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Darius Martin

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Darius Martin
Martin in December 2022
Born (1999-09-20) September 20, 1999 (age 25)[1]
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
FamilyDante Martin (brother)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
  • Air Wolf
  • Darius Martin
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Billed weight189 lb (86 kg)
Billed fromMinneapolis, Minnesota
Trained byKen Anderson
Debut2016

Darius Martin (born September 20, 1999) is an American professional wrestler, he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He also makes appearances for AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). He performs alongside his younger brother Dante Martin as part of the tag team Top Flight.[2]

Professional wrestling career

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Independent circuit (2016–2020)

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Darius Martin along with his brother Dante received his training from The Academy: School of Professional Wrestling in Minnesota by Ken Anderson and they made their professional wrestling debut in 2016 as the tag team "Top Flight".

Prior to AEW, Martin wrestled for Ireland's Over the Top Wrestling, AAW Wrestling based in Illinois, Game Changer Wrestling, and Black Label Pro.

All Elite Wrestling / Ring of Honor (2020–present)

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On the October 27, 2020 episode of Dark, Top Flight made their All Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut where they lost to Evil Uno and Stu Grayson of the Dark Order. On the November 18 episode of Dynamite, Top Flight fought the Young Bucks in a losing effort. On November 23, it announced that they had signed with the company.[3][4][5] In February 2021, Darius was sidelined with a torn anterior cruciate ligament thus taking him out of action and leaving Dante on his own as a singles competitor.[6]

On the March 2, 2022 episode of Dynamite, Darius made his return alongside his brother in the tag team Casino Battle Royal reuniting with his brother Dante, where he would last until the end being eliminated by Matt Jackson.[7] The return to action was short-lived as in April 2022 Darius was injured in a serious car accident.[8] During this time, Dante once again continued as a singles competitor.

Darius returned once more on the November 16, 2022 episode of Dynamite, teaming with Dante and AR Fox, to challenge Death Triangle, for the AEW World Trios Championship, in a losing effort.[9] On the November 13 edition of Rampage, Top Flight unsuccessfully challenged FTR for the ROH World Tag Team Championship.[10] On December 10, at Final Battle, Top Flight made their debuts for AEW's sister company Ring of Honor, defeating The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett) on the pre-show.[11] Darius competed in his first AEW singles match on the December 21 edition of Dynamite losing to Jon Moxley. Following this on the December 23 edition of Rampage, Top Flight once again teamed with AR Fox, where they won the $300,000 Three Kings Christmas Casino Trios Battle Royal, where the brothers lastly eliminated ROH World Champion, Claudio Castagnoli.[12] Due to this, Top Flight entered a short feud with the Blackpool Combat Club, in which Moxley and Castagnoli were members, losing to members of the group over the following weeks. Top Flight achieved their first win over the BCC on the January 16 edition of AEW Dark, defeating Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta, in a three-way tag-team match also involving, The Butcher and the Blade, after Dante pinned The Blade. On the January 18 edition of Dynamite, Top Flight defeated the Young Bucks in an upset victory.[13] In April 2023 at Supercard of Honor, Dante Martin suffered a severe leg injury, stalling the team's momentum once more.[14]

During the time of his brother's injury, Martin feuded with The Kingdom causing him to form an alliance with Action Andretti, after he saved him from a post-match attack at the hands of Mike Bennett.[15] The following week, the duo teamed against The Kingdom, but lost.[16] On May 18, the duo faced Taven and Bennett in a Fight without Honor rematch, where Martin and Andretti defeated the duo, ending their feud.[17] On June 15, Martin and Andretti teamed with AR Fox to challenge The Mogul Embassy (Brian Cage, Toa Liona and Bishop Kaun) for the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championships, but the trio was defeated.[18] The trio teamed on Dynamite, facing off against Sammy Guevara, Minoru Suzuki and Chris Jericho, but were defeated once again.[19] On July 22, Martin and Andretti made their debut on AEW Collision, losing to Bullet Club Gold (Jay White and Juice Robinson).[20]

Dante Martin returned from injury in November 2023, reuniting Top Flight once more.[21]

