Birth name Benjamin Satterley Name Adrian Neville Billed from Newcastle upon Tyne Trained by IWF Nationality English | Billed weight 194 lb (88 kg) Weight 88 kg Billed height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Height 1.78 m | |
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Born 22 August 1986 (age 37)
Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom ( 1986-08-22 ) Residence Orlando, Florida, United States Ring name(s) Adrian Neville
Ben Sacilly
Benjamin Satterly
Jungle Pac
Neville
PAC Parents Stephen Satterley, Gill Satterley Similar People Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Tyler Breeze, Bo Dallas, Antonio Cesaro Profiles | ||
Benjamin Satterley (born 22 August 1986) is an English professional wrestler currently signed to the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. He performs on the Raw brand and competes under the ring name Neville in the cruiserweight division, where he is the current Cruiserweight Champion in his record-setting second reign. His first reign as champion ended with his 197 day reign being the longest in the title's history. He previously wrestled in WWE's developmental territory NXT under the name Adrian Neville, and prior to that, competed on the independent scene under the ring name Pac.
Contents
- Wwe 2k14 evan bourne vs adrian neville
- Early life
- European competition 20042012
- Pro Wrestling Guerrilla 20062008
- Total Nonstop Action Wrestling 2007
- Ring of Honor 2007
- Chikara and Ballpark Brawl 20072009
- Dragon Gate and affiliates 20072012
- New Japan Pro Wrestling 2012
- NXT 20122015
- Various feuds 20152016
- Cruiserweight Champion 2016present
- Personal life
- Other media
- In wrestling
- Championships and accomplishments
- References
In NXT, he is one of three men (the other two men being The Revival's Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) to win the NXT Tag Team Championship twice, with his first reign being one-half of the inaugural champions with Oliver Grey and the other reign with Corey Graves. He is also a one-time NXT Champion, thus making him the first (and only) man to have held both the NXT Championship and the NXT Tag Team Championship. Neville was called onto the main roster in 2015, and was later drafted to Raw in the 2016 draft. In 2017, he went on to win his first main roster title by defeating Rich Swann for the Cruiserweight Championship at the Royal Rumble. He made his WrestleMania debut the same year, successfully defending the championship against Austin Aries. After losing the championship to Akira Tozawa in August 2017, he won it back at SummerSlam six days later, becoming the first (and so far, only) two-time Cruiserweight Champion under the current lineage.
Satterley is noted for his high flying style and aerial attacks, which has earned him the nickname "The Man That Gravity Forgot". He began his wrestling career in North East England with a small promotion, the Independent Wrestling Federation (IWF), and after establishing himself in the United Kingdom with promotions such as Real Quality Wrestling and One Pro Wrestling, he began to perform overseas, most notably for the Italy-based Nu Wrestling Evolution, the United States-based Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), Ring of Honor, Chikara, and the Japan-based Dragon Gate, where he has won the Open the Brave, Triangle and Twin Gate Championship in the latter promotion. He is a former PWG World Tag Team Champion, and winner of PWG's inaugural Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament (with Roderick Strong).
Wwe 2k14 evan bourne vs adrian neville
Early life
Satterley was born to Stephen and Gill (sometimes Jill) Satterley on 22 August 1986, in Newcastle upon Tyne. As a child, he was extremely active, participating in sports such as football, hockey, roller hockey, basketball, and swimming. His interest in wrestling came about through one of his aunts, who was a fan of the World Wrestling Federation. His parents had banned him from watching wrestling at their house, so he would go over to his aunt's to watch it. His favourite wrestlers growing up were The Undertaker and "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. By the age of 16, Satterly had wrestled with backyard wrestling organizations TWXW in Newcastle and FXW in Middlesbrough. Even as one of the younger wrestlers in the group, Satterly's technical ability and athleticism ensured he was always in the most entertaining matches. Many of the FXW roster went on to form 3Count Wrestling (3CW), an organization Satterly would later return to. He started training as a wrestler on a more permanent basis at the age of 18 at St Joseph's Hall in Gateshead, described by Satterley as "pretty much the only wrestling school in the area".
