Daniel Garcia
Garcia in December 2019
Born (1998-09-17) September 17, 1998
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Alma materBuffalo State College
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Daniel Garcia
Danny Garcia[1]
Dante Rios[2]
Billed fromBuffalo, New York[3]
Trained byBrandon Thurston
The Blade

Daniel Garcia (born September 17, 1998) is an American professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He also appears for AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a one-time ROH Pure Champion. As part of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), he is the current PWG World Champion in his first reign.

Professional wrestling career

Early career and independent circuit (2018–present)

Garcia began competing for Limitless Wrestling in 2018.[4] He appeared for WWE on an episode of 205 Live in July 2018, during which he lost against Drew Gulak.[1] In January 2021, he competed against Tyler Rust in WWE on NXT, where he lost.[2] Garcia won the Limitless World Championship in March.[4] He lost the title to Anthony Greene in September.[5]

All Elite Wrestling and Ring of Honor (2021–present)

Garcia made his debut in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in September 2020 during an episode of Dark.[6] He was announced as having signed with AEW in October 2021.[6]

In a March 2022 episode of Dynamite, Garcia, alongside Angelo Parker and Matt Menard, formed a stable with Chris Jericho and Jake Hager, called the Jericho Appreciation Society (JAS).[7] In August 2022, Bryan Danielson attempted to recruit Garcia away from the JAS and into the Blackpool Combat Club (BCC), citing that Garcia was more suited to the competitive wrestling philosophy of the BCC than Jericho's sports entertainment-focused group.[8][9] Garcia ultimately chose to remain loyal to Jericho.[10] In September 2022 on Dynamite, Garcia defeated the BCC's Wheeler Yuta to win the ROH Pure Championship.[11] Garcia lost the title back to Yuta at Final Battle in December 2022, ending his reign at 94 days.[12]

In 2023, Garcia unsuccessfully challenged Orange Cassidy for the AEW International Championship on two occasions, including in a four-way match at Forbidden Door.[13] In July, he partnered Sammy Guevara in an blind eliminator tag team tournament,[14] but they were defeated by Better Than You Bay Bay in the final.[15] Around the same time, Don Callis began tempting Jericho to join his stable,[16] which saw Garcia and Guevara team up again to face Jericho and Konosuke Takeshita in a losing effort.[17] The JAS split soon afterwards,[18] and Garcia aligned himself with Parker and Menard. The trio challenged Billy Gunn and the Acclaimed for the AEW World Trios Championship on two occasions, but were defeated both times.[19] In November, Garcia called out MJF for the AEW World Championship,[20] but was defeated within ten minutes on an episode of Dynamite.[21]

On November 22, Garcia was announced as one of 12 competitors in the AEW Continental Classic tournament, where he would compete in the Blue League.[22] Garcia began a losing streak in the tournament, failing to secure any points, causing him to be eliminated from h tournament before he had competed in all of his matches. The streak ended during his final league match, where Garcia defeated Brody King, to eliminate King from the tournament and finish his tournament campaign with 3 points.[23]

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2021–present)

Garcia debuted for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) at It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) on November 21, 2021, by losing to Jonathan Gresham via referee's decision.[24] The following month, Garcia participated in the Battle of Los Angeles tournament at the namesake event.[25] He defeated Kevin Blackwood in the first round, Alex Shelley in the quarterfinals, Black Taurus in the semifinals, and Mike Bailey in the final round to win the tournament.[26] It earned him a title shot for the PWG World Championship against Bandido at Delivering The Goods.[27] Garcia defeated Bandido to win the title.[28] Garcia successfully defended the title against Konosuke Takeshita at Nineteen and Jonathan Gresham at DINK.[29][30] Garcia then participated in the 2023 Battle of Los Angeles, where he lost to Titus Alexander by disqualification in the opening round.[31] On the second night of the event, Garcia brought his Jericho Appreciation Society teammates Chris Jericho, Angelo Parker, Matt Menard, and Sammy Guevara for a ten-man tag team match, which JAS won.[32] Garcia then retained the World Championship against Battle of Los Angeles winner Mike Bailey in sudden death overtime in an Iron Man match at Twenty: Mystery Vortex by using underhanded tactics.[33]

Professional wrestling style and persona

Garcia, seen here in 2019, applying a Sharpshooter hold, which he dubbed the Dragon Tamer in 2022.

