Mark Shepherd (born December 31, 1985), better known by 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 ...

Shane Taylor, 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), where he is the leader of the

Shane Taylor Promotions Mark Shepherd (born December 31, 1985), better known by the ring name Shane Taylor, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Shane Taylor Promotions stable. He also performs in ...

stable. He also performs in AEW's sister company,

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), where he is a former

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion The ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion. It is defended by three-man tag teams, also referred to as trios. The current champions are The Sons o ...

and

ROH World Television Champion The ROH World Television Championship is a professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling)#Gimmick/style championships, world television championship in the Ring of Honor (ROH) professional wrestling promotion, promotion. With the int ...

Early life

Shepherd grew up in the slums of

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. His father, a reformed

drug dealer A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

who confronted drug dealers and intervened in fights in front of the family home, did not want his son to follow on the same path and advised him to go to college. Shepherd studied business management, graduating in 2009. He also practiced

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

for 20 years and 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 ...

during his university years. He is now married and has children.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2007–2014)

Taylor in September 2008 Shepherd debuted in 2007. Over the following years he wrestled on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...

for promotions such as

International Wrestling Cartel International Wrestling Cartel is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is owned and operated by Justin Plummer, has become the longest tenured owner. Norm Connors ran the promotion for ...

Pro Wrestling eXpress Pro Wrestling eXpress (PWX, also known as NWA East) is a professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion that was founded in North Versailles, Pennsylvania in 1994 by Jim Miller and Sean "Shocker" Evans. It is the longest-runnin ...

, Pro Wrestling Rampage, and VIP Wrestling.

Ring of Honor / All Elite Wrestling (2014–present)

Debut; Pretty Boy Killers (2014–2017)

Shepherd debuted in

on November 15, 2014, losing to J. Diesel in a

dark match Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that o ...

Glory By Honor XIII Glory By Honor XIII was the 13th Glory By Honor professional wrestling event produced by Ring of Honor (ROH). It took place on November 15, 2014 at the San Antonio Shrine Auditorium in San Antonio, Texas. Background ''Glory by Honor XIII'' featu ...

. He returned to ROH in April 2015, losing to the Romantic Touch in another dark match. In May 2015, Taylor began teaming with Keith Lee. In September 2015, Taylor and Lee dubbed themselves the "Pretty Boy Killers". Over the following months, the Pretty Boy Killers faced teams including the Washington Bullets, the Alpha Class, the Get Along Gang, the

All Night Express The All Night Express (usually abbreviated ANX) was a professional wrestling tag team that primarily performed in Ring of Honor. The tag team consisted of Rhett Titus and Kenny King, who are former one-time ROH World Tag Team Champions. History ...

, and

War Machine War Machine (Col. James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by David Michelinie, John Byrne, and Bob Layton as a supporting character for Iron Man, he first appeared i ...

. In August 2016 at Field of Honor, the Pretty Boy Killers took part in a

gauntlet match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

to determine the number one contenders to the

ROH World Tag Team Championship The ROH World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World Tag Team Championship, world tag team championship contested for in the United States, American professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). The current champions are D ...

that was won by The Addiction. The following month at All Star Extravaganza VIII, they took part in a

four way match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

to determine the number one contenders that was won by

Colt Cabana Scott Colton (born May 6, 1980), better known by the ring name Colt Cabana, is an American professional wrestler, color commentator, and podcaster. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and as a coach, and he performs the same ...

and

Dalton Castle Dalton Castle may refer to: * Dalton Castle, Cumbria * Dalton Castle (wrestler) {{disambiguation ...

. At the first night of

Survival of the Fittest "Survival of the fittest" is a phrase that originated from Darwinian evolutionary theory as a way of describing the mechanism of natural selection. The biological concept of fitness is defined as reproductive success. In Darwinian terms, th ...

in November 2016, the Pretty Boy Killers lost to the

Briscoe Brothers The Briscoe Brothers, also called The Briscoes, were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of American brothers Jay Briscoe (Jamin Pugh, 1984–2023) and Mark Briscoe (Mark Pugh, born 1985). They were known for their 20-year tenure with th ...

in a three way match that also featured War Machine; the following night they defeated War Machine. In January 2017, Taylor signed his first contract with ROH. In February 2017 at Undisputed Legacy, the Pretty Boy Killers wrestled the Briscoe Brothers to a no contest. The Pretty Boy Killers subsequently disbanded following the departure of Keith Lee from ROH.

