Brian Stevens

Early
“The Sensational” Brian Stevens was proudly born and raised in the great state of Minnesota. Born in Edina and raised just outside of St. Paul, Brian Stevens was a College All-American at the University of Minnesota in Ice Hockey – graduating with a law degree in 2002. After some soul searching, Stevens pulled out of the 2003 National Hockey League draft to instead focus on his passion – professional wrestling. Brian Stevens trained in a Minneapolis suburb with legendary trainer Eddie Sharkey, taking his early bumps in an unheated garage. Stevens would go on to compete in both the Midwest for the local ASW (All Star Wrestling) promotion, but for Al Craine’s EFW promotion run out of Boston, MA; prominently covering the Northeast.

In 2004, Brian Stevens accepted an invitation from Great Japan Pro Wrestling’s Keiko Ono and Jun Morishima to move to Japan and train in their dojo’s – Stevens graciously accepted. Stevens served on five tours for Great Japan (Spring, Summer, Shiny, Autumn, & Winter). During this time, Brian Stevens began perfecting the state-of-the-art, second-to-none Strong Style Wrestling that he continues to employs to this very day.

Once Jun Morishima and Keiko Ono had their now-legendary falling out at the end of 2004, Brian Stevens was forced to pick a side – his choice became the new upstart promotion, Jun Morishima’s Pro Wrestling JAPAN.

AWA
Brian Stevens wasn’t able to stay with Pro Wrestling JAPAN for long as in 2005, Brian Stevens entered into negotiations with the AWA (American Wrestling Alliance) and on February 27th, 2005, Brian Stevens entered the AWA at the Vortex Pay Per View.

Since his arrival in the AWA, Brian Stevens has been given many monikers: “The Sensation,” “The Sensational One,” “The Punk Rock Phenom,” “The Butcher,” and “The Strong Style Legend.” Stevens has earned each of those nicknames and has done so through producing consistent results by winning match after match with little regard to his opponent. Brian Stevens works a stiff striking game infused with an unparalleled high flying attack and submission expertise.

While never bothering with “niche” titles or insignificant titles, Brian Stevens has been tried, tested and true when it comes to winning key matches. In January of 2006, Brian Stevens won his first AWA World Championship by pinning John Williams with his North Star Driver. Weeks later, Brian Stevens retained the AWA World Championship by winning the Hell Bowl Chamber. Brian Stevens would repeat the same feat the following year, beating Snake for the AWA World Championship and retaining in the Spring Break Chamber – a feat no one may ever duplicate. Brian Stevens also became just the second man to walk into CLASSIC a World Champion and leave CLASSIC World Champion – the only other man is Low. In 2007, Brian Stevens was named Wrestler of the Year – joining a very rare and prestigious list of names given the honor including Thereon Spencer, Mr. Jack Happy, Low, The Hangman, & Brian Williams.

During his time in the AWA, Brian Stevens has made quite a few enemies. His career was jumpstarted by a violent war Stevens waged against Saidogai, an established AWA name. Having won the blood feud between himself and Saidogai, Brian Stevens went after a man who would become both his greatest ally AND his greatest nemesis…NHL. Both Brian Stevens and Nathan Hawthorne-Lee were climbing the ladder in the AWA at the same time and their careers clashed in the spring of 2005. Nathan won both of their matches, but Brian Stevens won the battle when he took Nathan out after their Revelations PPV Ladder Match. The result of the attack exposed the world to Nathan’s greatest secret – his split personality – Henry.

With Henry as the dominant NHL personality – now calling himself Nathaniel Henry Lee and adopting a British accent – the duo of Brian Stevens and NHL formed a group that will go on to live in infamy within AWA folklore; Damage, Incorporated. It wasn’t long after the duo formed DI that they would add Onslaught and John Rourke to their fold and run roughshod over the AWA. The tandem of Brian Stevens & NHL immediately established themselves by beating The Hangman & Low in a tag team contest on Shock. In the weeks to follow, DI targeted two other men – C-Rock & “Dark Warrior” Jeff Christianson – arguably the greatest tag team in AWA history; Bad Blood. Brian Stevens and NHL would be the first team ever to beat Bad Blood for the AWA Tag Team Championship. Weeks later, DI would triumph over Bad Blood again to retain their titles, only this time it took place on the biggest stage of the year – CLASSIC 2005 in a Double Dog Collar match.

After Brian Stevens captured his first AWA World Championship, life would throw another curveball his way as Henry would lose control of NHL – Nathan Hawthorne-Lee was back. NHL and Brian Stevens feuded for the better part of 2006, spilling each other’s blood all over the globe. When NHL beat Stevens for the AWA World Title, Stevens got back at NHL by seducing his wife and convincing her to leave her husband. The two traded victories leading into their now-legendary match at CLASSIC 2006, a Dog Collar match, which saw Brian Stevens and NHL throw one another from a 20 foot balcony to the concrete steps below.

