During the season premiere of WWE SmackDown on the USA Network this past Friday night, Austin Theory and Grayson Waller of A-Town Down Under were set to face Kevin Owens and a partner of his choosing, who turned out to be a guy named “Ricky,” until “The Viper” Randy Orton made his way down to the ring. They went on to defeat Theory and Waller.
According to the official Twitter (X) account of the Local Competitor, “Ricky” is Ricky Gibson, owner of the Oregon Pro Wrestling School, who has been in the pro wrestling business since 2004 and has won tag team championship alongside his Midnight Heat partner Eddie Pearl in promotions such as DEFY, CWF Hollywood, Prestige Wrestling and POW! Pro.
Midnight Heat has also competed in companies like AEW, ROH, NJPW, Beyond Wrestling, Hoodslam, Supreme Pro and WrestleCore.
On the new @WWE SmackDown: Who was Kevin Owens' @FightOwensFight tag team partner, Ricky?
Ricky Gibson @rockinrickyg was the one who received a Stunner from Kevin when his original tag team partner Randy Orton showed up to face A-Town Down Under. #WWE #SmackDown #WWESmackDown pic.twitter.com/GwybBZ5TOO
— The Local Competitor (@LocalCompWWE) September 14, 2024
Ricky Gibson has been competing since 2004.
He’s one-half of Midnight Heat @_MidnightHeat with Eddie Pearl. They won Tag Team Titles in DEFY @defyNW, Championship Wrestling @CWFHollywood, Prestige Wrestling @WrestlePrestige, & POW! Pro @powprowrestling. #WWE #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/xhQ8JQRCq0
— The Local Competitor (@LocalCompWWE) September 14, 2024
Ricky Gibson & Eddie Pearl competed in other promotions these past few years.
They competed in AEW, ROH, NJPW STRONG, Beyond Wrestling @beyondwrestling, Hoodslam @HOODSLAM, Supreme Pro @spw_sacramento, WrestleCore @WrestleCoreRLD, & NEW @NEWWrestlingInc.#WWE #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/vDFCgI5HCb
— The Local Competitor (@LocalCompWWE) September 14, 2024
Ricky Gibson is the owner of the Oregon Pro Wrestling School @ORprowrestling. #WWE #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/oQyraiBZIN
— The Local Competitor (@LocalCompWWE) September 14, 2024
