Eddie Edwards (wrestler)


Eric Maher, better known by the ring name Eddie Edwards, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is the second and current leader of The System.
In TNA, Edwards is a former two-time TNA World Champion, two-time TNA X Division Champion and a seven-time TNA World Tag Team Champion, where he won it five times with Davey Richards and twice with Brian Myers.
Edwards has also wrestled for Ring of Honor, where he is a former World Champion, the inaugural Television Champion and a two-time World Tag Team Champion with his partner Davey Richards as the American Wolves. He won ROH's Survival of the Fittest tournament in November 2010 which propelled him to win the World Championship. His World Championship victory made him the first wrestler to win the ROH Triple Crown and the first wrestler to ever hold both the TNA and ROH Triple Crowns. He was also a regular for the Southern California-based promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and has made several tours of Japan with Pro Wrestling Noah, where he is a former GHC Heavyweight Champion, making him the first gaijin to hold that title.
Between TNA, ROH and Noah, Edwards has won 15 total championships and is the only wrestler to have held the TNA, ROH and GHC world championships.

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2002–present)

Debuting in 2002 as Eddie Edwards, Maher has competed for numerous independent promotions throughout his career, most notably New England Championship Wrestling, Top Rope Promotions, Maryland Championship Wrestling, and the Millennium Wrestling Federation. He has also competed for MXW Pro Wrestling, Defiant Pro Wrestling, Power League Wrestling, Showcase Pro Wrestling and Big Time Wrestling.
On February 5, 2003, Edwards became the first MWF Television Champion, by defeating Jerelle Clark in the final of a tournament to crown the inaugural champion. He held the title for over two and a half years, before losing it to Tommaso Ciampa in a three-way match, also involving A.J. Styles.
In January 2007, Edwards started wrestling for Squared Circle Wrestling. As part of 2CW he wrestled against R. J. Brewer, C. W. Anderson, Samoa Joe, and challenged Slyck Wagner Brown for the 2CW Title in August 2008. Edwards won his first title in 2CW, the 2CW Tag Team Championship alongside Davey Richards, on April 2, 2010. They held the championship for four months before losing it to Colin Delaney and Jimmy Olsen on August 22.
On June 9, 2007, Edwards competed in NECW's annual Iron 8 Championship Tournament, where he defeated Gary Cassidy in his first round match. Later that night, he beat Bobby Fish, Brandon Locke, and Brian Fury in the final, in a four-way Iron Man match, to win the Tournament. The time limit had been reached with a four-way tie with each wrestler on two pinfalls, so Edwards won in sudden death overtime, during which Fish broke his ankle.
On October 30, 2011, Edwards made an appearance in Chikara, losing to Jigsaw.
On November 30, 2012, he and Roderick Strong, billed as the Dojo Bros., won the Premiere Wrestling Xperience's Tag Team Championship.
At House of Hardcore VII, Edwards made his debut in the promotion, defeating Eddie Kingston.

Pro Wrestling Noah (2005–2013, 2017, 2019)

On August 20, 2005, Edwards started his first tour with Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah. During the tour, which lasted until September 18, Edwards wrestled mainly opening matches, losing all of them. During his time in Noah, Edwards also underwent further training. During 2006, Edwards made two more tours with Noah, first in April and the second in November. On December 2, Edwards picked up his first win in Noah, when he and Doug Williams defeated Shuhei Taniguchi and Yoshinari Ogawa in a tag team match, with Edwards pinning Taniguchi for the win. During the next years, Edwards continued making two tours of Noah per year and now had begun earning himself title matches in the promotion. On May 25, 2007, Edwards and Ted DiBiase, Jr. unsuccessfully challenged Kentaro Shiga and Kishin Kawabata for the GHC Hardcore Tag Team Championship, and on November 28, 2008, Edwards also unsuccessfully challenged Kenta for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship. During the tours, Edwards formed a partnership with Ricky Marvin, with whom he took part in the 2008 and 2009 Nippon TV Cup Jr. Heavyweight Tag Leagues, with the two making the semifinals in the latter. In the 2010 edition of the tournament, Edwards and Roderick Strong made it to the finals, before losing to the team of Atsushi Aoki and Kenta. On January 29, 2011, Edwards received his second shot at the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Kotaro Suzuki. In April 2012, Edwards took part in his first Global Tag League, teaming with Colt Cabana. After two wins, one draw and four losses, the team was eliminated from the tournament, but was afterward awarded the Technique award. Edwards then formed a new partnership with Bobby Fish, with whom he took part in the 2012 Nippon TV Cup Jr. Heavyweight Tag League and 2013 Global Tag League. Edwards returned to Noah in late October 2013 to take part in the 2013 Global League. Despite big wins over reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta and Katsuhiko Nakajima, he finished last in his block.
On August 26, 2017, Edwards defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima to win the GHC Heavyweight Championship for the first time, becoming the first ever gaijin to win the title. On October 1, he defeated Naomichi Marufuji for his first successful title defense. He lost the title to Kenoh on December 22.
Edwards returned to NOAH in a Tag Team match, along with Go Shiozaki and Yoshiki Inamura against the team of HAYATA, Kenoh and Masa Kitamiya. The team of Edwards lost the match. However, Edwards won his match against Kitamiya on February 24, and that same night, they challenged the new Tag Team Champions, Go Shiozaki and Katsuhiko Nakajima to a title match. The match took place on March 10, which Edwards and Kitamiya were defeated.
Edwards once again returned to a NOAH ring in November 2019 for a six-man tag team match at NOAH The Best in the Ryogoku Kokugikan. He aligned himself with heel group Stinger, joining the tag team of Atsushi Kotoge and Chris Ridgeway against Masaaki Mochizuki, Minoru Tanaka, and Super Crazy. Edwards won the match for his team after hitting Super Crazy with a Tiger Driver and a Shining Wizard.

