Vaudevillains
The Vaudevillains | |
---|---|
![]() Aiden English (right) and Simon Gotch (left) | |
Tag team | |
Members | Aiden English Simon Gotch |
Name(s) | The Vaudevillains |
Billed heights | Aiden English: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1] Simon Gotch: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1] |
Combined billed weight | 435 lb (197 kg) |
Debut | June 2014 |
Years active | 2014–present |
The Vaudevillains are a professional wrestling tag team performing in WWE on the SmackDown brand, composed of Aiden English and Simon Gotch. Their gimmick is a pair of Vaudeville-era throwbacks. During their time in WWE's developmental brand NXT, they captured the NXT Tag Team Championship.
History
NXT Tag Team Champions (2014–2016)
In June 2014, English formed a tag team with Simon Gotch, known as The Vaudevillains.[2] The Vaudevillains made their in-ring debut as a team of heels on the June 19 episode, defeating Angelo Dawkins and Travis Tyler.[3] In August, The Vaudevillains participated in a tournament to determine the #1 contenders to the NXT Tag Team Championship, losing to The Lucha Dragons (Sin Cara and Kalisto) in the final.[4] On the October 30 episode of NXT, The Vaudevillains won a tag team battle royal to become the #1 contenders to the NXT Tag Team Championship.[5] They received their title match at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution against The Lucha Dragons, but were unsuccessful.[6] After a brief hiatus, The Vaudevillains returned on the June 3, 2015 episode of NXT, defeating Jason Jordan and Marcus Louis. On the July 8 episode of "NXT", the Vaudevillains defeated Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady to become the #1 contenders to the NXT Tag Team Championships. On July 15, Blake and Murphy defeated the Vaudevillains to retain their championships after Alexa Bliss interfered. Afterward, Alexa Bliss insulted and slapped them both, turning them face in the process. General Manager William Regal then announced that there would be a rematch at a later date.[7] At NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, the Vaudevillains (with Blue Pants in their corner) defeated Blake and Murphy (with Alexa Bliss) to become NXT Tag Team Champions for the first time. The Vaudevillains were eliminated in the second round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic by Dash and Dawson, setting up a future championship match. On November 11, The Vaudevillians lost the title to Dash and Dawson, ending their reign at 61 days.[8] The pair later failed to regain the titles on the November 25th episode of NXT. The duo once again turned heel after a losing streak continued with a loss to American Alpha when they refused to shake hands with the two, showing a lack of sportsmanship. They would later compete against the duo on the 21st March episode of NXT in a match to determine the #1 contenders to the NXT tag team titles where they would lose again. They made their final NXT appearance on the 13 April episode of NXT, losing to Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa.
Main roster (2016–present)
On the April 7, 2016 episode of SmackDown, the Vaudevillains made their main roster debut as heels, defeating The Lucha Dragons.[9] On the April 11 episode of Raw, the Vaudevillains were announced as one of the teams to participate in the #1 contenders tournament for the WWE Tag Team Championship, where they defeated Goldango (Goldust and Fandango) in the first round later that week on SmackDown and The Usos on the April 18 episode of Raw in the semi-finals.[10][11][12] At Payback, the Vaudevillains faced Enzo and Big Cass in the finals of the tournament. The match resulted in a no-contest due to Amore suffering a legit concussion, and the Vaudevillains were declared the #1 contenders.[13] At Extreme Rules, the Vaudevillains received their shot at the titles against The New Day in a losing effort, marking their first defeat via pinfall.[14] At Money in the Bank, the Vaudevillains would receive another shot at the titles, competing against The New Day, Enzo and Big Cass and Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows in a fatal-four-way tag team match in a losing effort.
