Saxon Huxley

Huxley in June 2023

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London, England, United Kingdom

**Ross J Cooke** (born February 1, 1988) is an English professional wrestler currently working for Pro Wrestling Noah (NOAH), where he is a former GHC Tag Team Champion. He is best known for his time in WWE where he performed on the NXT UK brand.

## Early life

Cooke grew up in Greatham, Hartlepool, England. He first saw WWE on Sky TV in early 1992 and cites the Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Wrestlemania 8 as the reason he became a lifelong fan of wrestling. He attended Manor College of Technology secondary school. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Sunderland.

## Professional wrestling career

### Early career

Cooke first began professional wrestling training in Calgary, Alberta, Canada where he graduated Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy September 2009 class. He would go on to settle on the ring name Saxon Huxley. In 2013 and 2014 Saxon spent both the entire summers training with Brian Kendrick at the Brian Kendrick School of Pro-Wrestling in Los Angeles, California. He competed on the local independent scene, most notably for Championship Wrestling from Hollywood.

Cooke was a regular competitor on the British independent circuit from late 2014 onwards, performing for promotions such as Grapple Wrestling, Megaslam Wrestling, and Rise Underground Pro Wrestling.

### Pro Wrestling Noah (2023–present)

On March 19, after being released from WWE as part of budget cuts relating to the closure of the NXT UK brand, Huxley made his Pro Wrestling Noah debut at Great Voyage in Yokohama, where he teamed up with Hideki Suzuki to defeat Mohammed Yone and Yoshiki Inamura. Afterwards, Huxley was announced as the newest member of the Sugiura-gun stable led by Takashi Sugiura. On April 16, 2023, at Green Journey in Sendai, Huxley and Timothy Thatcher began teaming with each other, and the two developed a good chemistry with one another. Later that night, Hideki Suzuki on the behalf of Huxley and Thatcher challenged Shuhei Taniguchi and Takashi Sugiura to a title match for the GHC Tag Team Championship. After the relationship between Sugiura-gun members had just fizzled out over the previous months, Suzuki stated that Sugiura-gun wasn't working and was over, leading Sugiura to confirm that the stable had disbanded. On April 22, their stable was named "Real". On May 4 at Majestic, Huxley and Thatcher defeated Sugiura and Taniguchi to win the GHC Tag Team Championship. In August, Huxley took part in the 2023 N-1 Victory, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and four losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. On September 24 at Grand Ship In Nagoya, Huxley and Thatcher lost the GHC Tag Team Championship to Good Looking Guys (Jack Morris and Anthony Greene).

## Other media

Saxon featured in the 2018 commercial for Smyths Toys kids game Watermelon Smash.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ Diving kneedrop
	+ Sitout chokebomb
* **Signature moves**
	+ Big Boot
	+ Facewash, followed by a running hip attack to an opponent seated in the corner
	+ *Cactus Elbow* (Diving elbow drop to the outside of the ring, sometimes from the ring apron or another elevated surface)
	+ Lou Thesz press, with theatrics
	+ Multiple backbreaker variations:
		- Sax-Breaker (Pop up side slam backbreaker) - tribute to Bobby Eaton
		- Belly-to-back backbreaker - tribute to Billy Robinson
		- Double underhook backbreaker
		- Pendulum backbreaker
	+ Over the shoulder back-to-belly piledriver
	+ Spear
	+ *Stun Gun* (Flapjack dropped into a hangman)
	+ Texas cloverleaf

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Pro Wrestling Noah**
	+ GHC Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Timothy Thatcher