The Rebellion; title pursuits (2017–2019)

Taylor (left) wrestling Kenny King in February 2017 In spring 2017, Taylor joined the

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 ...

The Rebellion, which also included

Rhett Titus Everett Lawrence Titus (born September 15, 1987) is an American professional wrestler working for Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Television Champion, an overall two-time ROH Tag Team Champion individually, as well as winning ...

, Kenny King, and

Caprice Coleman Caprice Coleman (born 20 March 1977) is an American professional wrestler who has competed in Mid-Atlantic and Southern independent promotions including Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, NWA Wildside, Ring of Honor and, in recent years, Live Acti ...

. The Rebellion disbanded in June 2017 after losing a "losing unit must disband" match to Search and Destroy (

Alex Shelley Patrick Kenneth Martin (born May 23, 1983), better known by the ring name Alex Shelley, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. He is widely known for his tenure ...

Chris Sabin Joshua Harter (born February 4, 1982), better known by the ring name Chris Sabin, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. After being trained by Scott D'Amore, Sabin debuted in 2000 f ...

Jay White Jamie White (born 9 October 1992), better known by the ring name Jay White, is a New Zealand professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Bullet Club sub-group Bang Bang Gang. White is a former ...

, and

Jonathan Gresham Jonathan Gresham (born March 20, 1988) is an American professional wrestler. He performs on the independent circuit. He has previously wrestled for All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Champion, ROH Pure ...

) at Best in the World. On the third day of

Global Wars Global Wars is a professional wrestling event that had been held annually by the American Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion since 2012. Originally named Border Wars, the event was renamed Global Wars in 2014 after ROH announced a partnership with the ...

, in October 2017, Taylor defeated Josh Woods. Later that month, he defeated

Cheeseburger A cheeseburger is a hamburger with one or more slices of melted cheese on top of the meat patty, added near the end of the cooking time. Cheeseburgers can include variations in structure, ingredients and composition. As with other hamburgers, ...

to become number one contender for the

ROH World Television Championship The ROH World Television Championship is a professional wrestling Championship (professional wrestling)#Gimmick/style championships, world television championship in the Ring of Honor (ROH) professional wrestling promotion, promotion. With the int ...

. In November 2017, Taylor took part in the

tournament, which was won by

Punishment Martinez Luis Martínez (born September 26, 1982) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Damian Priest and is a former one-time World Heavyweight Champion. He is also known ...

. In December 2017 at

Final Battle Final Battle is a professional wrestling event, held annually by the Ring of Honor promotion. The event was initially held in 2002. It is held in December, and is the promotion's last show of the calendar year. The 2009 edition of the show was ...

, Taylor competed in a

four-way match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

for Kenny King's ROH World Television Championship that was won by

Silas Young Caleb DeWall (born September,9,1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Silas Young. He was last contracted for Ring of Honor, where he is a two-time ROH World Television Champion, and has ...

. In February 2018, Taylor unsuccessfully attempted to become number one contender to the

. In March 2018 at Manhattan Mayhem, Taylor teamed with The Kingdom in a loss to

Bullet Club , stylized as BULLET CLUB and sometimes shortened to BC, is a professional wrestling Glossary of professional wrestling terms#stable, stable primarily appearing in the Japanese Professional wrestling promotion, promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling ...

. The following month at Masters of the Craft, Taylor teamed with

SoCal Uncensored SoCal Uncensored (SCU) was an American professional wrestling stable that consisted of Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, and Scorpio Sky. Daniels and Kazarian formed a tag team during their time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Desc ...

in another loss to Bullet Club. In May 2018, at

War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It was written between 1895 and 1897, and serialised in '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and '' Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US in 1897. The full novel wa ...

, Taylor lost to

EVIL Evil, as a concept, is usually defined as profoundly immoral behavior, and it is related to acts that cause unnecessary pain and suffering to others. Evil is commonly seen as the opposite, or sometimes absence, of good. It can be an extreme ...

