Aussie Open

Kyle Fletcher (left) and Mark Davis (right) in November 2022

Davis Passfield:
August 20, 1990 (1990-08-20) (age 33)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

**Davis:**

* Chris Hero
* Claudio Castagnoli

**Both:**

* PWA Academy

**Aussie Open** (オージー・オープン, *Ōjī Ōpun*) is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Australian wrestlers, Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis, where they are currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

Through a working relationship between AEW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), they also worked for the promotion, as part of the United Empire stable, where they are a former one-time IWGP Tag Team Champions, while also being former two-time and the inaugural Strong Tag Team Champions.

Real-life best friends, both men moved to the United Kingdom and began teaming with each other in 2017, briefly known as the **Aussie Assault**, performing in various European independent promotions, most notably for the British Revolution Pro-Wrestling (RevPro), Defiant Wrestling (Defiant), Progress Wrestling (Progress), International Pro Wrestling:United Kingdom (IPW:UK) and German Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw). In the independent circuit, they have won numerous titles as well, including the British Tag Team Championship, Defiant Tag Team Championship, Progress Tag Team Championship and wXw World Tag Team Championship on two occasions.

Since 2019, Aussie Open began working for NJPW in 2019 until September 2021, when they joined Will Ospreay's led stable, the United Empire and began working with the promotion more regularly, where the stable mainly operates. As part of a working relationship between NJPW, RevPro and American promotions All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and its sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH) and Impact Wrestling (IMPACT), the team also made appearances in those promotions before signning with AEW full-time in May 2023.

## History

### Early career

Both men met each other, when Fletcher was 14 years old, and began training for his professional wrestling career in a local promotion in Sydney, with Davis and Fletcher instantly taking a like with each other. Four years later, after Fletcher finished high school, and while Davis was injured, both decided to move independently into the United Kingdom, within a month of each other, due to bigger exposure and visa facilities. Afterwards, Fletcher and Davis often faced off against each other, with both men trading victories in both singles and tag team competition, before deciding to form a team then-known as "Aussie Assault", and later "Aussie Open".

Over the following years, the duo began working in the European independent circuit, working for British promotions such as International Pro Wrestling:United Kingdom (IPW:UK), Defiant Wrestling (Defiant), Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) and German Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) holding both British Tag Team and WxW World Tag Team Championships simultaneously. This led them to eventually start appearing for NJPW around that time.

### New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2018–present)

Originally, as part of a working relationship between New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW), Aussie Open made their debut at Strong Style Evolved UK, on June 30, 2018, where they lost in the first night against the duo of Bullet Club composed by Taiji Ishimori and Yujiro Takahashi, while on the following night Fletcher lost in his singles NJPW debut against Jay White.

In August 2019, Aussie Open took part in a tournament to determine the number one contenders to face the Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) for the IWGP Tag Team Championships at Royal Quest. On August 30, Fletcher and Davis defeated reigning Undisputed British Tag Team Champions Josh Bodom and Sha Samuels in a tournament final to earn the opportunity to face the Guerrillas of Destiny at Royal Quest. The following day, Fletcher and Davis unsuccessfully challenged the Guerrillas of Destiny for the IWGP Tag Team Championships.

Since March 2020, NJPW was forced to suspend all of its activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The promotion eventually resumed its activities in June, with travel limitations, but due to travel restrictions various foreign wrestlers were prevented from returning to Japan. In February 2021, Aussie Open returned to Australia, for the first time as a team, wrestling on several independent shows. Aussie Open returned to RevPro on August 21, 2021, and regained the British Tag Team Championships the following month. On September 19, 2021, at RevPro's *High Stakes*, Fletcher and Davis became the newest members of the United Empire stable, led by Will Ospreay, after attacking Shota Umino and Young Guns (Ethan Allen and Luke Jacobs), whom had previously been auditioning to join the United Empire. On November 21, at RevPro's *Uprising* event, Aussie Open lost the British Tag Team Championships to Ricky Knight Jr. and Roy Knight. The three consistently began teaming as a trio across the UK. On April 16, 2022 at Mutiny, Fletcher and Davis made their debut in NJPW's American sub-brand New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America, teaming with United Empire stablemate Jeff Cobb in a winning effort against TMDK (JONAH, Shane Haste and Bad Dude Tito).

On June 19 at Ignition, Aussie Open competed in a tournament to crown the inaugural Strong Tag Team Champions. In the first round, they defeated The Dark Order's Evil Uno and Alan Angels and the Stray Dog Army's Barrett Brown and Misterioso in the semi-finals. In the finals at High Alert, on August 13, Davis and Fletcher defeated Christopher Daniels and Yuya Uemura to become the inaugural champions. They lost the title to The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) on October 28 at Rumble on 44th Street. On November 5 at Battle Autumn, Aussie Open made their first Japanese appearance in NJPW, teaming with United Empire stablemates Aaron Henare and Gideon Grey in a winning effort against Alex Zayne, David Finlay, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toru Yano. From November 22 until December 14, Aussie Open took part in the 2022 World Tag League finishing the tournament with a record of seven wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 14, Aussie Open were defeated in the finals of the tournament by Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi.

