Two former WWE stars quietly added to AEW's roster

A former WWE tag team has seemingly been added to AEW's active roster. The stars in question, Zack Gibson and James Drake, compete together as the Grizzled Young Veterans.

Gibson and Drake established themselves as a formidable tag team through their performances on WWE's NXT UK brand initially during their run in the sports entertainment juggernaut. The duo became the inaugural NXT UK Tag Team Champions, and sometime after losing the belts, they made their debut on NXT in 2020. Unfortunately, they were unable to win the iconic Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament in 2021 and in 2022, despite getting really close each time.

GYV continued to make appearances on NXT subsequently, and despite failing to obtain more championship gold, they underwent a gimmick transformation after joining Schism and renaming themselves The Dyad. Gibson and Drake exited WWE in 2023 after their contracts expired, following which they returned to the independent scene. They made their AEW debut last year on AEW Collision in April. Although they have not been featured extensively on the Tony Khan-led company's programming, they did make their television return last month in Glasgow, Scotland, on Collision in an unsuccessful effort against GOA.

It was recently noted on X/Twitter that Zack Gibson and James Drake have been added to AEW's roster on the promotion's official roster page.

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It remains to be seen when the Grizzled Young Veterans will compete in an All Elite ring next.

GYV's recent title match outside of AEW

While on hiatus from All Elite Wrestling television, Zack Gibson and James Drake have been wrestling extensively in other promotions, including DPW, West Coast Pro-Wrestling, ROH, and Revolution Pro-Wrestling. In their latest match to date, the duo unsuccessfully challenged The Young Guns for their RevPro Undisputed British Tag Team Titles at the company's 13 Year Anniversary Show in London, England, last month.

GYV has also made appearances on Burning Heart Pro-Wrestling, a company they themselves helped found and launch last year.

About the author

Anurag is an AEW writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling. He holds a BA and MA degree in English along with a TEFL certification to teach English. Before Sportskeeda, he worked as a Content and Correspondence writer at Nayabad Titas, a theater group. He has also worked as a English language tutor.

To ensure complete accuracy, he uses internet resources, social media platforms, and especially pieces composed by his peers to find solid, verified information that he presents as objectively as possible. Thanks to his academic background, he can research different subjects thoroughly.

Anurag's interest in wrestling began as a child. He watched RAW and Smackdown frequently from age 10 or 11 and was officially hooked by the YES Movement story in WWE heading into WrestleMania 30.

As a lifelong wrestling fan and lover of stories, Anurag would read news, articles, and other content about the talent and events he enjoyed watching. His understanding of the business continued to grow with time, and his interest in the art and sport of wrestling led him to pursue a career as a writer.

Apart from writing, he loves to read books, watch movies and television programs, play and listen to music, and write poetry and fiction.

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Edited by Anurag Mukherjee