.jpg) Cannon in 2019 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1981-12-23)December 23, 1981 (age 43) Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Arik Cannon[1] Bryan Kendrick |
| Billed height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1][2] |
| Billed weight | 210 lb (95 kg)[1] |
| Trained by | Midwest Pro Wrestling Sheik Adanan Al-Kaisey Mike Quackenbush Skayde Chris Hero |
Arik Cannon (born December 23, 1981) is an Americanprofessional wrestler known for competing in companies such asChikara,Dragon Gate USA,IWA Mid-South, All American Wrestling andWrestling Society X. He owns and operates theMinneapolis-based wrestling promotion F1RST Wrestling,[3] and is also the only wrestler officially sponsored byPabst Blue Ribbon.[4]
Arik Cannon was trained at Midwest Pro Wrestling and is known for wrestling inIWA Mid-South. There, he became theIWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion by defeatingPetey Williams in the Ted Petty Invitational Tournament. He defended it againstRoderick Strong andAustin Aries, but was forced to give it up due to injury in 2004.
He returned to wrestling in 2005 and enteredChikara'sTag World Grand Prix 2005 with partnerClaudio Castagnoli and made it to the finals to face Superfriends, Chris Hero andMike Quackenbush. That night, Hero turned on Quackenbush and joined Cannon and Castagnoli, leading Cannon and Castagnoli to win the Tag World Grand Prix. The three began calling themselvesThe Kings of Wrestling. They began feuding with Quackenbush, but Cannon left the group in 2005. Cannon competed in theTag World Grand Prix 2006 withJigsaw as his partner, but lost in the second round. During June 2006, Arik Cannon wrestled in Chikara's fourth annual Young Lions Cup tournament. In the final round, he defeatedCheech to win the tournament. At Chikara'sCibernetico Forever event in October 2006, however,Max Boyer managed to beat him for the Cup.
In November 2006, Arik Cannon partook in theWrestling Society X promotion's first season of television tapings, which later aired onMTV.
In October 2007, Cannon went to Japan for a tour withDragon Gate and was brought into the Muscle Outlawz faction by Naruki Doi along with fellow gaijins Kevin Steen and Jimmy Rave.
On September 6, 2009, Cannon made his debut forDragon Gate USA at the tapings of the promotion's secondpay-per-view titledUntouchable. He would wrestle in an eight-waydark match, which was won byJohnny Gargano.[5] After making several appearances for the promotion in 2010, Cannon was entered into the Breakout Challenge tournament on April 1, 2011. After defeatingA. R. Fox, Facade andShiima Xion in his first round match, Cannon defeatedJimmy Rave in the finals to win the tournament.[6] Two days later at Open the Ultimate Gate, Cannon andSami Callihan wrestled in a six–way match, before deciding to walk out on the match. Later in the event, Cannon and Callihan announced they would be forming a tag team named the D.U.F. (Dirty Ugly Fucks) and defeated the Dark City Fight Club (Jon Davis andKory Chavis) in their first match together.[7][8] On June 5 atEnter The Dragon 2011, Cannon and Callihan were joined by Pinkie Sanchez, before picking up a major win over the tag team ofOpen the Dream Gate ChampionMasaaki Mochizuki andSusumu Yokosuka.[9]
In 2007, Cannon founded theMinneapolis-based promotion F1RST Wrestling, which hosts its flagship WRESTLEPALOOZA events at Minneapolis'First Avenue nightclub.[10] In recent years, the promotion has expanded to host events at an eclectic assortment of locations throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area, including the Mall of America, James Ballentine VFW[11] and Temple of Aaron Synagogue.[12] Several performers from F1RST Wrestling have found later success in larger promotions, such asSeth Rollins,Ethan Page,Erick Rowan,Danhausen,Orange Cassidy,Darius Martin andDante Martin of Top Flight,Colt Cabana,Gigi Dolin,Chuck Taylor,Josh Alexander,Johnny Gargano,Bryan Keith, andAriya Daivari.[13]
In 2017, Cannon appeared on March 7 episode of205 Live. He was introduced byBrian Kendrick asBryan Kendrick and lost toAkira Tozawa.
In 2021, Cannon had two matches withAll Elite Wrestling (AEW). First was June 5 where he teamed up with Kevin Blackwood in a tag match and facedEddie Kingston andPenta El Zero Miedo in a loss onDark: Elevation inJacksonville, Florida. His second match was also a tag match in front of his home crowd in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 12, where he and Renny D took onThe Pinnacle membersWardlow andShawn Spears. The fans in attendance were loudly cheering for Arik and chanting his name loudly. This also was a loss. A 0–2 overall record in AEW as of 2021, he was not pinned in both of his matches.
On August 10, 2022, Cannon teamed with Travis Titan for a tag match taped forDark: Elevation during theQuake by the Lake special. Cannon and Titan lost toJosh Woods andTony Nese. Again fans cheered his name loudly during the match.
Cannon is a former assistant coach at The Academy: School of Professional Wrestling, a training facility in Minnesota. He is an avidMinnesota Twins andMinnesota Wild fan.
,Internet Wrestling Database
Media related toArik Cannon at Wikimedia Commons