European competition (2004–2012)
Satterley made his debut on 27 March 2004 as Pac at Independent Wrestling Federation where he lost to Assassin. For the first two years of his career he wrestled mainly for IWF and 3 Count Wrestling. He won his first championship on 26 August 2005 when he teamed up with Harry Pain to defeat Chris Prime. In 2006 he began to wrestle all across Britain and Europe.
Satterley later performed in British promotion 3 Count Wrestling. He debuted on 14 October 2005 and defeated EdEn and Falcon in the opening match. Pac then went on to capture the 3CW North East Championship on 24 February 2006. He then captured the 3CW Triple Crown Championship at an ICW event, which he held for 110 days. Pac was defeated in his last 3CW match by Liam Thomson on 30 April 2010.
After joining One Pro Wrestling in May 2006, Pac became the first-ever Openweight Champion on 26 November after winning a battle royal. He successfully retained the title on several occasions before losing it to James Wallace on 30 June 2007 in a match that started immediately after PAC retained the title in a four-way match. On 29 December, Pac failed to reclaim the title after losing to then-champion Darren Burridge.
In late April, Pac represented International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom in the prestigious King of Europe Cup. He defeated Trent Acid in the first round before falling to Nigel McGuinness in the quarter finals.
In 2007, Satterley began wrestling in the Italy-based Nu-Wrestling Evolution under the ring name Jungle Pac. As Jungle Pac, Satterley's character is that of a jungle native, which is emphasised by his attire consisting of a loincloth or a lava-lava over his trunks as well as being billed from "The Jungle". On 19 April 2008, Jungle Pac competed in a four-way ladder match for the vacant Cruiserweight Championship against Juventud Guerrera, Matt Cross and Super Nova, which was won by Guerrera. On 26 October, Jungle PAC wrestled against Guerrera and Super Nova in a three-way match for the Cruiserweight Title, but was unable to win the title. He wrestled against Guerrera and Nova in two more three-way matches for the title on 1 and 2 November, but was again unable to win the title. PAC wrestled in Premier British Wrestling (PBW) on two occasions before signing with WWE.
On 17 November 2009, Pac debuted in American Wrestling Rampage during its European Invasion tour, and lost to Dunkan Disorderly in a three-way match also involving Shawn Maxer for the promotion's No Limits Championship. Two days later, he wrestled against Disorderly in a singles match for the title, but was defeated. After defeating Disorderly in tag-team matches over the next two days, Pac and Maxer wrestled against Disorderly for the No Limits Title in another three-way match on 22 November, but were again defeated. After trading wins with El Generico over the next few days, PAC finally won the title after defeating Generico and new champion Michael Knight on 29 November. After successfully retaining the title against Generico on 4 and 6 December, Pac lost the title to Dunkan Disorderly on 8 December. The next day, Pac and Generico defeated Disorderly and Shawn Maxer in a tag-team match.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2006–2008)
On 17 November 2006, Pac made his debut in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. He competed against A.J. Styles in a losing effort of the first night of All Star Weekend IV. The next night, he faced El Generico in a match that was considered by those in attendance a serious Match of the Year contender. PAC returned to PWG on 24 February 2007, defeating Kevin Steen to pick up his first win in the promotion. He faced Generico again on 7 April, this time in the main event of the first night of All Star Weekend V with the PWG World Championship on the line. Generico once again came out on top. The next night, PAC faced All Japan Pro Wrestling star Kaz Hayashi in a losing effort.
