Garrett Griffith is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

. He is signed to

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...

(AEW) and its sister promotion

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...

(ROH) under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

Griff Garrison. He is a member of The Frat House

stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

Early life

Garrison was born in

Austell, Georgia Austell is a city in Cobb County 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 Game hunters and trappers frequently went through the area that is ...

, 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. ...

Welcome, North Carolina Welcome is a census-designated place (CDP) in Davidson County, North Carolina, 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 ...

, graduating in 2016. While in high school he played

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

as a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He went on to attend

Guilford College Guilford College is a private liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Guilford has both traditional students and students who attend its Center for ...

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

, graduating in 2020 with a

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

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

Guilford Quakers The Guilford Quakers are the athletic teams that represent Guilford College, located in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States in NCAA Division III intercollegiate sports. The Quakers compete as members of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. ...

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2016–2020)

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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. He also appeared with promotions such as the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

-based Anarchy Wrestling and Southern Fried Championship Wrestling, winning a variety of

championships In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

. In 2019, he began appearing with

. From 2018 to 2020, Garrison teamed with his former schoolmate Markus Cross as "Master and the Machine".

All Elite Wrestling / Ring of Honor (2020–present)

In June 2020, Garrison began wrestling for

appearing on ''

AEW Dynamite ''AEW Dynamite'', also known as ''Wednesday Night Dynamite'' or simply ''Dynamite'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by the American Professional wrestling promotion, promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It air ...

'' and ''

AEW Dark ''AEW Dark'', or simply ''Dark'', is an American professional wrestling streaming television program that was produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), running from October 8, 2019, to April 25, 2023, on AEW's YouTube channel. ...

'' as a jobber. In July 2020, he was paired with

Brian Pillman Jr. Brian Zachary Pillman (born September 9, 1993) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Lexis King. Pillman is known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) from 2019 ...

, 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, and Hybrid 2. In May 2021, they unsuccessfully challenged the

Young Bucks The Young Bucks are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Matthew Massie and Nicholas Massie, who perform under the ring names Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson. , they are signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), whe ...

for the

AEW World Tag Team Championship The AEW World Tag Team Championship is a men's 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 wr ...

. In the same month,

Julia Hart Julia Hart may refer to: * Julia Hart (filmmaker) (born 1982), American filmmaker and actress * Julia Hart (wrestler) Julia Hart (born November 8, 2001) is an American professional wrestler and former cheerleader. She is signed to All Elite W ...

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 "va ...

. 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 Büdgen (born 19 May 1985) is a Dutch professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Aleister Black. Before signing with WWE, Büdgen was known for his extensive work on the indepe ...

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, singer, and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Hounds of Hell and is a form ...

) on the January 19, 2022 episode of ''Dynamite'' that was won by Black and King. The Varsity Blonds continued to team together until quietly disbanding in October 2022. In December 2022, Garrison underwent surgery for an undisclosed injury. After over six months of inactivity, he returned to the ring in June 2023 with Ring of Honor - now AEW's sister promotion - losing to Lee Moriarty on episode #15 of ''

Ring of Honor Wrestling ''Ring of Honor Wrestling'' (also known as ''ROH Honor Club TV'', and often shortened as ''ROH Wrestling TV'', ''ROH TV'', ''ROH TV on HonorClub'', or ''ROH on HonorClub'') is an American professional wrestling television series produced by Rin ...

''. In September 2023, Garrison formed a new tag team with Cole Karter, with

Maria Kanellis Mary Louis Kanellis-Bennett (born February 25, 1982) is an American professional wrestler, manager, promoter, singer and model. She is best known for her tenures in WWE, TNA, All Elite Wrestling, and Ring of Honor. Outside of wrestling, she ...

as their

. Garrison returned to AEW in October 2023, losing to Wardlow in a squash on an episode of ''Dynamite''. In January 2024, Garrison lost to

Adam Copeland Adam Joseph Copeland (born October 30, 1973), better known by the ring name Edge, is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Cope. He is best known for his te ...

on an episode of ''

Collision In physics, a collision is any event in which two or more bodies exert forces on each other in a relatively short time. Although the most common use of the word ''collision'' refers to incidents in which two or more objects collide with great for ...

''. In April 2024, Garrison unsuccessfully faced

ROH World Champion The ROH World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by Ring of Honor (ROH). It is considered the most prestigious title in the promotion. The current champion is Bandido, who is in his second reign. In ...

Mark Briscoe Mark Pugh (born January 18, 1985) is an American professional wrestler best known as Mark Briscoe. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Ring of Honor (ROH), where he made a name teaming with his brother Jay as the Briscoe Brothers. ...

in a "Proving Ground" match. At the ROH pay-per-view Death Before Dishonor in July 2024, Garrison teamed with Anthony Henry in a loss to the Infantry. In February 2025, Garrison and Karter formed a

, the "Frat House", with Jacked Jameson and Preston Vance.

Professional wrestling style and persona

Garrison's signature moves include the sleeper hold,

spear A spear is a polearm 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 hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

spinebuster A spinebuster is a professional wrestling move in which an opponent is grabbed by the waist and then slammed down back-first. The standard variation starts with the wrestler facing their opponent and then grabs them around their waist, lifts them u ...

, 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 professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

'' **Ranked number 280 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

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

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