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American professional wrestler From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mark Shepherd (born December 31, 1985), better known by the ring name Shane Taylor, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Shane Taylor Promotions stable. He also performs in AEW's sister company, Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion and ROH World Television Champion.
| Shane Taylor | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Taylor in 2023 | |
| Birth name | Mark Shepherd[1][2] |
| Born | December 31, 1985 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.[3] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Jack Frost[3] Shane Taylor[3] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[3] |
| Billed weight | 315 lb (143 kg)[3] |
| Billed from | Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Trained by | J-Rocc[3][4] Raymond Rowe[3][4] Ric Lieb[3] |
| Debut | November 13, 2007[1] |
Shepherd grew up in the slums of Cleveland. His father was a drug dealer but did not want his son to follow on the same path and advised him to go to college. Shepherd studied business management, graduating in 2009. He also practiced boxing for 20 years and played American football during his university years. He is now married and has children.[5][4][6]
Shepherd debuted in 2007.[1] Over the following years he wrestled on the independent circuit for promotions such as International Wrestling Cartel, Pro Wrestling eXpress, Pro Wrestling Rampage, and VIP Wrestling.
Shepherd debuted in Ring of Honor on November 15, 2014, losing to J. Diesel in a dark match at Glory By Honor XIII.[7] He returned to ROH in April 2015, losing to the Romantic Touch in another dark match.
In May 2015, Taylor began teaming with Keith Lee. In September 2015, Taylor and Lee dubbed themselves the "Pretty Boy Killers". Over the following months, the Pretty Boy Killers faced teams including the Washington Bullets, the Alpha Class, the Get Along Gang, the All Night Express, and War Machine.[8][9]
In August 2016 at Field of Honor, the Pretty Boy Killers took part in a gauntlet match to determine the number one contenders to the ROH World Tag Team Championship that was won by The Addiction.[10] The following month at All Star Extravaganza VIII, they took part in a four way match to determine the number one contenders that was won by Colt Cabana and Dalton Castle.[11]
At the first night of Survival of the Fittest in November 2016, the Pretty Boy Killers lost to the Briscoe Brothers in a three way match that also featured War Machine; the following night they defeated War Machine. In January 2017, Taylor signed his first contract with ROH.[12] In February 2017 at Undisputed Legacy, the Pretty Boy Killers wrestled the Briscoe Brothers to a no contest.[9] The Pretty Boy Killers subsequently disbanded following the departure of Keith Lee from ROH.
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In spring 2017, Taylor joined the stable The Rebellion, which also included Rhett Titus, Kenny King, and Caprice Coleman. The Rebellion disbanded in June 2017 after losing a "losing unit must disband" match to Search and Destroy (Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Jay White, and Jonathan Gresham) at Best in the World.[13]
On the third day of Global Wars, in October 2017, Taylor defeated Josh Woods.[14] Later that month, he defeated Cheeseburger to become number one contender for the ROH World Television Championship.[15] In November 2017, Taylor took part in the Survival of the Fittest tournament, which was won by Punishment Martinez. In December 2017 at Final Battle, Taylor competed in a four-way match for Kenny King's ROH World Television Championship that was won by Silas Young.[16]
In February 2018, Taylor unsuccessfully attempted to become number one contender to the ROH World Television Championship. In March 2018 at Manhattan Mayhem, Taylor teamed with The Kingdom in a loss to Bullet Club. The following month at Masters of the Craft, Taylor teamed with SoCal Uncensored in another loss to Bullet Club. In May 2018, at War of the Worlds, Taylor lost to EVIL.[17]
In October 2018, at Glory by Honor XVI, Taylor lost to Hangman Page.[18] At the end of December 2018, Taylor signed an exclusive contract with ROH.[19]
In March 2019 at the ROH 17th Anniversary Show, Taylor unsuccessfully challenged Jeff Cobb for the ROH World Television Championship. At the ROH and New Japan Pro-Wrestling G1 Supercard pay-per-view in April 2019, Taylor, Bully Ray, and Silas Young lost to Flip Gordon, Juice Robinson, and Mark Haskins in a "New York City street fight".
In May 2019, at War of the Worlds, Taylor won the ROH World Television Championship from Jeff Cobb in a Four Corner Survival match.[20] Taylor successfully defended his title against Bandido at Best in the World in June 2019 and against Tracy Williams at Summer Supercard in August 2019.[20] In September 2019, a storyline aired in which ROH ended Taylor's contract due to him criticizing the promotion's lack of interest in his booking.[21] At Death Before Dishonor XVII later that month, Taylor retained his title by beating Dragon Lee, Flip Gordon, and Tracy Williams in a four way match. In October 2019, Taylor defended his title in the United Kingdom as part of ROH's "Honor United" tour. Taylor's reign ended in December 2019 at Final Battle in December 2019 when he lost to Dragon Lee.[20]
In late-2019, Taylor formed the stable "Shane Taylor Promotions" with Jasper Kaun, Moses Maddox, and Ron Hunt.[22] In early 2020, ROH went on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After ROH resumed operations, Taylor returned in October 2020. At Final Battle in December 2020, he defeated Jay Briscoe. In February 2021, Shane Taylor Promotions (Taylor, Kaun, and Moses) defeated MexiSquad (Bandido, Flamita, and Rey Horus) to win the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. At Best in the World in July 2021, Shane Taylor Promotions successfully defended the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship against Dak Draper, Dalton Castle, and Eli Isom.[23] At Final Battle in December 2021, Taylor defeated Kenny King in a "Fight Without Honor". At the same event, Kaun, Moses, and O'Shay Edwards (substituting for Taylor) lost the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship to The Righteous (Bateman, Dutch, and Vincent).[23][24][25] ROH was subsequently placed on hiatus once again upon its acquisition by All Elite Wrestling owner Tony Khan.[25]
Taylor made his return to ROH in December 2022 at Final Battle, teaming with JD Griffey (as Shane Taylor Promotions) in a loss to Swerve in Our Glory (Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland). He debuted in ROH's sister promotion, All Elite Wrestling (AEW), that same month, teaming with Griffey to defeat Dante Casanova and Mr. G on an episode of AEW Dark. From April to June 2023, Taylor teamed with the WorkHorsemen in a series of six-man tag team matches on ROH on HonorClub.[24] In August 2023, Taylor won an eliminator tournament to receive a shot at the ROH World Television Championship. He subsequently lost to champion Samoa Joe at the AEW pay-per-view All Out.[24][26]
In September 2023, Taylor reformed Shane Taylor Promotions as a tag team with Lee Moriarty.[27] At WrestleDream in October 2023, Taylor and Moriarty teamed with Diamante and Mercedes Martinez, losing to Athena, Billie Starkz, Keith Lee, and Satoshi Kojima in an eight-person mixed tag team match. At Final Battle in December 2023, Taylor lost to Keith Lee in a reprisal of their match from the prior year's Final Battle.[24][26][28] In February 2024, it was reported that Taylor had signed an exclusive deal with AEW.[29] In April 2024, Taylor recruited Anthony Ogogo to join Shane Taylor Promotions.[30] In October 2024, Taylor recruited The Infantry (Carlie Bravo, Shawn Dean, and Trish Adora) into Shane Taylor Promotions.[31]
Taylor wrestles in a "powerhouse" style.[3] His signature moves include the "Marcus Garvey Driver" (a package piledriver), "Taylor Made" (a front powerslam), "Unprovoked Violence" (a lariat), and "Welcome to the Land" (a fire thunder driver).[1][25]
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