Pac was originally scheduled to compete in singles matches during the first PWG Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament on 20 and 21 May. However, Roderick Strong's original partner, Jack Evans, had been called back to Dragon Gate at the last moment and decided to have PAC fill the vacant spot. After defeating Super Dragon and Davey Richards in the first round, Naruki Doi and Masato Yoshino in the second round and then The Briscoe Brothers in the finals, PAC and Strong won the tournament and as a result, became the new World Tag Team Champions. In their first title defence, Pac and Strong defeated The Havana Pitbulls (Ricky Reyes and Rocky Romero) at PWG's event Roger Dorn Night on 10 June. From 15 to 22 July, PAC took part and competed for Dragon Gate's biggest tour of the year, Wrestle Jam, where he and El Generico represented PWG alongside Ring of Honor representatives Austin Aries, Delirious, Jack Evans, Matt Sydal and Jimmy Rave.
On 29 July, Pac and Strong were scheduled to defend their World Tag Team Championship against the Briscoe Brothers in a 2 out of 3 falls match. However, they were replaced by Kevin Steen and El Generico, who ended up winning World Tag Team Championship in a one fall match.
PAC was among the 24 participants in the 2007 Battle of Los Angeles Tournament in Burbank, California that ran from 31 August to 2 September. He defeated Jack Evans in a first round match then Claudio Castagnoli in a second round match before losing to eventual tournament winner Cima in a semi-final round match.
After almost a year-long absence from the company, PAC made his return to PWG at All Star Weekend VII on 30 August 2008, where he picked up the win for the team of himself and The Young Bucks by pinning Kevin Steen, who teamed with El Generico and Susumu Yokosuka. The next night, PAC was unsuccessful in his attempt to win the World Championship from then-champion Chris Hero. PAC returned to PWG on 23 July 2011, facing Kevin Steen in a losing effort. On 29 January 2012, at Kurt Russellreunion 3, PAC teamed with El Generico and Masato Yoshino to defeat Akira Tozawa, Kevin Steen and Super Dragon in a six-man tag team main event.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007)
In January 2007, Pac wrestled as part of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's Impact! Total tour in Portugal along with fellow British wrestlers Spud, Jonny Storm and Jody Fleisch.
Ring of Honor (2007)
Soon after the tour, Pac debuted in Ring of Honor at their 3 and 4 March shows at the Liverpool Olympia in Liverpool, England. On the first night, he lost to Roderick Strong in a match for the FIP World Heavyweight Championship. On the second, he was defeated by Matt Sydal. On 24 August, he returned to ROH in a losing effort against Bryan Danielson. At ROH's Manhattan Mayhem, he lost to Davey Richards.
Chikara and Ballpark Brawl (2007–2009)
On 21 April, Pac debuted in Chikara at their show Rey De Voladores in a four-way elimination match against Chuck Taylor, Ricochet and Retail Dragon, which was won by Taylor. In August, Pac returned to Chikara at their International Invaders weekend. On the first night, he was defeated by Ricochet. The next night, he was defeated by Claudio Castagnoli. On 23 August, he participated at the eighth Ballpark Brawl, where he lost a six-way elimination match that featured Sterling James Keenan, Trent Acid, El Generico, Xtremo and John McChesney, which was won by Keenan.
Dragon Gate and affiliates (2007–2012)
Shortly after participating in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's Battle of Los Angeles tournament, Pac was invited to Dragon Gate for their Dragon Storm 2007 tour beginning on 8 September. The tour was the last for World Wrestling Entertainment-bound Matt Sydal, who on 14 September endorsed PAC to be his replacement on the Dragon Gate faction Typhoon. On 15 September, Pac defeated Dragon Kid for the westside Xtreme wrestling World Lightweight Championship. On 25 April 2008, Pac lost to Gamma in the first round of a tournament for the Open the Brave Gate Championship. On 31 May, Pac and Dragon Kid wrestled against fellow Typhoon members Ryo Saito and Susumu Yokosuka for the Open the Twin Gate Championship, but were unable to win. On 27 July, Pac, Dragon Kid and Anthony W. Mori represented Typhoon in a four-way match for the Open the Triangle Gate Championship, but were unable to defeat Gamma, Yamato and Yasushi Kanda for the title.
