Pac was unlike any wrestler before him.
Yes, there have been other athletic short guys. Yes, there have been other muscular flippy dudes. There had even been guys that could do most of what he did in the ring.
But none of them had that aura that defined PAC.
I first became familiar with him from his work in Dragon Gate. In a company full of super talented super athletes, he still stood out. In particular the first match of his that I can recall in any detail was him, Masato Yoshino and BxB Hulk vs CIMA, Naruki Doi and Ricky O’Shea. They put on a 15-minute clinic that would not be out of place today, some 15 years later, that was how far ahead of time they were. The PAC vs Ricky sections are a work of art from two guys way too talented to stay unseen. Later that year, in Nov. Ricky and him would again tear the house down Main Eventing Night Six of The Crown Gate Tour.
I finally became fully aware of who he really was with his performance in the 2012 Best of the Super-Juniors tournament in New Japan. Great matches with the legendary Jushin Liger, KUSHIDA and Prince Devitt, among others, showed that he belonged on the bigger stages. I implore you to go find the match vs Devitt. It was two young UK guys trying to prove how much they belonged, simply tearing Korakuen Hall down.
At the end of 2012 he signed with WWE where he quickly became a multi-time NXT Tag Champion. Fun fact, not long after winning first tag title he beat Scott Dawson and Judas Devlin in a handicap match in under 4 minutes. That is Dax Hardwood of FTR, 3 time AEW Tag champ and Luchasarus, also a former AEW Tag Champ in Jurassic Express. Then that afternoon and the next day there was a pair of back to back matches he wrestled in early 2013 that I think should be seen by all as well, the first was on NXT episode #161, it was against Luke Harper (Brodie Lee) and the next day he wrestled Antonio Cesaro (Claudio Castagnoli) which aired on NXT episode #166. In both of these you get the classic WWE big man vs little guy story but told with such talent and enough new ideas that both felt fresh and different from each other.
In 2015 Neville had a 9 month run as champion of NXT following a very entertaining chase versus Bo Dallas (I was a Bo-Liever). His run on top included 4 great PPV matches. I still rank the 4 way with Sami Zayb, Tyler Breeze and Tyson Kidd as among my fave NXT matches ever. There are many great TV matches during this era, but the one on Raw featuring him and Zayn vs Breeze and Kidd is another great effort from the four.
In 2015 he was called up to the main roster, and put on an instant classic TV match with Seth Rollins (4/6/15 Raw). This match was so good they ran it back for the WWE Title in August on Raw again (this time 3/8/15 Raw). At Summerslam he would team with Green Arrow actor Stephen Amell to take on Stardust (Cody Rhodes) and Wade Barrett in a surprisingly good match. He suffered a major setback when he fractured his ankle during a match with Chris Jericho on an episode of Raw. The match is famous for Chris realizing PAC was hurt but the ref missing it and Chris getting himself DQ’d instead of doing any damage to PAC by trying a spot. Good Brother watching out for Good Brother.
2016 ended on a high note as he began to appear on WWE’s new Cruiser specific show 205Live. In 2017 he became King of the Cruiserweights and fully leaned into the Aura that WWE had tried to hide. He stopped smiling for camera and started kicking arse. But I want to illustrate how little WWE appeared to care about the work he was doing: After he and Austin “Complete and Utter Toolbag of a Human” Aries were stuck on the preshow at Mania in the Cruiserweight Title match they proceeded to put on a 41/2 star match. WWE rewarded them further by not including the match on the DVD release.
After leaving WWE when he refused to put over Enzo again (oddly a move that normally causes the locker room to dislike you in this case he received much support) he returned to Dragon Gate. Among the nonstop bangers of this run, the Open the Dream Gate victory over Masato Yoshino on Dec 4th must be seen.
In late 2018 he signed with AEW. He had a PPV match with Kenny Omega, a 4 and ½ star classic. He won that clash and soon started a program with Hangman Page that lead to the PPV Full Gear, which rumors say was inspired by PAC always appearing in his full ring gear. PAC in 2020 would work a 30-minute Iron Man match that ended up as many’s match of the year (2/26) he had a much loved PPV match with Orange Cassidy before pandemic restrictions and injuries prevented him from working as much that year. He did get to work the beginning of a program with Butcher (RIP) and Blade before he left.
He formed the Death Triangle with Rey Fenix and Penta around this time becoming a trios powerhouse. He and Fenix had a match against the Young Bucks for the Tag belts on April 8th of the year. He would eventually become the first ever All-Atlantic Champion in AEW, the belt now called the International title. Triangle then had a stunning best of 7 series vs The Elite for the Trios Belt. If you have not seen them go do that, I’ll wait…. See? I know right!
After Penta and Fenix left PAC joined up with The Blackpool Combat Club. He would have another stunning match vs Will Ospreay at All-Out 2024.
In one memorable night he took on a wrestler named Gravity. The humor of the Man Gravity Forgot taking on Gravity either entertained you enough or the twelve-minute-high speed action did. He continued having great matches up until the day before he passed, putting on a 4 star match vs Andrade El Idolo at All-Out 2026.
To speak on his Aura and how AEW understood it, in his last 15 PPV matches, 13 were title matches.
I told you a bunch of stats and pointed you to a bunch of matches that will show you how good he was as a wrestler. But the thing is, I can not tell you nor show you the effect he had on the industry, because it will never be measured in wins or losses or titles held. PAC’s unending legacy in this business will not be the long line of stand out matches. Benjamin Satterly will be remembered because he was a great human being. I’m not speaking from first hand experience, but based on everything Ive heard from people who did know him, he was one of the good guys. Pro wrestling lacks those, it’s a small group and one that seems to leave us too soon.
I will forever love the Bastard. I will forever bend the knee to King PAC. I will believe that gravity forgot a man one time.
RIP you Glorios Bastard.
Tiffany has a blog of here own up, read it here: https://outsiderpublishingcompany.com/forever-the-bastard-remembering-pac/
