Chuck Taylor

Dustin Lee Howard (born April 22, 1986), better known by the ring name Chuck Taylor, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

Known as "The Kentucky Gentleman" and "Sexy Chuckie T", he is a member of the Best Friends stable alongside original tag team partner Trent Beretta, Orange Cassidy, Kris Statlander, and Danhausen.

Howard has wrestled on the independent circuit since 2002, most notably appearing for Chikara, where he held the Campeonatos de Parejas twice, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where he is a former two-time PWG World Champion.

He is also known for his work in larger national and international promotions like Ring of Honor (ROH) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).

Dustin began his wrestling training in 2002, at age 15, under the tutelage of Brandon Walker at the Old School Wrestling Training Academy in Hardin, Kentucky.

Due to age requirements for wrestling licenses in Kentucky, he was unable to wrestle during shows in-state until age 18, during which time he wrestled for promotions in Tennessee and Illinois.

The most prominent of these was the then-newly restarted Chaos Pro Wrestling (CPW) in Brookport, Illinois, where he began his friendship with fellow wrestler Trevor Mann, who has since been known by the ring name Ricochet.

Howard's ring name of Chuck Taylor was derived by his trainers due to his habit of wearing the famous sneakers of the same name during training sessions.

Howard, under the ring name Chuck Taylor, made his Chikara debut on June 24, 2006, at the Young Lions Cup IV tournament, defeating his rival Ricochet in the first round before being eliminated in the six-way semi-final round by Andy Sumner.

The next night, he teamed up with Cloudy to defeat Ricochet and Player Uno in a non-tournament tag team match, with the four receiving a standing ovation after the match.

However, Taylor would quickly become a villain during his match with Eddie Kingston at the Brick event on November 17, gaining an upset victory with some help from an interfering "Sweet & Sour" Larry Sweeney.

After impressing Sweeney, Taylor was allowed to replace Chris Hero in the 2007 King of Trios tournament, joining Team F.I.S.T. (Icarus and Gran Akuma) on the Kings of Wrestling team.

The Kings of Wrestling made it to the semi-final round before losing to the team of Miyawaki, Yoshiaki Yago and KUDO.

Despite the loss, Taylor rebounded by entering the first-ever Rey de Voladores tournament on April 22, 2007, defeating the likes of PAC, Ricochet, Retail Dragon en route to the finals of the tournament, where he defeated Lince Dorado.

However, problems in the Kings of Wrestling arose as Chris Hero, the man he replaced at King of Trios, had split the Kings of Wrestling stable in two, with Hero, Sweeney, and Claudio Castagnoli comprising the Kings of Wrestling while Team F.I.S.T. (Taylor, Akuma, and Icarus) once again became a separate team.

At the Aniversario! event in May, the Kings and F.I.S.T. met in a six-man tag team match, which F.I.S.T. won.

Despite losing, the Kings reunited with F.I.S.T. and the Kings of Wrestling became the top stable in Chikara, later recruiting Mitch Ryder, Max Boyer and Shayne Hawke to their ranks.

Using this momentum, Taylor went on to win the Young Lions Cup V, beating Cabana Man Dan, Lince Dorado, MosCOW the Communist Bovine, Player Uno, Ice Cream, Jr. and Amigo Suzuki on the first night and Arik Cannon in the semifinals on the second night, before beating longtime rival Ricochet in the finals.

After a successful title defense against Drake Younger, Taylor put the cup on the line against Ricochet on August 18 at the 2007 International Invaders weekend, with Ricochet putting his career on the line.

Taylor would win the match, seemingly ridding his rival for good.

However, Taylor's momentum would come to a halt after he was eliminated in that years Torneo Cibernetico match by Lince Dorado.

A month later, he was defeated by Claudio Castagnoli in singles competition at the October 26 event Bruised.

Later that night, Taylor replaced an inactive Icarus to team with Akuma in a Campeonatos de Parejas title defense against Incoherence (Delirious and Hallowicked), which Taylor and Akuma lost.

The next night, Taylor lost his Young Lions Cup to the debuting newcomer, Helios, who bore a striking resemblance to Ricochet.

However, Taylor managed to regain some success before the end of 2007 by defeating Shane Storm and Passion Hasegawa, respectively in singles matches before teaming up with Team F.I.S.T. to beat the team of Tim Donst and Los Ice Creams (El Hijo del Ice Cream and Ice Cream, Jr.).

Taylor once again teamed up with Icarus and Akuma in the 2008 King of Trios tournament, this time making it to the quarterfinal round before being knocked out by The Colony (Fire Ant, Worker Ant, and Soldier Ant).

Following the King of Trios, Taylor returned singles competition but still remained a member of F.I.S.T., occasionally tagging with either Akuma or Icarus.

For the first half of 2009, Taylor, Icarus and Akuma feuded with The Colony, defeating them on February 20 in a King of Trios qualifying match.

After the match Taylor gave Worker Ant the Awful Waffle on the floor of the arena, which in kayfabe was the reason for his retirement following the match.

On March 27 F.I.S.T. entered their third King of Trios, defeating The Death Match Kings (Brain Damage, Necro Butcher and Toby Klein) in the first round of the tournament.

After defeating The F1rst Family (Arik Cannon, Darin Corbin and Ryan Cruz) in the quarter-finals, F.I.S.T. advanced to the semifinals of the tournament, where they would defeat the team of Equinox, Lince Dorado and Helios, the team known collectively as The Future is Now.

On March 29, 2009, F.I.S.T. defeated Team Uppercut (Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli and Dave Taylor) in the finals, when Taylor forced Danielson to tap out to the Cross Crab, to win the 2009 King of Trios.

On May 24, 2009, at Aniversario Yang F.I.S.T. ended their feud with The Colony, when Taylor and Icarus lost a "Double Mask vs. Double Hair" match against Fire Ant and Soldier Ant, and were both shaved bald.

On April 23, 2010, F.I.S.T. entered the 2010 King of Trios tournament, attempting to become the first two-time King of Trios winners.

After defeating The Throwbacks (Dasher Hatfield, Sugar Dunkerton and Matt Classic) in the first round, F.I.S.T. was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Team Osaka Pro (Atsushi Kotoge, Daisuke Harada and Tadasuke).

During the tournament F.I.S.T. was observed by Johnny Gargano, a self admitted fan of the team, who managed to stir up problems between its members by suggesting that the team had a weak link, which led to Taylor, who had been pinned in the match against Osaka Pro, pointing out Akuma and Akuma retaliating by claiming that Icarus was and always had been the weak link.

Taylor caused even more dissension in F.I.S.T. by offering himself to Dragon Gate USA's World–1 stable, a competitor of Kamikaze USA, Gran Akuma's stable in the company.

On July 26 at Chikarasaurus Rex: King of Show F.I.S.T. was defeated in a six-man tag team match by CIMA, Masaaki Mochizuki and Super Shenglong, when CIMA pinned Akuma.

After the match Taylor and Icarus turned on Akuma, kicked him out of both F.I.S.T. and Chikara and gave his spot in the stable to Johnny Gargano.

With Gargano as a member, the new F.I.S.T. ended their losing streak by defeating Da Soul Touchaz (Acid Jaz, Marshe Rockett and Willie Richardson) and 3.0 (Scott Parker and Shane Matthews) and Soldier Ant in six man tag team matches on September 18 and 19.