After Typhoon disbanded in 2008, Pac joined World-1 in 2009. On 22 March 2009, Pac, BxB Hulk and Naoki Tanisaki represented World-1 in a losing effort to the Open the Triangle Gate Champions Kamikaze (Dragon Kid, Shingo Takagi and Taku Iwasa) in a three-way match also involving Real Hazard (Kenichiro Arai, Yamato and Yasushi Kanda). World-1 again challenged for the title on 24 May, but were defeated by the new champions Warriors-5 (Cima, Gamma and Kagetora). On 7 June, World-1 finally won the Open the Triangle Gate Championship after defeating Warriors-5. World-1 made their first successful title defence on 19 July, where they defeated Kamikaze (Akira Tozawa, Dragon Kid and Taku Iwasa).
On 7 February 2010, Pac lost to K-ness in a match for the Open the Brave Gate Championship. On 5 July 2010, Pac made his debut for Dragon Gate's international expansion Dragon Gate USA, wrestling in a match where he and BxB Hulk were defeated by Yamato and Shingo. At the following day's tapings of the Uprising pay-per-view, PAC and Naruki Doi defeated Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush. On 14 October, World-1 lost the Open the Triangle Gate Title to Akebono, Fujii and Mochizuki in a rematch. On 20 December 2010, Dragon Gate USA announced that they had signed PAC to a contract that would make him a regular member of the promotion's roster. On 30 January 2011, PAC and Masato Yoshino defeated Chuck Taylor and Johnny Gargano to become Dragon Gate USA's first ever Open the United Gate Champions. On 11 September, Pac and Yoshino lost the Open the United Gate Championship to Open the Twin Gate Champions, Cima and Ricochet, in a title vs. title match. On 29 August 2010, Pac defeated Susumu Yokosuka in a tournament final to win the vacant Open the Brave Gate Championship for the first time. On 14 April 2011, Pac, BxB Hulk and Susumu Yokosuka failed to win the Open the Triangle Gate Championship from Blood Warriors (Cima, Dragon Kid and Ricochet) and, as a result, World-1 was forced to disband. On 24 April former World-1 members PAC, Hulk, Yokosuka and Yoshino agreed to form a new alliance with Masaaki Mochizuki to battle Blood Warriors. On 8 June, the new group was named Junction Three in reference to it being a union between the former members of World-1, Kamikaze and the Veteran-gun. On 19 June, Pac and Dragon Kid defeated the Blood Warriors team of Ryo Saito and Genki Horiguchi to win the Open the Twin Gate Championship. They lost the title to Blood Warriors representatives Cima and Ricochet on 17 July. On 19 November, Pac lost the Open the Brave Gate Championship to Ricochet, ending his record reign at 447 days. On 9 February 2012, Junction Three was forced to disband, after losing a fourteen-man elimination tag team match to Blood Warriors. On 4 March, Pac received a shot at Dragon Gate's top title, the Open the Dream Gate Championship, but was defeated by defending champion, Cima. On 25 March 2012, Pac joined Masato Yoshino, Naruki Doi, Ricochet, and Rich Swann and formed World-1 International. On 6 May 2012, Pac, alongside World-1 International members Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi defeated Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!, Jimmy Kanda, and Ryo "Jimmy" Saito at the 2012 Dead or Alive pay-per-view to become the 34th Open the Triangle Gate Champions. On 22 July, Pac made his final Dragon Gate appearance, during which he, Yoshino and Doi successfully defended the Open the Triangle Gate Championship in a three-way match.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2012)
On 27 May 2012, Pac made his New Japan Pro-Wrestling debut, when he entered the 2012 Best of the Super Juniors tournament, defeating Jushin Thunder Liger in his first match. When the round-robin stage of the tournament concluded on 9 June, PAC finished with five wins out of his eight matches, winning his block and advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. He lost to Ryusuke Taguchi the following day, and was eliminated from the tournament.