Garcia has been described as a technical wrestler.[34][35] He uses a bridging Sharpshooter hold, which since 2022 he calls the Dragon Tamer, a reference to his upset victory over "The American Dragon", Bryan Danielson, by using the move at the Dynamite special, Fight for the Fallen on July 27, 2022.[36][37]

Following his entry into the JAS, Garcia rejected the label "professional wrestler" and embraced calling himself a sports entertainer,[38][39] a pejorative term used in AEW to denote a wrestling storytelling style that prioritizes showmanship.[40] On a Dynamite show held in El Paso, Texas, Garcia began to dance in a Latin-esque way to elicit reactions from the crowd; he has since incorporated this into his character, where he uses the dance as a taunt.[41]

Personal life

Garcia was trained in professional wrestling by Brandon Thurston and The Blade.[42][43]

In January 2019, Garcia broke both of his legs in a car crash involving three other wrestlers. The vehicle he was riding in crashed after hitting black ice.[44][45] Garcia returned to wrestling six months later. The following year, he graduated from Buffalo State College with a communications degree.[3]

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 Namako, Jason (July 18, 2018). "WWE 205 Live Results – 7/17/18 (Lio Rush vs. Akira Tozawa, TJP vs. Noam Dar, Gulak in action)". Wrestleview. Archived from the original on September 25, 2018. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  2. 1 2 DeFelice, Robert (February 2, 2021). "WWE Files Trademark On 'Dante Rios'". Fightful. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  3. 1 2 Barrasso, Justin (December 19, 2020). "Daniel Garcia Is Emerging as Wrestling's Next Star Following a Gruesome Car Accident". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 Barrasso, Justin (March 20, 2021). "New Limitless Champion Daniel Garcia Wants to Bring Prestige Back to Independent Wrestling". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on March 22, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  5. ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (September 27, 2021). "Limitless Euphoria Results (9/25): Daniel Garcia Faces Anthony Greene, Dirty Dango Debuts". Fightful. Archived from the original on September 27, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  6. 1 2 Pollock, John (October 19, 2021). "AEW confirms the signing of Daniel Garcia". POST Wrestling. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  7. ↑ Rose, Bryan (March 9, 2022). "Chris Jericho forms 'Jericho Appreciation Society' group on AEW Dynamite". F4Wonline.com. Archived from the original on March 10, 2022. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  8. ↑ Barnett, Jake (August 24, 2022). "8/24 AEW Dynamite results". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  9. ↑ Rose, Bryan (August 31, 2022). "ROH Pure Championship match announced for next AEW Dynamite". F4Wonline.com. Retrieved July 4, 2023. Garcia has been involved in a weeks-long storyline involving himself, Chris Jericho and Bryan Danielson, torn over whether he wants to be a sports entertainer in the Jericho Appreciation Society or a wrestler.
  10. ↑ Howard, Ryan (October 12, 2022). "AEW Dynamite live results: Jericho vs. Danielson ROH title match". F4Wonline.com. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  11. 1 2 Rose, Bryan (September 7, 2022). "Daniel Garcia wins ROH Pure Championship on AEW Dynamite". F4Wonline.com. Archived from the original on September 8, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  12. ↑ "ROH Final Battle 2022 Results: Winners, Grades, Reaction and Highlights". Bleacher Report.
  13. ↑ Howard, Ryan (May 10, 2023). "AEW Dynamite live results: Moxley vs. Omega cage match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
    Howard, Ryan (June 25, 2023). "AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door live results: Bryan Danielson vs. Okada". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  14. ↑ Collins, Joseph (July 7, 2023). "AEW Rampage 100 live results: Young Bucks & Hangman Page vs. Dark Order". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  15. ↑ Howard, Ryan (July 19, 2023). "AEW Dynamite live results: Blood & Guts match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  16. ↑ Howard, Ryan (July 5, 2023). "AEW Dynamite live results: Kenny Omega vs. Wheeler Yuta". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  17. ↑ Howard, Ryan (August 2, 2023). "AEW Dynamite 200 live results: Toni Storm vs. Hikaru Shida". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  18. ↑ Howard, Ryan (August 9, 2023). "AEW Dynamite live results: Jack Perry vs. RVD FTW title match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  19. ↑ MacDonald, Josiah (September 2, 2023). "AEW Collision live results: Ricky Starks confronts Ricky Steamboat, Dax Harwood vs. Jay White". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
    Williams, Suit (October 21, 2023). "AEW Battle of the Belts VIII live results: Three title matches". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  20. ↑ Collins, Joseph (November 3, 2023). "AEW Rampage live results: Penta El Zero Miedo vs. El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 9, 2023. After the match, Garcia said that was his first singles match in six months in AEW, then called out MJF and demanded a title shot. Why not? There's only a dozen guys challenging MJF. Garcia still fancies himself a sports entertainer.
