On Saturday night during All Elite Wrestling‘s special pre-Revolution edition of AEW Dark, many longtime indie fans were shocked to see the AEW debut for Azrieal, a nearly 20-year veteran of the US indies and one of the original stars of Ring of Honor, face off against Penta El Zero Meido (Pentagon Jr.) in singles action. Turns out, it wasn’t a one-off, and now the wrestler formerly known as Angel Dust is back for another shot in AEW, as he prepares to team with Danny Limelight in tag team action against SCU‘s Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian on Tuesday night’s regular edition of AEW DARK.
https://twitter.com/RefAubrey/status/1369347326960168969
Azrieal made his pro wrestling debut in 2002 and soon found himself working with Ring of Honor, one of the new indie promotions to launch in 2002 after the demise of WCW and ECW. Known then as Angel Dust, he was part of the faction Special K, which also featured Deranged, Izzy (Blue Dragon), Joey Matthews (Joey Mercury), Slim J, Hydro (Jay Lethal), and others. From 2002-2004, he was a big part of Ring of Honor’s early days. He was also a mainstay in Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW), arguably one of the most influential indie promotions of the early 2000s indie revolution, where he became a 4x JAPW Junior Heavyweight Champion, as well as other promotions throughout the 2000s, such as Impact Championship Wrestling (now ICW No Holds Barred), Full Impact Pro, and others. In 2006, he made his Japanese debut with Dragon Gate, and in 2008, jumped to Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) where he became a 2x CZW World Tag Team Champion.
Azrieal continued to work with CZW through 2019, as well as adding multiple other promotions to his itineraries, such as East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA), Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), and many more, but on Saturday he reached his biggest opportunity yet, appearing for AEW. With a second look on Tuesday night, hopefully, the near two decades-long (and counting) career of Azrieal ends on a high note, as one of the indie revolution’s original pioneers finally gets his due.
[pickup_prop id=”4802″]
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TNT and AEW DARK Tuesday nights at 7 PM ET on YouTube.
Looking to talk wrestling, pro football, or any number of sports? Head on over to the LWOS Boards to engage in conversation with fellow fans!