NXT (2012–2015)
In July 2012, it was reported that Satterley had signed a contract with WWE. He joined WWE's developmental territory NXT, and made his television debut using the ring name Adrian Neville on the 16 January 2013 episode of NXT, where he defeated Sakamoto.
Together with Oliver Grey, the English duo won a tournament to crown the inaugural NXT Tag Team Champions by defeating The Wyatt Family (Luke Harper and Erick Rowan) in the finals on the 13 February episode of NXT. Neville and Grey, now billed as British Ambition had earlier defeated 3MB (Heath Slater and Drew McIntyre) in the first round and Kassius Ohno and Leo Kruger in the semi-finals. With Grey out injured with a torn ACL (in storyline inflicted by the Wyatt Family), Neville chose Bo Dallas as his new partner in April. On 24 April on NXT, Neville lost to Antonio Cesaro while challenging for his United States Championship. On the 8 May episode of NXT, Neville and Dallas failed in their first defence of the tag title when they lost them to the Wyatt Family.
On the 29 May episode of NXT, Neville competed in an NXT Championship number one contender battle royal, eliminating Mason Ryan and Bray Wyatt (who had eleven and two eliminations respectively) to make it to the final two participants, but his former tag partner Dallas eliminated him to win the match. Later, Dallas won his title match to become NXT Champion. Neville continued his feud with the Wyatt Family by losing to them in two six-man tag matches, once while teaming with Corey Graves and Kassius Ohno, and once with Graves and William Regal. On 20 June, Neville regained the NXT Tag Team Championship from the Wyatt Family with a new partner in Graves. On 6 August episode of NXT, Neville faced Dean Ambrose for his United States Championship, which Ambrose retained when the other members of The Shield caused a disqualification. Neville and Graves lost the title to The Ascension (Conor O'Brian and Rick Victor) in September. Following this, the two feuded after failing to regain the title.
Neville first became number one contender to the NXT Championship on the 27 November episode of NXT by defeating Sami Zayn, after both men previously tied a beat the clock challenge. Neville faced former tag partner Bo Dallas for the title on the next episode and won by countout, which meant that the title did not change hands. Two episodes later, Neville faced Dallas again for the title in a lumberjack match, but lost when lumberjack Tyler Breeze interfered. Neville once again became number one contender after Dallas failed to defeat Neville in a beat-the-clock challenge match on the 22 January episode of NXT that arose due to Dallas' boasting. At NXT Arrival, Neville won the NXT Championship from Dallas in a ladder match. A rematch was scheduled for the 20 March episode of NXT, which he won after debuting a new finisher the Imploding 450 splash.
Neville's first feud as champion began following a non-title match against Brodus Clay, where Neville won by countout. The feud ended with Neville scoring a no disqualification match victory over Clay to successfully defend the NXT Championship. At NXT TakeOver, Neville successfully defended the NXT Championship against Tyson Kidd. Two weeks later, Neville scored another victory over Kidd after Natalya prevented Kidd from using a chair. On the 31 July episode of NXT, he successfully defended his title against Tyler Breeze by disqualification as Tyson Kidd attacked Neville after being super kicked by Neville. On 8 September, Neville made his first appearance on Raw as part of an 'NXT showcase' match to promote NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way, he teamed with Sami Zayn to defeat Tyson Kidd and Tyler Breeze. On 11 September at the NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way event, Neville successfully defended his NXT Championship against Sami Zayn, Tyler Breeze and Tyson Kidd in a fatal four-way match. On 4 December, Neville became the longest reigning NXT Champion of all time, surpassing the record set by Dallas (which was surpassed by Finn Bálor in April 2016). Later on 11 December, at the NXT TakeOver: R Evolution event, Neville lost the championship to Zayn, ending his reign at 287 days. When Zayn offered a handshake, Neville kicked it away and instead hugged Zayn in respect.