. In October 2018, at

Glory by Honor XVI Glory By Honor XVI was a two night, two city professional wrestling event produced by Ring of Honor (ROH), which took place on October 12, 2018 at UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland (live event) and on October 14, 2018 at the 2300 Arena in P ...

, Taylor lost to

Hangman Page Stephen Blake Woltz (born July 27, 1991), better known by his ring name "Hangman" Adam Page, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he is a former AEW World Champion and AEW World Tag Team Champion ...

. At the end of December 2018, Taylor signed an exclusive contract with ROH. In March 2019 at the ROH 17th Anniversary Show, Taylor unsuccessfully challenged

Jeff Cobb is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler. As of May 2025, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name JC Mateo and is a member of The Bloodline. He is best known for his tenure in N ...

for the

. At the ROH and

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

G1 Supercard G1 Supercard was a professional wrestling supershow co-produced by the American Ring of Honor (ROH) and Japanese New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotions. It was the 13th annual Supercard of Honor event and took place on April 6, 2019, at Madis ...

pay-per-view in April 2019, Taylor,

Bully Ray Mark LoMonaco (born July 14, 1971), known by his ring name Bubba Ray Dudley (also spelled Buh-Buh Ray Dudley), is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for being one-half of the Dudley B ...

, and

lost to

Flip Gordon Travis Gordon Lopes Jr. (born December 12, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, where he performs under the ring name Flip Gordon and is the current NWA World Historic Middleweigh ...

Juice Robinson Joseph Ryan Robinson (born April 10, 1989), better known by his ring name Juice Robinson, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Bang Bang Gang stable. He also wrestles in Ne ...

, and

Mark Haskins Mark Haskins (born June 25, 1988), is an English professional wrestler. He is known internationally for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, as well as his appearances in Ring of Honor, Progress Wrestling, Revolution Pro Wrestling, Drag ...

in a "New York City street fight".

Shane Taylor Promotions (2019–present)

In May 2019, at

, Taylor won the

from

in a

Four Corner Survival match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

. Taylor successfully defended his title against Bandido at Best in the World in June 2019 and against

Tracy Williams Tracy Williams (born December 18, 1988) is an American professional wrestler. Best known under his nickname "Hot Sauce", he currently performs for Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is a former ROH World Tag Team Champion and former ROH World Telev ...

at Summer Supercard in August 2019. In September 2019, a storyline aired in which ROH ended Taylor's contract due to him criticizing the promotion's lack of interest in his booking. At Death Before Dishonor XVII later that month, Taylor retained his title by beating Dragon Lee,

, and Tracy Williams in a

. In October 2019, Taylor defended his title in the United Kingdom as part of ROH's "Honor United" tour. Taylor's reign ended in December 2019 at

in December 2019 when he lost to Dragon Lee. In late-2019, Taylor formed the stable "Shane Taylor Promotions" with Jasper Kaun, Moses Maddox, and Ron Hunt. In early 2020, ROH went on hiatus due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. After ROH resumed operations, Taylor returned in October 2020. At

in December 2020, he defeated

Jay Briscoe Jamin Dale Pugh (January 25, 1984 – January 17, 2023), known by his ring name Jay Briscoe, was an American professional wrestler. He was known for his time with his brother Mark Briscoe as the Briscoe Brothers in Ring of Honor, where he was ...

. In February 2021, Shane Taylor Promotions (Taylor, Kaun, and Moses) defeated MexiSquad ( Bandido,

Flamita Flamita (born November 30, 1994) is a Mexican '' luchador enmascarado'' (or masked professional wrestler). In addition to working for promotions such as Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) and Desastre Total Ultraviolento (DTU) in his native country, ...

, and

Rey Horus Rey Horus is a Mexican ''luchador enmascarado'', or masked professional wrestler. Formerly he wrestled for Major League Wrestling (MLW) and Ring Of Honor (ROH). He was also known as the second El Hijo de Rey Misterio, Spanish for "The Son of R ...

) to win the

ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship The ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion. It is defended by three-man tag teams, also referred to as trios. The current champions are The Sons o ...

. At Best in the World in July 2021, Shane Taylor Promotions successfully defended the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship against Dak Draper,

Dalton Castle Dalton Castle may refer to: * Dalton Castle, Cumbria * Dalton Castle (wrestler) {{disambiguation ...