In March 2023, Davis and Fletcher took part in the 2023 New Japan Cup. Fletcher was eliminated in the second round by Hirooki Goto. Meanwhile, Davis reached the semifinals; in the second round their United Empire stablemate Will Ospreay suffered a shoulder injury against Mark Davis, leading to Davis announcing in an interumptum press-conference that Ospreay would be forfeiting the tournament, with Davis being his replacement. On March 19, Davis was eliminated by eventual winner SANADA in the semifinals. Following the tournament, after Davis and Fletcher scored a victory over Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi on seperate occasions, Aussie Open were awarded a title match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship; around the same time, they also challenged The Motor City Machine Guns (Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley) to a rematch for the Strong Tag Team Championship. On April 8 at Sakura Genesis, Aussie Open defeated Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Seven days later, at Capital Collision, they regained the Strong Tag Team Championship by defeating The Motor City Machine Guns and Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada in a three-way match, making them double champions, in the process. On May 21 at Resurgence, Fletcher announced that the team would vacate both titles, due to Davis' injury.

### All Elite Wrestling (2022-Present)

On the June 8th episode of *Dynamite*, Aussie Open and their stablemates Will Ospreay and Aaron Henare made their debut for All Elite Wrestling debut attacking both FTR (Dash Harwood and Cash Wheeler) and Beretta, which led to a match on June 10th episode of *Rampage* where Ospreay and Aussie Open would made their AEW in-ring debuts losing to FTR and Beretta in a six-man tag team match. Aussie Open returned on the June 15th special Road Rager edition of *Dynamite* attacking FTR and Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) after Ospreay, defeated FTR's Dax Harwood. However, they were stopped by Orange Cassidy who was announced to face Ospreay at Forbidden Door for Ospreay's IWGP United States Championship, along with O-Khan and Cobb facing FTR and Roppongi Vice in a triple threat tag-team match, for both Cobb and O-Khan's IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships and FTR's ROH World Tag Team Championships. At the event, Aussie Open accompanied Ospreay to the ring for his match against Cassidy, often assisting Ospreay during the match, with Ospreay eventually retaining his championship. Following the match, Ospreay instructed Fletcher and Davis to take out Cassidy. Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Romero) ran out to Cassidy's aid, but they were cleared from the ring. They were interrupted by Katsuyori Shibata, who fended both Ospreay and Aussie Open.

On July 27, the AEW World Trios Championship was revealed, with Aussie Open and Ospreay being named as participants in the inaugural tournament. On August 24, Aussie Open and Ospreay defeated Death Triangle to progress to the semifinals following an assist from Kip Sabian. Following the match, after Dynamite went off-air, Ospreay and Omega had a heated confrontation, where Omega provoked Ospreay regarding their careers' expectations and his career to Ospreay's, with Omega further denigrating Ospreay, leading Fletcher and Davis to pull Ospreay apart. The week later, after losing to The Elite (Omega, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) in the semifinals, Aussie Open and Ospreay attacked them after the bell. Ahead of NJPW's New Japan Cup, Aussie Open faced The Young Bucks at the February 24 episode of Rampage, in a rematch that was billed a dream match, where they were they lost in a losing effort.

A week after winning the IWGP Tag Team Championships, Fletcher and Davis made their first title defense against Best Friends, defeating them to retain the titles at the April 14 edition of *Rampage*. On the May 25 edition of *Dynamite*, Fletcher appeared in a backstage segment, attacking AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy and admiring the title. A championship match between the two took place on the May 24 edition of *Dynamite*, where Cassidy defeated Fletcher. Shortly after, it was announced that both Fletcher and Davis had signed with AEW.

### Impact Wrestling (2022-2023)

On the September 8th edition of Impact!, Aussie Open made their Impact Wrestling debut, defeating Bullet Club's Ace Austin and Chris Bey. The following week, Fletcher and Davis faced The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) in a dream match, where the winner would to earn a shot at the Impact World Tag Team Championships against Honor No More's Matt Taven and Mike Bennett at Bound for Glory. In the match, Fletcher and Davis lost to The Motor City Machine Guns in a losing effort. Fletcher and Davis returned on the October 27th of Impact!, where they made an open challenge, challenging "the best tag team possible" leading Frankie Kazarian and Josh Alexander to answer their challenge. At the next week's edition of Impact!, Aussie Open lost to the team of Kazarian and Alexander, after Kazarian pinned Davis for the win. On March 30, at Multiverse United, Fletcher and Davis unsuccessfully challenged Ace Austin and Chris Bey for the Impact World Tag Team Champions in a four-way match, also involving The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) and TMDK's Shane Haste and Bad Dude Tito, in what it was the duo's last appearance in Impact Wrestling before signing with AEW full-time in May.

### Ring of Honor (2023-Present)

On March 2, 2023 at the first edition of *Ring of Honor Wrestling* since the sale of Ring of Honor to Tony Khan, Aussie Open challenged Rhett Titus and Tracy Williams after both men being challenged by Kyle Fletcher, leading Titus and Williams to accept.

