 Saxon Huxley in 2017 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ross Cooke (1988-02-01)1 February 1988 (age 37) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name | Saxon Huxley |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (2.03m) |
| Billed weight | 225 lb (102 kg) |
| Billed from | Hartlepool,County Durham,England |
| Trained by | Lance Storm,Brian Kendrick,Marty Jones, WWE UK Performance Centre |
| Debut | 2008 |
Ross Cooke (born 1 February 1988) is an Englishprofessional wrestler best known under thering nameSaxon Huxley. He is currently signed toPro Wrestling Noah. He is best known for his time withWWE, where he performed on theNXT UKbrand, and is also known for his appearances on the Britishindependent circuit.[1]
Cooke grew up inGreatham,Hartlepool, England. He first saw WWF onSky TV in early 1992 and cites theRoddy Piper vs.Bret Hart match for theIntercontinental Title atWrestleMania VIII as the reason he became a lifelong fan of wrestling. He attendedManor College of Technology secondary school. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from theUniversity of Sunderland.
Cooke first began professional wrestling training inCalgary,Alberta, Canada where he graduatedLance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy September 2009 class.[2] He would go on to settle on thering name Saxon Huxley. In 2013 and 2014 Huxley spent both the entire summers training withBrian Kendrick at the Brian Kendrick School of Pro-Wrestling inLos Angeles,California. He competed on the local independent scene, most notably forChampionship Wrestling from Hollywood.[3]
Huxley was a regular competitor on the Britishindependent circuit from late 2014 onwards, performing for promotions such as Grapple Wrestling,[4] Megaslam Wrestling,[5] and Rise Underground Pro Wrestling.[6]
Huxley made hisWWE debut on 14 January 2017 in the2017 WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament. He was eliminated in the first round by Sam Gradwell.[7] On the 31 October 2018, episode ofNXT UK, he competed in his first match on theNXT UK brand, losing toTrent Seven.[8] On 18 August 2022, Huxley was released from his WWE contract.[9]
Huxley made his debut inPro Wrestling Noah on 19 March 2023, atGreat Voyage in Yokohama where he teamed up withHideki Suzuki to defeatMuhammad Yone andYoshiki Inamura. He was also presented as the newest member of theSugiura-gun stable led byTakashi Sugiura.[10] He continued competing regularly in various of the promotion's signature pay-per-views. AtGreen Journey in Sendai on 16 April 2023, he teamed up with stablemates Hideki Suzuki andTimothy Thatcher to defeat Yoshiki Inamura,Kinya Okada andSean Legacy insix-man tag team competition.[11] AtNoah Majestic 2023, he teamed up with Thatcher as "Real" and defeated Takashi Sugiura andShuhei Taniguchi to win theGHC Tag Team Championship.[12] On 4 May at Majestic, Huxley and Thatcher defeated Sugiura and Taniguchi to win the GHC Tag Team Championship. In August, Huxley took part in the 2023N-1 Victory, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and four losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. On 24 September atGrand Ship In Nagoya, Huxley and Thatcher lost the GHC Tag Team Championship toGood Looking Guys (Jack Morris andAnthony Greene).[13]
From February 24 to March 10, Thatcher and Huxley took part in the2024 Victory Challenge Tag League, where they finished the tournament with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the tournament's finals. On March 10, they were defeated in the finals of the tournament byKaito Kiyomiya and Ryohei Oiwa.[14] However on March 17, it was announced that Kiyomiya, was forced to withdraw from the title match for the GHC Tag Team Championship due to a spinal cord concussion sustained during training, leading Huxley and Thatcher, who finished as the Victory Challenge Tag League runners-up to replace them. At the title match, atGreat Voyage in Yokohama, Thatcher and Huxley unsuccessfully challenged Jack Morris and Anthony Greene for the GHC Tag Team Championship.[15]
Cooke featured in the 2018 commercial forSmyths Toys kids game Watermelon Smash.