Championships and Accomplishments

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  • All Elite Wrestling
  • Canadian Wrestling Elite
    • CWE Canadian Unified Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[22]
  • Chikara
    • Rey de Voladores (2018)[23]
  • F1RST Wrestling
    • F1RST Wrestling Wrestlepalooza Championship (1 time)[24]
  • GALLI Lucha Libre
    • Copa Valadores (2019)[25]
  • Glory Pro Resurgence
    • Glory Pro Resurgence Championship (1 time)[26]
  • Glory Pro Wrestling
    • United Glory Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Angel Dorado[27]
    • Gateway to Glory Tournament (2018)[28]
  • Heavy on Wrestling
    • HOW Undisputed Championship (2 times)[29]
  • Independent Wrestling International
    • IWI Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Angel Dorado[30]
  • Pro Wrestling Battleground
    • PWB Battleground Championship (1 time)[31]
    • PWB Breakout Championship (1 time)[32]
  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    • Ranked No. 343 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2021[33]

References

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  1. ^ City, RJ (February 4, 2024). "Top Flight stays high". Hey! EW. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  2. ^ Thompson, Andrew (November 23, 2020). "Top Flight signs with All Elite Wrestling". POSTWrestling. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  3. ^ Tees, David (October 27, 2020). "AEW Dark 10/27/20 Results: Hikaru Shida, Dark Order, SCU, Team Taz, Darby Allin & More In Action!". Fightful. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  4. ^ "AEW Dynamite 11/18/20 Results: NWA Women's Title Match, Death Triangle Reunites & More!". Fightful. November 18, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  5. ^ "Welcome to the team... #TopFlight Darius & Dante Martin are #AllElite". Twitter. November 23, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  6. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (April 23, 2021). "Darius Martin Undergoes ACL Surgery". Fightful. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  7. ^ Wilkins, Rob (March 2, 2022). "AEW Dynamite Results For 3/2/22 Adam Cole and reDRagon vs. Adam Page, John Silver, and Alex Reynolds". Fightful. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  8. ^ Ian Carey (May 5, 2022). "AEW's Darius Martin out six to nine months after nasty car accident". f4wonline.com. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  9. ^ "AEW Dynamite Results: Death Triangle Defeat AR Fox & Top Flight to Retain AEW World Trios Championships, the Elite to Return at Full Gear (11/16)". November 16, 2022.
  10. ^ Joseph Collins (November 25, 2022). "AEW Rampage live results: FTR vs. Top Flight ROH Tag Team title match". f4wonline.com. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  11. ^ "ROH Final Battle Zero Hour pre-show results: Jeff Cobb vs. Mascara Dorada, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett vs. "Top Flight" Dante Martin and Darius Martin, Willow Nightingale vs. Trish Adora, and Angelo Parker and Matt Menard vs. Cheeseburger and Eli Isom". December 10, 2022.
  12. ^ "AEW Rampage: Holiday Bash Results (12/23) - $300,000 Three Kings Christmas Casino Trios Battle Royale, TBS Title Eliminator Match and More". December 23, 2022.
  13. ^ Ryan Howard (January 18, 2023). "AEW Dynamite live results: Young Bucks vs. Top Flight, two title matches". f4wonline.com. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  14. ^ Carey, Ian (April 2, 2023). "Dante Martin released from hospital following ROH Supercard of Honor injury". F4WOnline.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  15. ^ "Ring of Honor TV Results 4/13/23". April 14, 2023.
  16. ^ "Ring of Honor TV Results 4/20/23". April 20, 2023.
  17. ^ "Ring of Honor TV Results 5/18/23". May 19, 2023.
  18. ^ "Ring of Honor TV Results 6/15/23". June 15, 2023.
  19. ^ "AEW Dynamite Results 6/21/23". June 21, 2023.
  20. ^ "AEW Collision Results 7/22/23". July 22, 2023.
  21. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Dante Martin - matches - 2023". Cagematch.net. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  22. ^ "CWE Canadian Unified Junior Heavyweight Championship". Cage Match. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  23. ^ "Rey de Voladores 2018". Cage Match. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  24. ^ "F1RST Wrestling Wrestlepalooza Championship". Cage Match. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  25. ^ "Rey de Voladores 2019". Cage Match. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
  26. ^ "Glory Pro Resurgence Championship". Cage Match.
  27. ^ "United Glory Tag Team Championship". Cage Match.
  28. ^ "Gateway to Glory Tournament". Cage Match.
  29. ^ "HOW Undisputed Championship". Cage Match.
  30. ^ "IWI Tag Team Championship". Cage Match.
  31. ^ "PWB Breakout Championship". Cage Match.
  32. ^ "PWB Breakout Championship". Cage Match.
  33. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated". Cage Match.
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