The following week on the 18 December episode of NXT, Neville faced Kevin Owens, but the match ended in a double countout. Owens powerbombed Neville into the apron after the match. Neville received a rematch on the 15 January 2015 episode of NXT, but failed to regain the title. Neville went on to compete in a NXT Championship number one contender's tournament, defeating Tyson Kidd in the quarterfinals on 28 January and Baron Corbin in the semifinals on 4 February, but lost in the finals to Finn Bálor at NXT TakeOver: Rival.
Various feuds (2015−2016)
On the 30 March 2015 episode of Raw, Neville made his main roster debut, under the shortened ring name Neville, defeating Curtis Axel. The following week on Raw, Neville lost to WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins after interference from J&J Security (Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury). Neville made his pay-per-view debut on the Extreme Rules pre-show, where he defeated Bad News Barrett. On the 27 April episode of Raw, Neville defeated Luke Harper in the first round of the 2015 King of the Ring tournament. The following night on the WWE Network, Neville would defeat Sheamus in the semi–finals, advancing to the finals later that night, where he was defeated by Bad News Barrett. On the 11 May episode of Raw, Neville answered John Cena's United States Championship open challenge, which he won by disqualification after Rusev interfered. Neville's feud with Barrett continued at Payback, where Neville defeated him by count-out.
The following night on Raw, Neville was defeated by Barrett in a rematch, ending their feud. After the match, Neville would be attacked by former rival Bo Dallas, setting up a match at Elimination Chamber, which Neville won. On the 8 June episode of Raw, Neville would answer Kevin Owens' open challenge for the NXT Championship in a losing effort. At the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Neville would compete in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by Sheamus. On 4 July at The Beast in the East special event, Neville faced Chris Jericho in a losing effort by submission. On 3 August episode of Raw, Neville would answer Rollins' open challenge for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a losing effort.
Neville would then enter a feud with Stardust in a comic book inspired rivalry, due to Neville's superhero-esque motif and the latter's gimmick of a supervillain. On 10 August episode of Raw, after Neville defeated King Barrett, Stardust as the prince of dark matter would confront actor Stephen Amell, who was in attendance in the front row, and slap him. Amell would then jump the barricade and attack Stardust until security would break up the brawl. At SummerSlam, Neville would team up with Amell, defeating the team of Stardust and Barrett. At Night of Champions kick-off show, Neville would team with The Lucha Dragons (Kalisto and Sin Cara) in a losing effort against Stardust and the Ascension. On 3 October at the Live from Madison Square Garden special event, Neville would defeat Stardust, ending their feud. After Seth Rollins suffered a knee injury during a live event, WWE announced a tournament for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship would take place. On 12 November episode of SmackDown, Neville would defeat King Barrett in the first round, before being defeated by Kevin Owens in the quarter-finals on 16 November episode of Raw. At Survivor Series pre-show, Neville would compete in a 5-on-5 traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team match, teaming with The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley), Goldust and Titus O'Neil, defeating the team of Stardust, The Ascension, The Miz and Bo Dallas. On 21 December episode of Raw, Neville won the Slammy Award for "Breakout Star of the Year".
At 2016 Royal Rumble, Neville competed in his first Royal Rumble match as the number 16 entrant, lasting over 10 minutes before being eliminated by Luke Harper. On 28 January episode of SmackDown, Neville challenged Kalisto for WWE United States Championship in a losing effort. On 14 March episode of Raw, during his match with Chris Jericho, Neville fractured his ankle, leaving him out of action for four months and forcing him to miss WrestleMania 32.
On 12 July Neville made his non-televised return to action, defeating Bo Dallas in a dark match before a SmackDown taping. On 19 July, at the 2016 WWE draft, Neville was drafted to Raw in the sixth round (26th overall). On the 25 July episode of Raw, Neville made his televised return, defeating Curtis Axel. On 21 August, at the SummerSlam pre-show, Neville would team up with Sami Zayn, defeating The Dudley Boyz. The following night on Raw, Neville failed to defeat Kevin Owens to qualify for a fatal-four way elimination match for the vacant WWE Universal Championship after the interference of Chris Jericho who would defeat Neville the following week. On the 10 October episode of Raw, Neville teamed with Sami Zayn to face Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel in a winning effort, but lost to Dallas the following week. On the 31 October episode of Raw, Neville participated in the Battle Royal for a spot on Team Raw at Survivor Series, but was eliminated by eventual winner Braun Strowman. Neville became absent from television following this.