At the March 10th episode of *AEW Rampage*, Mark Briscoe announced that new ROH World Tag Team Champions would be crowned in a "Reach for the Sky" ladder match – named as such for being the name of the Briscoes' entrance music, and as a way to honor Jay after his passing at Supercard of Honor. On March 16 at the third edition of *Ring of Honor Wrestling*, Fletcher stated their desire to be tag team champions before challenging any tag team, leading Christopher Daniels to accept his challenge. At the next episode, Fletcher and Davis defeated the team of Daniels and Matt Sydal. On March 23, Fletcher and Davis were announced to be included in the match along with Top Flight (Dante Martin and Darius Martin), The Kingdom (Matt Taven and Mike Bennett), The Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix and Penta El Zero Miedo) and La Facción Ingobernable (Rush and Dralístico), but failed to win the match on March 21 at Supercard of Honor.

On July 21, 2023, the duo won the ROH World Tag Team Championships at Death Before Dishonor in a four-way tag team match. The following week on Ring of Honor, Aussie Open made their first title defence, defeating the Iron Savages. At *Dynamite*: 200, Aussie Open retained their titles against El Hijo del Vikingo and Komander. On the following week's episode of *Rampage*, The duo accepted Better Than You Bay Bay's (Adam Cole and MJF) challenge for the titles on the Zero-Hour of All In. In the lead up to the match, Aussie Open made further title defences against Ethan Page and Isiah Kassidy and The Hardys (Matt and Jeff Hardy). On the Zero-Hour of All In, Aussie Open lost the ROH World Tag Team Championship to Cole and MJF, ending their reign at 37 days.

## In Wrestling

* **Finishing tag team moves**
	+ *Coriolis* (Double elevated pumphandle half nelson lift dropped into a sided Death Valley driver)
	+ *Aussie Arrow* (Over the shoulder facebuster by Davis dropped into a diving cutter by Fletcher)
	+ Assisted double underhook spinebuster
* **Signature tag team moves**
	+ Assisted delayed Brainbuster
	+ Assisted Iconoslam
	+ Assisted step-over Spanish Fly
	+ Assisted pumphandle electric chair drop
	+ *Cross Bomber* (Double high impact lariat to an opponent's head from opposite turnbuckles)
	+ Double pop-up
	+ Double short-forearm smash
	+ *Dental Plan* (Fireman's carry lift by Davis dropped into a roundhouse kick by Fletcher)
	+ *Grimstone* (Fletcher) followed by the *Close Your Eyes and Count to Nothing* (Davis)
	+ Knife edge chop (Davis) followed by a high kick to an opponent's chest (Fletcher)
	+ Penalty kick (Fletcher) followed by a running senton (Davis)
	+ Pop-up (Davis) into an avalanche *Michinoku Driver* (Fletcher) followed by a diving splash (Davis)
	+ Vertical suplex lift (Davis) dropped into a roundhouse kick (Fletcher)
* **Mark Davis's finishing moves**
	+ *Close Your Eyes and Count to Nothing* (Double ankle deadlift into a spike piledriver)
	+ *Alpamare Waterslide* (Side death valley driver)
* **Mark Davis's signature moves**
	+ Bridging German suplex
	+ Diving splash
	+ Lariat
	+ Sitout powerbomb
* **Kyle Fletcher's finishing moves**
	+ *Grimstone* (Spinning hammerlock tombstone piledriver)
	+ Dragon Sleeper
* **Kyle Fletcher's signature moves**
	+ Brainbuster
	+ Diving cutter
	+ Lariat
	+ Reverse-spin Michinoku driver
	+ Running snake eyes
	+ Roundhouse kick
	+ *Spanish Fly* (Moonsault side slam)
* **Nicknames**
	+ "Aussie Arrow" (Fletcher)
	+ "Dunkzilla" (Davis)
* **Entrance themes**
	+ **"Bring It Down"** by Yonosuke Kitamura feat. Eiki (used while a part of United Empire)
	+ **"Aussie Aussie Aussie"** by Mikey Rukus

## Championships and accomplishments

* **New Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ IWGP Tag Team Championship (1 time)
	+ Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship (2 times, inaugural)
	+ Strong Tag Team Championship tournament (2022)

* **PWA Black Label**
	+ PWA Tag Team Championship (1 time)

* **Revolution Pro Wrestling**
	+ British Tag Team Championship (2 times)
	+ Road To Royal Quest Tag Team Tournament (2019)

* **Ring of Honor**
	+ ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time)
	+ ROH World Television Championship (1 time, current) – Fletcher

## Notes

1. ↑ The name of the finishing maneuver has been spelled as both "Corealis" and "Coriolis". NJPW originally used the spelling Corealis but have since switched to Coriolis, while some promotions have used both spellings such as AEW, Impact Wrestling and Revolution Pro-Wrestling.
2. ↑ The original name of the finishing maneuver is *Close Your Eyes and Count to F\*\*k*; However, due to the name of the maneuver containing the word "f\*\*k", a curse word, the word is often censored and replaced with "nothing".