  21. ↑ Howard, Ryan (November 3, 2023). "AEW Dynamite live results: MJF vs. Daniel Garcia World title match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  22. ↑ https://www.f4wonline.com/news/aew/aew-reveals-full-list-of-entrants-for-continental-classic-tournament
  23. ↑ https://wrestletalk.com/news/aew-continental-classic-tournament-semi-finals-revealed/
  24. ↑ Radican, Sean (February 18, 2022). "PWG It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'N' Roll" report: Radican's results & analysis of Richards vs. Rush, Garcia vs. Gresham, Bandido vs. Shelley main event". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  25. ↑ Tessier, Colin (December 13, 2021). "Daniel Garcia Announced For 2022 PWG Battle Of Los Angeles". WrestleZone. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  26. 1 2 Lambert, Jeremy (January 31, 2022). "PWG Battle Of Los Angeles 2022 Winner Crowned". Fightful. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
  27. ↑ "PWG announces full card for May 1 Delivering the Goods event". WON / F4W. April 4, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  28. 1 2 Pollock, John (May 2, 2022). "Daniel Garcia wins PWG title, issues challenge to Konosuke Takeshita". POST Wrestling. Archived from the original on May 3, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  29. ↑ Rose, Bryan (July 3, 2022). "PWG Nineteen results: Daniel Garcia vs. Konosuke Takeshita". WON / F4W. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  30. ↑ Renner, Ethan (November 7, 2022). "PWG DINK results: Daniel Garcia vs. Jonathan Gresham World title match". WON / F4W. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  31. ↑ Denton, Eric (January 8, 2023). "1/7 PWG BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES 2023 NIGHT ONE RESULTS FROM LA". PWInsider. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  32. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (January 9, 2023). "PWG Battle of Los Angeles night two results: A winner is crowned". WON / F4W. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  33. ↑ Denton, Eric (August 13, 2022). "SURPRISE 60 MINUTE IRON MAN MATCH, MOXLEY & MORE: PWG 20: MYSTERY VORTEX RESULTS FROM LOS ANGELES, CA". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  34. ↑ Thompson, Andrew (May 28, 2022). "POST NEWS UPDATE: Danielson & Jericho had a conversation about Daniel Garcia, agreed to Garcia aligning with Jericho". POST Wrestling. Retrieved July 4, 2023. ...everyone just thinks I'm just like this technical guy
  35. ↑ Reneo, Juan C. (March 2, 2022). "AEW Dark results: Dante Martin vs. Jack Evans". F4Wonline.com. Daniel Garcia (w/ 2point0) defeated Josh Woods. Two technical wrestlers going at it.
  36. ↑ Klyn, Parker (August 17, 2022). "AEW Dynamite live results: Game of Thrones 'House of the Dragon' episode". F4Wonline.com. Retrieved July 4, 2023. Garcia locked on a Sharpshooter, the one he's calling the Dragon Tamer, but Danielson turned it into the LeBell Lock.
  37. ↑ McGuire, Colin (February 17, 2023). "2/17 AEW Rampage results". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 4, 2023. Garcia worked a Dragon-Tamer (sharpshooter).
  38. ↑ Moynahan, Patrick (October 14, 2022). "10/14 Aew Rampage TV Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 4, 2023. He said he'd never be a pro wrestler and while he still says Danielson is his hero, he said Jericho taught him how to win. He said he realized Sports Entertainers beat Pro Wrestlers every single time. Garcia said his name is Daniel Garcia, and he is a Sports Entertainer.
  39. ↑ Kleinchester, John (October 15, 2022). "AEW Rampage Notes". POST Wrestling. Retrieved July 4, 2023. Daniel Garcia said that he was a sports entertainer and would never be a pro wrestler.
  40. ↑ Machado, Javier (September 4, 2022). "PPV PRIMER – AEW ALL OUT 2022: Preview and predictions for Moxley vs. Punk, Jericho vs. Danielson, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 4, 2023. For clarification in this context "Sports Entertainer" is considered a pejorative describing the style of wrestling storytelling the WWE has employed in the past where the emphasis is on more storylines and pageantry and pretty much what AEW was created to counter.
  41. ↑ Tessier, Colin (October 24, 2021). "Daniel Garcia Didn't Intend For His Dance To Become A Thing, It Took On A Life Of Its Own". WrestleZone. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  42. ↑ Stewart, Liam (April 30, 2021). "Interview With . . . Daniel Garcia". Inside the Ropes. Archived from the original on August 21, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  43. ↑ Barrasso, Justin (October 8, 2021). "CM Punk: 23-Year-Old Daniel Garcia Is 'Light-Years Beyond His Age'". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  44. ↑ Haight, Alex (January 11, 2019). "4 Area Wrestlers Thankful for Support After Batavia Crash". Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  45. ↑ Reyes, Anthony (September 16, 2020). "'Buffalo Brothers' recover from serious injuries, debut for All Elite Wrestling". Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  46. 1 2 "Titles « Daniel Garcia « Wrestlers Database". Cagematch.net. Archived from the original on March 7, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  47. ↑ Caldwell, Brandon; Raimondi, Marc (August 3, 2023). "From MJF and Rhea to...a Viking? Here are the 30 best pro wrestlers under 30". ESPN. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  48. ↑ Ruth, Sondra (September 14, 2023). "Complete 2023 PWI 500 List Revealed, Top NJPW Star Absent". tjrwrestling.net. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
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