Garrett Griffith is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

. He is signed to the professional wrestling promotion

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, ...

(AEW), where he performs under the ring name Griff Garrison. Griffith is one-half of the

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

the Varsity Blonds alongside Brian Pillman Jr.

Early life

Garrison was born in

Austell, Georgia Austell is a city in Cobb and Douglas Counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 7,713. History The area that is now Austell was frequented by game ...

, relocating to North Carolina as a youth. He attended

North Davidson High School North Davidson High School (commonly referred to as "NDHS," or simply "North") is a public high school in Welcome, North Carolina (near Lexington). It was established in 1952 and is located along Old US Highway 52 in northern Davidson County. T ...

Welcome, North Carolina Welcome is a census-designated place (CDP) in Davidson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,162 at the 2010 census. It is nationally known as the home of Richard Childress Racing. In addition, Walker and Associates, Inc., a ...

, graduating in 2016. While in high school he played

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

as a wide receiver. He went on to attend

Guilford College Guilford College is a private liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Guilford has both traditional students and students who attend its Center for Continuing Education (CCE). Founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society o ...

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...

, graduating in 2020 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in education and history. During his time at Guilford College, he played American football for the Guilford Quakers.

Professional wrestling career

Garrison was trained by LaBron Kozone, debuting in 2016. He initially wrestled for Fire Star Pro Wrestling in his home state of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. He also appeared with promotions such as the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

-based Anarchy Wrestling and Southern Fried Championship Wrestling, winning a variety of championships. In 2019, he began appearing with Ring of Honor. From 2018 to 2020, Garrison teamed with his former schoolmate Markus Cross as "Master and the Machine". In June 2020, Garrison began wrestling for

(AEW), appearing on ''

AEW Dynamite AEW or aew may refer to: * Airborne early warning, airborne radar system for detecting aircraft * Aerosvit Airlines, an airline based in Kyiv, Ukraine (ICAO airline designator: AEW) * AEW Capital Management, a property investment management company ...

'' and ''

AEW Dark AEW or aew may refer to: * Airborne early warning, airborne radar system for detecting aircraft * Aerosvit Airlines, an airline based in Kyiv, Ukraine (ICAO airline designator: AEW) * AEW Capital Management, a property investment management company ...

'' as a

jobber Jobber may refer to: Athletics * Job (professional wrestling) - A professional wrestler who routinely loses a match. * Wichita Jobbers, a minor league baseball team in the Western Association from 1905 to 1911 Commerce * A person or corporation ...

. In July 2020, he was paired with Brian Pillman Jr., with the duo dubbed the "Varsity Blonds". The duo went on to compete in AEW's tag team division, competing against teams such as FTR, Private Party,

Proud and Powerful Santana (Mark Sanchez, born February 4, 1991) and Ortiz (Miguel Molina, born September 27, 1991), sometimes nicknamed Proud & Powerful, are an American professional wrestling tag team currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), but the team is ...

, and

Hybrid 2 The Hybrid 2 (TH2) are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Angélico and Jack Evans. They have previously competed in Mexico's Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) - where they were three-time AAA World Tag Team Champions - and U.S. indep ...

. In May 2021, they unsuccessfully challenged the

Young Bucks The Young Bucks are an American professional wrestling tag team and promoters, consisting of brothers Matthew and Nicholas Massie, who are known by their ring names Matt and Nick Jackson, respectively. They are signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW ...

for the

AEW World Tag Team Championship The AEW World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a standard tag team championship, being contested by teams of two wrestlers ...

. In the same month,

Julia Hart Julia Hart (born April 7, 1982) is an American filmmaker and actress. She is known for writing and directing the comedy drama ''Miss Stevens'' (2016), the superhero drama '' Fast Color'' (2018), the musical romance '' Stargirl'' (2020), and th ...

joined Garrison and Pillman Jr. as their

valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "valet ...

. In July 2021, Garrison and Pillman Jr. were signed to contracts with AEW. In December 2021, Garrison and Pillman Jr. began feuding with

Malakai Black Tom Budgen (born 19 May 1985) is a Dutch professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Malakai Black. He is also known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Aleister Black from 201 ...

after he sprayed Black Mist in Hart's eyes; the feud culminated in a tag team bout pitting the Varsity Blonds against the Kings of the Black Throne (Malakai Black and

Brody King Nathan Troy Blauvelt (born March 17, 1987), better known by his ring name Brody King, is an American professional wrestler and musician signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The House of Black. King was previously signed ...

) on the January 19, 2022 episode of ''Dynamite'' that was won by Black and King.

Professional wrestling style and persona

Garrison's signature moves include the sleeper hold,

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

spinebuster Professional wrestling throws are the application of professional wrestling techniques that involve lifting the opponent up and throwing or slamming them down. They are sometimes also called "power" maneuvers, as they are meant to emphasize a wrest ...

, and ''Ivy League Destroyer''.

Championships and accomplishments

*Anarchy Wrestling **Anarchy Heavyweight Championship (2 times) **Anarchy Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Ben Buchanan (1 time) and Marcus Kross (1 time) *Fire Star Pro Wrestling **FSPW Heavyweight Championship (3 times) **FSPW Zone1 Platinum Championship (1 time) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' **Ranked No. 280 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' in 2021 *Southern Fried Championship Wrestling **SFCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **SFCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Marcus Kross

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrison, Griff 21st-century professional wrestlers All Elite Wrestling personnel American male professional wrestlers Guilford College alumni Guilford Quakers football players Living people People from Austell, Georgia Professional wrestlers from Georgia (U.S. state) Year of birth missing (living people)