On tonight’s NXT, Jaxon Ryker appeared, representing the Forgotten Sons stable, and viciously manhandled a WWE Performance Center recruit, West Coast indie wrestler Mansoor. It was another brutal display of power from Ryker, as he and the rest of the Forgotten Sons have been wreaking havoc and destruction in NXT for the past few months. But who are they?
MESSAGE SENT! @JaxsonRykerWWE makes sure the #ForgottenSons are #ForgottenNoMore! #WWENXT pic.twitter.com/NqLhts7wYr
— WWE (@WWE) February 7, 2019
WESLEY BLAKE
The most recognizable and successful of the three members of the Forgotten Sons and it’s current leader, Wesley Blake began in 2011 as an indie wrestler out of Dory Funk Jr.‘s Funkin’ Dojo in Florida. He spent three years with the school’s indie promotion, FC BANG!, as Corey Weston, before signing with the WWE in 2013. A year later, he was paired with another recruit, Australia’s Buddy Murphy, and they two became one of NXT’s top tag teams. In 2015, they won the NXT Tag Team titles and held them for 219 days, alongside their manager, future Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss. While Alexa would go on to become a Women’s Champion on both Raw and SmackDown and Murphy would become the WWE Cruiserweight Champion on 205 Live, Blake would remain in NXT and be seemingly forgotten. But back in February of last year, Blake would form the first incarnation of Forgotten Sons at a set of NXT tapings, and they would spend the bulk of the year working just NXT Live Events. They debuted last September, defeating the Street Profits in their debut, and now Blake is back on TV and gunning for the spotlight once again.
STEVE CUTLER
A product of Larry Sharpe and Danny Cage at the famous Monster Factory school in 2012, as Tommy Maclin he wrestled for Monster Factory’s indie before joining the WWE Performance Center in 2014. Since then, he’s worked the NXT Live Events, struggling for a spot on the NXT television roster until his pairing with Blake last February.
JAXON RYKER
The most experienced member of the team is 18-year veteran Jaxon Ryker, best known to longtime IMPACT Wrestling fans as Gunner. Starting out in the Southern and Texas indies as Phil Shatter in 2001, he was a mid-2000s star with Georgia’s Anarchy Wrestling. He joined TNA/IMPACT Wrestling as Gunner in 2010 as part of a tag team with Murphy (another Southern indie star Mikael Judas), but it was short-lived. In 2011, he began to work alongside Bully Ray and Scott Steiner and won singles gold in the TNA Television Championship. In 2013, he joined with “Cowboy” James Storm, capturing the IMPACT World Tag Team titles. By 2015, he was an afterthought and departed TNA to return to the indies. He joined the WWE in 2017, working NXT Live Events as Chad Lail until working into a TV spot with Forgotten Sons as their muscle, Jaxon Ryker.