, and Eli Isom. At

in December 2021, Taylor defeated Kenny King in a "Fight Without Honor". At the same event, Kaun, Moses, and O'Shay Edwards (substituting for Taylor) lost the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship to The Righteous (Bateman,

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

, and

Vincent Vincent (Latin: ''Vincentius'') is a masculine given name originating from the Roman name ''Vincentius'', which itself comes from the Latin verb ''vincere'', meaning "to conquer." People with the given name Artists *Vincent Apap (1909–2003) ...

). ROH was subsequently placed on hiatus once again upon its acquisition by

owner

Tony Khan Antony Rafiq Khan (born October 10, 1982) is an American businessman, sports executive, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the founder, co-owner, president, CEO, executive producer, and head booker of All Elite Wrestling ...

. Taylor made his return to ROH in December 2022 at

, teaming with JD Griffey in a loss to Swerve in Our Glory ( Keith Lee and

Swerve Strickland Stephon Strickland (born September 30, 1990) is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Swerve Strickland. He also appears on the independent circuit. Strickl ...

). He won a tournament to earn a ROH World Television Championship match, which he lost to

Samoa Joe Nuufolau Joel Seanoa (born March 17, 1979), better known by the ring name Samoa Joe, is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of the Opps, and is one-third of the AEW Worl ...

at AEW's All Out pay-per-view in September 2023. Taylor then reformed Shane Taylor Promotions (STP) with Lee Moriarty, and the following month at the

WrestleDream AEW WrestleDream is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Established in 2023, it is held annually in October as a memorial show to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) founder ...

pre-show, they participated in an eight-person

mixed tag team match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder ...

, which they lost. Taylor then lost to Keith Lee at

in December. The following year, he recruited

Anthony Ogogo Anthony Osejua Ojo Ogogo (born 24 November 1988) is an English professional wrestler and former professional boxer. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of Shane Taylor Promotions. He also competes in his native Engl ...

and The Infantry ( Carlie Bravo, Shawn Dean, and Trish Adora) into his stable.

Professional wrestling style and persona

Taylor wrestles in a "powerhouse" style. His signature moves include the "

Marcus Garvey Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) (commonly known a ...

Driver" (a package piledriver), "Taylor Made" (a

front powerslam A Powerslam or simply Slam is a professional wrestling body slam move in which the wrestler performing the slam falls face-down on top of the opponent. The use of the term "powerslam" usually refers to the front powerslam or the scoop powersla ...

), "Unprovoked Violence" (a

lariat A lasso or lazo ( or ), also called reata or la reata in Mexico, and in the United States riata or lariat (from Mexican Spanish lasso for roping cattle), is a loop of rope designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when ...

), and "Welcome to the Land" (a fire thunder driver).

Championships and accomplishments

* Cleveland Knights Championship Wrestling ** CKCW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Red River Wrestling **Red River Heavyweight Championship (1 time, final) *Texoma Pro Wrestling **Unified Texoma Pro World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * New Era Pro Wrestling ** NEPW Triple Crown 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 No. 65 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 2020 *Pro Wrestling Rampage ** PWR Heavyweight Championship (1 time) ** PWR Lake Erie Championship (1 time) ** PWR Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Bill Collier (1 time) and J-Rocc (1 time) *

( 1 time) - with

Kaun Kaun may refer to: Art and entertainment * '' Kaun?'', a 1999 Hindi film * '' Kaun? Kaisey?'', a 1983 Hindi film * Kaun (song), a song by Indian Ocean from album '' Kandisa'' Other uses * The Old Norse name of the ''k'' rune; see Kaunan ...

and Moses **

( 1 time) * Reality of Wrestling ** ROW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tyree Taylor * Renegade Wrestling Alliance ** RWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * VIP Wrestling ** VIP Heavyweight Championship (2 times) ** VIP Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Keith Lee * WildKat Pro Wrestling ** WildKat Heavyweight Championship (2 times) ** WildKat Heavyweight Championship Tournament (2015)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Shane 1986 births 21st-century African-American people All Elite Wrestling personnel American male professional wrestlers African-American professional wrestlers Living people People from Cleveland Professional wrestlers from Cleveland Professional wrestlers from Ohio ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions ROH World Television Champions