Blake and Murphy was a
villainous professional wrestling
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 or ...
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 ...
in
WWE on their
developmental territory
In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a highe ...
NXT consisting of
Wesley Blake
Cory James Weston (born September 4, 1987) is an American professional wrestler currently working on the independent circuit under the ring name Westin Blake. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Wesley B ...
,
Buddy Murphy and their valet
Alexa Bliss
Alexis Cabrera (née Kaufman; born August 9, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Alexa Bliss. In 2013, Bliss ...
, where they are one time
NXT Tag Team Champions
The NXT Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental territory. Introduced on January 2 ...
after defeating former champions
Lucha Dragons
The Lucha Dragons were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Kalisto and Sin Cara.
They previously wrestled in WWE's developmental territory NXT, where they were one-time NXT Tag Team Champions. Their name is a reference to their ''lucha ...
.
History
In August 2014, Wesley Blake abandoned his previous cowboy character and formed a tag team with Buddy Murphy. On the August 14 episode of ''NXT'', Blake and Murphy were defeated in the first round of a number one contender tag team tournament by
Kalisto and
Sin Cara, later known as
The Lucha Dragons. For the rest of 2014, Blake and Murphy lost multiple matches to teams such as the Lucha Dragons and
The Vaudevillains (
Aiden English and
Simon Gotch). Blake and Murphy were once referred to as "Team Thick" in October, but that name was dropped in later episodes. Also in October 2014, Blake and Murphy were involved in a tag-team battle royal to determine the number one contenders to the
NXT Tag Team Championship
The NXT Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental territory. Introduced on Januar ...
; they were eliminated from the match by
The Ascension
Ascension or ascending may refer to:
Religion
* "Ascension", "Assumption", or "Translation", the belief in some religions that some individuals have ascended into Heaven without dying first
* Ascension of Jesus
* Feast of the Ascension (Asce ...
.
On the January 21, 2015 episode of ''NXT'', Blake and Murphy scored their first-ever televised victory by defeating The Vaudevillains. This led to a title match on the January 28, 2015 episode of ''NXT'' (taped on January 15) where Blake and Murphy defeated The Lucha Dragons to win the NXT Tag Team Championship.
At a January 31 NXT
house show
A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive d ...
, Blake and Murphy were billed without their first names.
This name change translated to television at
NXT TakeOver: Rival, where Blake and Murphy defeated The Lucha Dragons in a rematch for the titles.
In March, Blake and Murphy began a rivalry with
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady,
while attempting to woo their valet
Carmella on several occasions. On the May 13 episode of ''NXT'', Blake and Murphy distracted Carmella during her match with
Alexa Bliss
Alexis Cabrera (née Kaufman; born August 9, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Alexa Bliss. In 2013, Bliss ...
, causing her to lose.
At
NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, Blake and Murphy defeated Amore and Cassady to retain the NXT Tag Team Championship after interference from Bliss. Blake and Murphy lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to The Vaudevillains at
NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn.
Following their championship loss, Blake and Murphy would go on a multi-month losing streak, losing their rematch with The Vaudevillians, while also suffering losses to
American Alpha
American Alpha was a professional wrestling tag team, composed of former amateur wrestling, amateur wrestlers Jason Jordan and Chad Gable. The team performed on WWE's developmental brand NXT (WWE brand), NXT before being moved up to the main ros ...
,
The Hype Bros, Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, and The Ascension. On the May 18 episode of ''NXT'', after losing to
Shinsuke Nakamura and
Austin Aries, Alexa walked away from Blake and Murphy, leaving the duo and later being called up to WWE's main roster as part of the
2016 WWE Draft. On the June 1 episode of ''NXT'', Murphy would revert to his "Buddy Murphy" ring name in a loss against
Tye Dillinger. On the June 15 episode of ''NXT'', Blake and Murphy reunited, but after a miscommunication between the two, they were defeated by
TM-61. Again, the two attempted to battle The Hype Bros on the July 6, 2016 episode of ''NXT'', but were interrupted by the returning
Rhyno, leading to Murphy walking out on Blake. A scheduled match between Blake and Murphy on the October 12 episode of ''NXT'' did not take place as both men were defeated by
Samoa Joe. The duo then both ceased to appear regularly on television, Furtherly throughout the beginning of 2018, Murphy made his main roster debut by signing with
205 Live, thus having no chance for the reformation of the team or duo. Blake was eventually released from WWE on April 15, 2021, while Murphy was released on June 2, 2021.
Championships and accomplishments

*
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 ...
**PWI ranked Murphy #116 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the
PWI 500 in 2015
**PWI ranked Blake #121 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the
PWI 500 in 2015
*
WWE
**
NXT Tag Team Championship
The NXT Tag Team Championship is a men's professional wrestling tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE. It is defended on the NXT brand division, the promotion's developmental territory. Introduced on Januar ...
(
1 time)
References
External links
*
{{NXT Tag Team Championship
WWE NXT teams and stables