Brian Stevens went onto feud with Pro Wrestling JAPAN’s Yoshinari Sugiura following his war with NHL, allowing Stevens to go back to his training ground where he spent his formative years in the sport. The match was billed as a dream match between the two best Strong Style workers in the sport – and the match lived up to the hype and THEN some. In the end, Brian Stevens beat Pro Wrestling JAPAN Intercontinental Honored Crown Heavyweight Champion Yoshinari Sugiura at the Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan to become the PWJ IHC Heavyweight Champion as well as briefly reviving the AWA Intercontinental Championship.

In the months that followed, Brian Stevens waged war against his former mentor, The Legendary Low, as well as engaging AC Smith in a battle for respect. However, it was his war at the start of 2007 that saw Brian Stevens finally question his career. Jai Williams – a former stable-mate of Stevens in The Hangman’s Blood Court – jumped Stevens backstage at Shock and – alongside his Faction – smashed in the face of Brian Stevens with the butt-end of a pistol. Stevens would have his revenge, shoving barbed wire down the throat of Jai Williams and proceeding to choke him out with the Front Guillotine Choke…but Stevens was unhappy with the path his career had taken.

In February of 2007, Brian Stevens proclaimed that he wanted a shot at the World Title – a shot that eluded Stevens since for nearly six months. Brian would finally be granted his World Title shot at new World Champion Snake. Prior to the match, Brian Stevens declared that if he couldn’t beat Snake, he’d retire from the sport of professional wrestling. Brian Stevens would fight Snake as if his life depended on it and, in the end, Brian Stevens choked out “The Fanged Entity” to begin his legendary 218 day World Title run – the longest reign in AWA history. Brian Stevens would hold the World Title and was never pinned or submitted for the title. Instead, Travis Gray stripped Stevens of the belt when the AWA went on hiatus.

During his legendary World Title reign, Henry would reappear in Brian Stevens’ life – so would The Legendary Low. The trio joined Onslaught in reforming Damage, Incorporated and, this time, DI ruled the AWA with an iron fist. However, in December, DI crumbled in one single match. Brian Stevens and Low both competed against one another for the vacant AWA World Title in a Triple Threat Match that also featured Evan Heir. Brian Stevens looked poised to regain his championship until Richard O. Dickinson III and Low betrayed Brian Stevens and cheated their way to pin Stevens for the belt – the first time Stevens was pinned since January of that year; nearly a full calendar year.

Brian Stevens was livid. He was betrayed by his mentor and his friend. However, The Legendary Low seemingly had been plotting the betrayal of Stevens for quite some time - that became evident when he shredded Brian Stevens’ contract right in front of Stevens’ face. For the first time since 2005, Brian Stevens was out of the AWA. Worse yet, Brian Stevens was wrongfully terminated from the AWA.

Brian Stevens vanished from the public eye following his exodus from the AWA. He was infuriated, but he was also driven and focused. He wanted one thing – revenge. Brian Stevens took his termination from the AWA as a sign – it was time to reinvent himself. Brian Stevens felt it was time to retrain himself and rededicate himself to his craft to prepare for his return to the squared circle…and for Low. Stevens traveled and trained in his stomping grounds of Japan and trained at BOTH the Pro Wrestling JAPAN and Great Japan dojo’s. Brian Stevens also – for the first time in his career – traveled and trained extensively in Brazil. During this time, Brian Stevens shaved his head to finalize his rebirth.

In April 2008, Brian Stevens re-emerged in the AWA – saving his best friend Onslaught from the oppressive front office run by AWA President & Owner Travis Gray and The Legendary Low. Brian Stevens was back in the AWA and the fans were thrilled. By May 2008, Brian Stevens had blackmailed his way back into the AWA through exposing AWA President Travis Gray; gaining himself a guaranteed World Title shot, an automatic berth in the King of the Kage tournament and a guarantee of having the highest paid contract in the AWA by fifteen percent.

Brian took full advantage of his automatic, guaranteed berth into the King of the Kage tournament on June 29, 2008 in London, England – he won the tournament. Brian Stevens told the world since he signed his AWA contract that he would win the tournament and he did just that, defeating Jason Storm, Jeff Christianson and Terry James to earn the honor. With the title of King of the Kage bestowed upon him, Brian Stevens earned himself the right to walk into the CLASSIC Main Event to face The Legendary Low for the AWA World Championship – his ultimate goal – his chance for revenge.