Ignition are a professional wrestling tag team in WWE The E-Fed, consisting of AJ Styles and Travis Kooper. Styles and Kooper won a Feast or Fired match and earned themselves a shot at the WWE Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania XXVIII against then champions, the Motor City Machine Guns. They would go on to win the titles, later losing them to Reverence a month later.
History[]
WWE Tag Team Champions and split (2012–2013)[]
The following episode of RAW, Styles along with Travis Kooper won the Feast or Famine Match. Both ended up with the briefcase containing the shot at the WWE Tag Team Championships at Wrestlemania. The week before Wrestlemania it looked as though Kooper and Riley were going to attack Styles however Travis turned on Riley thus reverting back to a fan favourite. On April 22 at Wrestlemania 28 both Travis and Styles won the WWE Tag Team Championships defeating the team of Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin.
Despite winning the Tag Team Championships at Wrestlemania, Kooper was moved to Smackdown leaving Styles on RAW. The RAW after Wrestlemania, Styles defeated Damien Sandow in a quick one on one match. The next week AJ Styles entered into the King of the Ring Tournament however he would be eliminated in the first round by eventual winner Clark Gabriel. Later that week Styles appeared on Smackdown with Kooper as the two would talk about their upcoming title defense against the teams of Dolph Ziggler & Tyson Kidd, Aaron Eden & Elias Ezra and CM Punk & Mr. Anderson. Ignition would lose the Tag Team Championships to Eden and Ezra on May 27 at Extreme Rules. That week on Smackdown, Ignition defeated the team of Mr. Anderson and CM Punk in a close contest.
On the June 11 episode of RAW, Styles was able to get a win over Batista and Daniel Bryan. On June 24 at the UK exclusive Invasion PPV, Ignition unsuccessfully challenged for the WWE Tag Team Championships. Shortly after this the two decided to put Ignition on a bit of a hiatus and focus on their solo careers.
AJ Styles as WWE Tag Team Champion in 2013.
On the November 9 episode of Smackdown, Styles made an appearance and talked with his long-time friend and tag team partner, Travis Kooper. Styles brought up how successful they were as a team and wants to end the year on the high note and brings up them going after the WWE Tag Team Championships and re-igniting the tag team division once again. Kooper agrees with one condition and that's that Styles stops getting involved in the on-going rivalry between Torrie Wilson and Stacy Keibler and stops attempting to humiliate Keibler at every turn. Styles agrees to the condition much to the chagrin of Torrie thus hinting at a possible face turn. A few days later on the November 12 episode of RAW; Styles came down to the ring and looked conflicted with his decision to reform Ignition with Kooper and said that he was focused and at the same time he was going to make sure Torrie didn't get hurt thus hinting at possible dissolution between Kooper and Styles.
Later that week on the November 16 episode of Smackdown, Ignition successfully reunited and defeated the team of Michael Noventa and Ted DiBiase known collectively as Legacy Inc. Styles would suffer a loss at the Survivor Series PPV on November 25, 2012; coming up just short as both him and Edge were the last two eliminated by eventual winner Vampiro. The following week on RAW there were more signs of dissolution between Styles and Kooper when Travis confronted Styles, surprising him and gave him an ultimatum; either continue to help Torrie or Ignition is finished. This brought out Torrie Wilson who disputed what Travis was trying to do saying that it wasn't fair to AJ at all and that he shouldn't have to choose between her and continuing to team with him. However Torrie couldn't convince Kooper who ended up just leaving the ring and told AJ it was up to him now. Later that night; Styles and Wilson were able to defeat Stacy Keibler and Daniel Bryan in a tag team match which saw Styles hit Bryan with the Styles Clash for the win.
On the November 7 episode of Smackdown Styles made an appearance and was seen in the crowd during Travis Kooper's scheduled match against Jimmy Jacobs. Following the match Styles simply stood up by the stairs just watching yet again and Kooper noticed this thus showing even more signs of turmoil between the two friends. However later that night Daniel Riley would sucker Kooper out to the ring only to have him attacked from behind by Jack Evans however before much damage could be done to Kooper, Styles came to his aid, thus making his decision and in the process completing his face turn. On the final RAW of 2012, Styles defeated The Miz and Road Dogg in a triple threat match earning a spot in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match at New Years Revolution. On the February 11 episode of RAW, AJ Styles and his tag team partner, Travis Kooper defeated the team of Edge & Christian and Team Hell No to win the vacant World Tag Team Championships for the second time. Following the Royal Rumble PPV, Kooper was moved from Smackdown back to RAW. Ignition would later go on to successfully defend the titles against the team of Jessie Godderz & Sheamus at Cyber Sunday.
At Wrestlemania XXIX, Styles competed in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, however he came up short while Kooper was sidelined with an injury. At the same event Jimmy Jacobs and Seth Rollins, collectively known as Age of the Fall become the number one contenders for the Tag Team Championships. At Extreme Rules, Ignition lost the Tag Team Championships to Age of the Fall after Styles walked out on Kooper thus turning heel. The two men were originally supposed to feud afterwards however it was scrapped after Styles ended up leaving the company.
Reunion (2015–present)[]
Ignition briefly reunited on the July 16, 2015 episode of Smackdown when Kooper and Styles teamed with Finn Bálor to face James Storm, Jack Swagger and Enzo Amore.
In wrestling[]
Finishing moves
- Ignite (Brainbuster by Kooper followed by a 450° splash by Styles)
- BreakDown (Backstabber (Styles)/Spear (Kooper) combination)
Signature moves
- Powerbomb (Kooper) / Neckbreaker (Styles) combination
- Elbow drop (Styles) / Leg drop (Kooper) combination
- Double Pelé kick
- Double Gutbuster
- Dropkick (Styles) / German Suplex (Kooper) combination
Entrance themes
- "Remember Who I Am” by Jim Johnston (WWE; 2012–2013)
- "Ignition" by TobyMac (WWE; 2013–present)
Championships and accomplishments[]
- WWE The E-Fed
- WWE Tag Team Championships (2 times)
- Slammy Award for Tag Team of the Year (2012) – along with Lizzie Ryan & Trista Anderson