Background and career
Benjamin Satterley (22 August 1986 – 27 September 2026), better known by his ring name Pac (often stylised in all caps), was an English professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenures in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and WWE.
Satterley began his wrestling career under the ring name Pac in his native north east England with the Independent Wrestling Federation (IWF). After establishing himself throughout the country with promotions such as Real Quality Wrestling (RQW) and One Pro Wrestling (1PW), he began to perform overseas, most notably for American promotions such as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), Ring of Honor (ROH), and Chikara, as well as the Japanese promotion Dragongate, where he won the Open the Brave, Triangle, and Twin Gate Championships. He was a former PWG World Tag Team Champion and winner of PWG's inaugural Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament.
From 2012 to 2015, Satterley wrestled under the ring name Adrian Neville in NXT, the developmental territory of WWE. He won the NXT Tag Team Championship twice, with his first reign coming as one half of the inaugural champions with Oliver Grey and his second reign being with Corey Graves. He was also a one-time NXT Champion, making him the first man to have held both the NXT Championship and the NXT Tag Team Championship. He was promoted to the main roster under the shortened ring name Neville in 2015, and began competing in the cruiserweight division in 2016, becoming a record two-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion.
After leaving WWE in 2018, Satterley reverted to his previous ring name of Pac and returned to Dragongate, holding the Open the Dream Gate Championship for much of his time there and joining the villainous R.E.D. stable. He assumed the moniker of "The Bastard", which he continued to use until his death. In 2019, he left Dragon Gate and signed with AEW, where he became a member of the Death Triangle and Death Riders. He was also a one-time and the inaugural AEW International Champion and a two-time AEW World Trios Champion, at one point holding both the International and Trios titles simultaneously.
Benjamin Satterley was born on 22 August 1986 in Newcastle upon Tyne, the son of Jill and Stephen Satterley.
By the age of 16, Satterley had wrestled with backyard wrestling promotions TWXW in Gateshead and FXW in Middlesbrough, as well as the promotions Scarborough Wrestling Alliance in Scarborough and Essex Championship Wrestling in Essex. Even as one of the younger wrestlers in the group, his 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). He started training as a wrestler on a more permanent basis at the age of 18 at the Independent Wrestling Federation training school at St Joseph's Hall in Gateshead, which he later described as "pretty much the only wrestling school in the area". He received professional training at the Frontier Wrestling Alliance Academy under Mark Sloan.
Satterley made his debut under the ring name Pac at Independent Wrestling Federation on 27 March 2004, losing 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. He later performed in 3 Count Wrestling, where he debuted on 14 October 2005 and defeated EdEn and Falcon in the opening match. Pac 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.
Pac made his debut for International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom in April 2006, wrestling for the IPW:UK Title on his debut, losing in a triple threat against Leroy Kincaide and champion and match winner Martin Stone. He later had two more opportunities at the top title in IPW:UK, against Stone and then against Andy Boy Simmonz, but lost both. After a September 2006 triple threat against Kevin Steen and El Generico, the two Canadian wrestlers recommended Satterley to PWG head-booker Super Dragon. He made his PWG debut two months later as a result.
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.
On 29 September 2006, Pac teamed with Sheamus O'Shaunessy to defeat Micky L and Tony Spitfire for British Championship Wrestling's Retribution event. He returned for BCW No Blood, No Sympathy VI in 2008 to score a singles victory over CJ Hunter. Pac made his as yet final appearance for BCW at BCW Pac Is Back on 12 April 2019 where he unsuccessfully challenged BT Gunn for the BCW Heavyweight Championship in a triple threat with Jody Fleisch.
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.
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 the 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.
Various international promotions (2007–2012)
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. 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.
On 21 April 2007, 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 2007, 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 Chikara's 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.
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.
Shortly after participating in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's Battle of Los Angeles tournament, Pac was invited to Dragon Gate for its 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 in 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. Typhoon disbanded later that year.
In 2009, Pac joined the World-1 stable. On 22 March 2009, Pac and stablemates BxB Hulk and Naoki Tanizaki represented World-1 in a loss 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 made 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.