On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, the Vaudevillians were drafted to SmackDown in the tenth round of picks. In August, a tag team tournament for the newly created WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship was set up by SmackDown general manager Daniel Bryan and SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon, where the winner of the tournament would be crowned the inaugural champions. On the August 30 episode of SmackDown, the Vaudevillians would compete in the first round match of the tournament, where they were defeated by The Hype Bros. On the November 8 episode of SmackDown, the Vaudevillians were defeated by Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango) in a qualifying match for a spot in Team SmackDown at Survivor Series.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Director's Cut (Cobra clutch lifted and dropped into a sitout side slam)[15] - English
- That's a Wrap (High-angle middle rope senton bomb)[16][17] - English
- Gentleman's Clutch[18] (Bridging cobra clutch underhook suplex)[1][19] - Gotch
- Double team finishing moves
- Whirling Dervish (Uppercut to the back of the opponent's head (Gotch) followed by a swinging neckbreaker) (English)
- The Gentleman's Congress[20] (Rolling fireman's carry slam (Gotch) followed by That's a Wrap) (English)[3]
- Double team signature moves
- Dukes Up (Simultaneous arm trap back hand chops to the back (Gotch) and chest (English), followed by simultaneous double jabs, with theatrics)
- Managers
- Nicknames
- "The Artiste" - English
- "The Gentleman Bruiser" - Gotch
- Entrance themes
Championships and accomplishments
References
- ^ a b c "Simon Gotch". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
- ^ White, James (June 7, 2014). "WWE NXT report 6-6 Tampa". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
- ^ a b James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT Report 6/19". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
- ^ James, Justin (September 4, 2014). "James's WWE NXT Report 9/4". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
- ^ Melok, Bobby (October 30, 2014). "WWE NXT results – Oct. 30, 2014: Sami Zayn tries to take down Titus O'Neil, tag teams battle for title opportunity". WWE. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
- ^ Clapp, John (December 11, 2014). "WWE NXT TakeOver: R Evolution results". WWE. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
- ^ Trionfo, Richard (June 3, 2015). "WWE NXT REPORT: NXT TITLE MATCH ANNOUNCED FOR JAPAN, RHYNO VERSUS BALOR, SASHA BANKS VIDEO PACKAGE, A TAG TEAM RETURNS". PWInsider. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ "WWE NXT results: Nov. 11, 2015 - Finn Bálor confronts Samoa Joe, Dash & Dawson capture NXT Tag Team Championship". WWE.
- ^ Decker, Kyle. "WWE SmackDown results, live blog (April 7, 2016): The Miz vs. Zack Ryder". Cageside Seats. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
- ^ Caldwell, James. "4/11 WWE Raw Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
- ^ Decker, Kyle. "WWE SmackDown results, live blog (April 14, 2016): Tag team tournament!". Cageside Seats. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
- ^ Rueter, Sean. "WWE Raw spoilers (April 18, 2016): Tag tournament finals set in London, more!". Cageside Seats. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
- ^ Caldwell, James. "5/1 WWE Payback Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ^ Caldwell, James (May 22, 2016). "5/22 WWE Extreme Rules PPV Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved May 22, 2016.
- ^ Clapp, John (January 3, 2014). "WWE.com Editors' Debate: Who's the next WWE NXT breakout star?". WWE. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
Take, for example, his signature move, The Director's Cut. English starts out by locking his foe in a hold resembling the Cobra Clutch before leaping high in the air and swinging his victim into a pulverizing side slam.
- ^ James, Justin (June 20, 2014). "James's WWE NXT Report 6/19". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
Rolling senton from Gotch followed by a sweet second rope senton from English put it away.
- ^ James, Justin (June 26, 2014). "James's WWE NXT Report 6/26". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
Rolling Senton from Gotch and a second rope senton from English ("That's a Wrap") end the match.
- ^ "Aiden English". WWE. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
- ^ Gotch, Simon (April 2, 2015). "Simon Gotch on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
The Gentleman's Clutch, a bridging Cobra clutch facelock suplex.
- ^ "THE VAUDEVILLAINS HIT THE GENTLEMANS CONGRESS TO WIN". WWE Network. October 23, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
- ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 – 2016: 171. Aiden English". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Blue Bell, Pennsylvania: Kappa Publishing Group: 41. December 2016. ISSN 1043-7576.
- ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2016". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
External links
- Vaudevillains on Facebook
- Aiden English on X
- Aiden English on WWE.com
- Matt Rehwoldt at IMDb
- Simon Gotch on X
- Simon Gotch on WWE.com
- John Smith at IMDb