Cruiserweight Champion (2016–present)
On December 18 at Roadblock: End of the Line, Neville returned to seemingly congratulate WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rich Swann after his match, only to attack Swann and his opponent TJ Perkins, turning heel for the first time in WWE, and joining the Cruiserweight division. The following night on Raw, Neville cemented his heel turn after claiming that the fans only cheered him because he was "vulnerable or small" and proceeded to attack Swann along with Brian Kendrick after he interrupted him, followed by Perkins after he attempted to save Swann. Over the coming weeks, Neville would defeat multiple Superstars in singles competition including Perkins, Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado, and Swann in a non-title match. On January 29, 2017 at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Neville defeated Swann to capture the WWE Cruiserweight Championship for the first time, marking his first title win on the main roster. Neville then started a feud with Jack Gallagher, and successfully defended his title at Fastlane against Gallagher.
The following night on Raw, Neville defended his title against Swann successfully. After the match, Austin Aries seemingly appeared to interview Neville, only to attack him and start a feud between the two. At WrestleMania 33, Neville would defeat Aries in his WrestleMania in-ring debut. Aries won a fatal-four-way match two days later on 205 Live, to earn a rematch against Neville at Payback, which Neville lost by disqualification, retaining the title as a result. Around this time, Neville formed an alliance with TJ Perkins, who would assist him in his rivalry with Aries, in exchange for a promised championship opportunity. Neville defeated Aries again in a submission match at Extreme Rules to retain the Cruiserweight championship, concluding their rivalry in the process. He ended his alliance with Perkins the following night, attacking him and later going on to successfully defend his championship against him on the June 6 episode of 205 Live.
Neville then began feuding with Akira Tozawa who was granted a championship match for Great Balls of Fire by Titus O'Neil, in which Neville retained the title. He was also set to defend his title against Tozawa for the second time at SummerSlam, until the August 14 episode of Raw, where Neville lost the championship to Tozawa, ending his record setting reign at 197 days. However, Neville won the title back from Tozawa on the SummerSlam pre-show, making him the first-ever two-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion with the current belt. On the 21 August episode of Raw, it was announced that Tozawa had invoked the rematch clause. Neville defeated Tozawa by submission on the August 22 episode of 205 Live to end their feud. Afterwards, he was confronted by Enzo Amore, the latest member of the Cruiserweight division. Amore later won a fatal 5 way elimination match to establish himself as the number one contender for No Mercy.
Personal life
He is a supporter of his hometown football club Newcastle United. His favorite band is The Specials, and his ring name is a reference to one of their former band members, Neville Staple.
Other media
He made his video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K15 as Adrian Neville, in which he has his own path in the "Who Got NXT" mode for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game, documenting his matches in NXT. He is also a playable character in WWE 2K15 on the PlayStation 4 & Xbox One versions in the MyCareer Mode after clearing 1,000 followers or more after being promoted to the Raw brand. He appears as Neville in WWE 2K16 and WWE 2K17 He will appear in the upcoming video game WWE 2K18 as part of the 205 Live Roster
He also appeared in Austin Creed's YouTube series UpUpDownDown, as both himself and Gentleman Rudeboy. Along with The Boss in a team nicknamed 'Nasha', he won the inaugural WWE Superstars Rocket League Tag Team Tournament defeating Huggin' Uppercuts (Swiss Tony and Pogo) in the semi-finals and The Royal 1's (Prince of Phenomenal and Winky) in the final, to win the titles. The tournament was hosted by Creed, Big Wool and Mr. 24/7.