Ring of Honor (2006–2013)

Early appearances (2006–2008)

Edwards made his Ring of Honor debut on December 22, 2006, at International Challenge, losing to Austin Aries. His second ROH appearance was over a month later, when he lost to Jack Evans at Dedicated on January 26, 2007.
On April 11, 2008, at Bedlam In Beantown, after defeating Jigsaw, Edwards accepted Larry Sweeney's proposal to join his faction, Sweet and Sour, Inc. His first match as part of Sweet and Sour, Inc was a tag team match against Erick Stevens and Pelle Primeau on April 12 at Injustice, which Edwards and fellow faction member Chris Hero won. Following this match, he went on a hiatus from ROH until Up For Grabs in June, when he lost to Claudio Castagnoli. In September 2008, Sweet and Sour, Inc, and Edwards in particular, became embroiled in a feud with Erick Stevens, leading to various combinations of the faction members taking on Stevens and an assortment of tag team partners. This included a match where Stevens and Brent Albright defeated Edwards and Adam Pearce at the Driven pay-per-view.

The American Wolves (2008–2010)

Later that year, in December, Edwards began teaming with fellow Sweet and Sour, Inc member, Davey Richards, as The American Wolves. Their first match as a team was on December 26, at All Star Extravaganza IV, where they lost to The Briscoe Brothers in a three-way elimination tag team match, which also involved Claudio Castagnoli and Nigel McGuinness. The following night at Final Battle 2008, the American Wolves, along with Go Shiozaki, lost to Brent Albright, Roderick Strong, and Erick Stevens in a "New York City Street Fight". Later that night, they attacked and injured Mark Briscoe. As 2009 began, they began challenging for the ROH World Tag Team Championship, losing to the champions Kevin Steen and El Generico on numerous occasions. They eventually won the Championship on April 10, at a Ring of Honor Wrestling taping, in a "Tables are Legal" match. Edwards and Richards went on to successfully defend the Championship against teams made up of ROH's top wrestlers including Tyler Black and Bryan Danielson, and against former champions Kevin Steen and El Generico at Manhattan Mayhem III in a submission match.
On September 25, Edwards suffered a broken elbow in an Anything Goes match against Kevin Steen. Despite the injury, he was able to compete the following night in a Ladder War against Steen and Generico, in which The American Wolves retained the championship. Edwards underwent successful surgery on October 6, after the surgery was postponed from October 1. On his return to ROH on December 19 at Final Battle 2009, The American Wolves lost the Tag Team Championship to the Briscoe Brothers.

Focus on singles competition (2010–2012)

In 2010, Edwards competed in a tournament to determine the inaugural ROH World Television Champion. He defeated Colt Cabana and Kevin Steen en route to the final, where he defeated his tag team partner Richards to become the inaugural champion on March 5. He made his first defense of the championship at the Ring of Honor Wrestling television tapings the following night, by defeating Cabana, and went to successfully defend the championship again on March 20 by defeating Petey Williams. At the Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings in May, Edwards introduced the "10 Minute Hunt", where if his opponent can either defeat Edwards within 10 minutes or last 10 minutes, they would receive a future ROH World Television Championship match.
During a match at the Ring of Honor Wrestling television tapings on July 16, Davey Richards lost to Roderick Strong after refusing assistance from Shane Hagadorn, the manager of The American Wolves. Afterwards, Richards attacked Hagadorn when Hagadorn claimed credit for making Richards the best wrestler in the world, and Edwards sided with Richards, ending their association with Hagadorn. On September 8, 2010, Ring of Honor announced that Edwards had signed a contract extension with the company. Later that week, he successfully defended the ROH World Television Championship against two members of The Embassy. He defeated Erick Stevens on September 10, before defeating Shawn Daivari at Glory By Honor IX the following night.
On November 12, 2010, Edwards won the 2010 Survival of the Fittest tournament. He defeated Chris Hero in the first round to advance to the final, a six-man elimination match, in which he last eliminated Kenny King via submission to win. The following month on December 9, Edwards defeated Mark Briscoe to retain the ROH World Television Championship at the Ring of Honor Wrestling tapings, before losing it to Christopher Daniels at the second night of television tapings the following day. On March 19, 2011, at Manhattan Mayhem IV, Edwards defeated defending champion Roderick Strong to win the ROH World Championship for the first time. His victory made him the first person to win the ROH Triple Crown, having held the World Tag Team, World Television and World championships in the promotion. Edwards made his first title defense on April 1, defeating Christopher Daniels at the first night of Honor Takes Center Stage to retain the championship. On June 26 at Best in the World 2011, Edwards lost the ROH World Championship to Davey Richards.
Edwards then faced Roderick Strong in a "Ringmaster Challenge" two out of three falls match at Death Before Dishonor IX in September, with the winner earning a guaranteed match for the ROH World Championship. With one decision each, Edwards and Strong competed in a 15-minute Iron Man match for the third decision, which Edwards won during overtime. In order to prepare for his World Championship match, Edwards began training with Dan Severn to counter Richards' mixed martial arts moves. At Final Battle 2011, Severn accompanied Edwards to the ring for his rematch with Richards, in which Edwards was unsuccessful in regaining the ROH World Championship. At the January 7, 2012, tapings of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Edwards formed a new partnership with Adam Cole, opposite Davey Richards and Kyle O'Reilly. At ROH's Homecoming 2012 show on January 20, it was announced that Edwards would be unable to compete during that weekend's shows due to a staph infection, although he still made an appearance to aid Cole. On March 4 at the 10th Anniversary Show, Edwards and Cole defeated Davey Richards and Kyle O'Reilly in a main event tag team match.