 AEW Dynamite results: Powell's live review of Mike Tyson's appearance, a battle royal for the first shot at the TNT Championship, The Young Bucks and Matt Hardy vs. Joey Janela and Private Party, The Inner Circle's pep rally". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  20. ↑ "What Was Bryan Danielson's Game-Changing Proposition for Jon Moxley?". February 3, 2022 – via YouTube.
  21. ↑ "Wheeler Yuta Receives William Regal's Slap of Honor". March 17, 2022 – via YouTube.
  22. ↑ "Bryan Danielson Puts Wheeler Yuta's Tenacity to the Test". March 31, 2022 – via YouTube.
  23. ↑ "Wheeler Yuta Has Earned the Respect of the Blackpool Combat Club!". April 9, 2022 – via YouTube.
  24. ↑ "Official AEW All-Atlantic Championship History". All Elite Wrestling.
  25. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip (October 12, 2022). "AEW All-Atlantic Championship". Cagematch - The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  26. ↑ "Official AEW TBS Championship History". All Elite Wrestling.
  27. ↑ Gee Schoon Tong, Chris (2014-02-01). "Show results - 1/31 PWG DDT4 tournament: One-night tournament features Cole, Steen, Elgin, Trent, more, plus Chris Hero in #1 contender match (w/Roe's in-person tweets)". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2014-02-01.
  28. 1 2 DDT ProWrestling [@ddtpro] (October 8, 2020). "10月7日（現地時間）フロリダ州ジャクソンビル・デイリーズプレイス駐車場 ▼アイアンマンヘビーメタル級＆パキスタンREW両選手権試合 ＜二冠王者＞●ディーン・マレンコ　vs　オレンジ・キャシディー○＜挑戦者＞ 17時7分　体固め ※キャシディーが第1493代アイアンマン＆REW新王者となる。 #ddtpro https://t.co/jXKbKeIVfM" (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved December 24, 2020 – via Twitter.
  29. ↑ Meltzer, Dave. "March 1, 2021, Wrestling Observer Newsletter 2020 awards issue, Elimination Chamber". Figure4Weekly. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
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