It doesn’t take much for Brody King to command the attention of a room.
The enormous 6-foot-6, 285-pound wrestler wears a black ski mask covering his face and a big puffer jacket during his AEW entrance, with a sprawl of colorful tattoos covering his exposed body. Everything about him represents the hardcore punk scene he’s spent the past 25 years in, yet King has an in-ring style that is uniquely his own. He throws his mammoth frame around the ring like a luchador, mixing in elements of Japanese wrestling and embodying the spirit of old-school Americans who transformed what was possible for big men to do in the ring.
It’s through that blended wrestling style and the passion King puts to his craft that evokes the “No Tomorrow” mantra written on his wrist.
“I guess I just expect it all to be gone tomorrow,” he tells Uncrowned ahead of AEW’s Full Gear 2025 pay-per-view this Saturday.
“If this is all gone, then at least you gave it everything.”
King is a veteran of 10 years in the ring, and the expectation that he perform at the very highest level has followed him throughout his career, regardless of promotion — from Ring of Honor, to New Japan Pro Wrestling, and most recently AEW. This past year, though, has been transformational.
Following the breakup of the House of Black and a brief stint partnering with Buddy Matthews as the Hounds of Hell, King found himself in a bit of uncharted territory this past summer. What could have been a sink-or-swim moment instead led to King thriving both as a singles star and winning the AEW World Tag Team Championship alongside Bandido in one of the more unexpected partnerships of 2025.
“I feel like everything in my life is always trial by fire, and I somehow always come out mostly unscathed,” King says.
“It’s been an incredible year. Being part of the House of Black was an incredible experience. I do wish it could have gone a little longer. Who knows if, in the future, maybe that can get revisited. But going from that to Hounds of Hell, where unfortunately Buddy got injured, to now teaming with Bandido, which kind of came out of nowhere — it all seems random, but somehow that’s just kind of how my career has gone this entire time. You just take what you’re given and you run with it and you do it to the best of your ability. ”
King and Bandido have known each other for nearly a decade, but never partnered before. They’re not a traditional tag-team in the sense of two guys who look remotely alike, or even like they belong on the same apron next to each other.
But the odd-couple pairing has been a hit for two athletes who, at a foundational level, have found commonalities in being both good humans and exceptional professional wrestlers.
“Me and Bandido couldn’t be more different, but also the same. We’re both very giving and we want to have the best match possible. At the same time, our styles are completely different,” King says.
Their combined background has blended together to form a hybrid of many different wrestling styles, resulting in a really unique, fresh and interesting product. It’s one of the many reasons Brodido has developed such a strong following so quickly, with both sides believing in what they’re building toward.
The next step in their unlikely run atop the AEW men’s tag-team division comes this Saturday night against FTR for the titles at Full Gear from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. More than simply defending their belts against the next slew of challengers, King commends FTR for the pedigree that comes with opponents of their caliber.
“They are, hands down, in my opinion, one of the top five best tag-teams of all time. And I think that’s indisputable,” King says. “I feel like a lot of people get nostalgic when you talk about the best tag-teams and no one wants to say that a current tag-team is in the top five of all time, but two of them are in AEW.
“I think the Young Bucks and FTR are [two of] the best of all time. And then I would say a third in the top five would’ve been the Briscoe Brothers. And, to have three of those be in the top five, I’ve wrestled all three of them in the last five-ish years — they’ve all had a huge part of my career and I’ve had such learning experiences and great relationships with each of those teams.”
When King reflects on his path to the top of AEW, matches like this weekend’s against transcendent talent are pivotal in continuing to grow and develop.
“If you’re not learning from them, then you’re not doing it right,” he says. “Or maybe you’re not meant to do this, right? Every one of those matches, you come out and you go, ‘That was a different level. Everything that was done in that match was done with intent,’ and the emotion and the thought process — everything is just different when you’re in the ring with any one of those types of teams.
“And FTR, they are the perfect blend of old-school, new-school, and then their own special blend of just FTR. So being across the ring from them, it is intimidating, but I feel like it’s also a measuring stick. And like I said, my whole career has been trial by fire. So I love to get thrown into the deep end where it’s like, ‘Alright, here we go. This is the best of the best. Let’s prove that we belong here.’”
While most can point to everything King has accomplished as part of a team alongside Bandido, he’s proven he’s plenty capable of singles stardom as well. His dynamic with the audience, how relatable he is, his energy, and the way King has been able to steal the spotlight through standout matches has elevated just how far he can go on his own.
King says breaking out as a singles star is something he’s always thinking about.
“[Bandido] is the Ring of Honor World Champion, which has been a title that has always eluded me. I’ve fought for it many times,” King says.
“Maybe somewhere down the line there is a match with me and Bandido for the ROH Championship, which I think would be really special. And I feel like there’s not a lot of times where you see two babyfaces going at it as friends. Sometimes those are the most brutal, hard-hitting matches, because there’s a level of respect for each other.”
Without question, King has aspirations for singles success in 2026 as well as maintaining everything he’s accomplished as one half of a tag-team. He points back to his appearances in AEW’s Continental Classic the past two years as breakout moments that he hopes to take advantage of on his way to singles gold.
In this moment, though, as he balances the current success he’s achieved while striving for something even greater, King says he’s simply blessed to have gone this far on his journey.
“Most people are almost done wrestling at 27, let alone starting pro wrestling. And here I am, about to turn 39 and I’m in, I feel like the prime of my career,” King says.
“Ten years in, it just feels like everything is starting to click and everything’s firing on all cylinders. As long as my body keeps up, then I feel like my brain is as sharp as ever and my body feels good. So I guess [it’s] just [about] keeping yourself humble and letting yourself know, every day could be the last. So give it your all today.”
