Eric Maher (born December 30, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as Eddie Edwards, where he led the faction Honor No More, and is best known for competing in Pro Wrestling NOAH, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and Ring of Honor.
Edwards made his debut in 2002, having competed in various independent promotions, before joining ROH in December 22, 2006, and subsequently, teamed up with Davey Richards to form The American Wolves. Within their run as a team, they are two-time ROH World Tag Team Champions. As a singles competitor, he won the ROH World Championship in Manhattan Mayhem IV against Roderick Strong, and is the inaugural ROH Television Champion.
Edwards, alongside with Richards, made a tryout with WWE, where they were repackaged as the American Pitbulls, with him billed as John Cahill and Richards as Derek Billington respectively, making a short appearance in WWE NXT, where they lost against The Ascension.
Eventually, The American Wolves join TNA in 2014 after they signed contracts given by Dixie Carter herself, and The Wolves are five-time TNA World Tag Team Champions. Edwards became a singles competitor again when his tag team partner Davey Richards turned Heel, leading to a rivalry between both before Richards left the company. Edwards won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship the first time after defeating Bobby Lashley.
Originally a high-flyer for most part of his career, he later transitioned into a Hardcore wrestler in 2018 when Sami Callihan accidentally hit him in the face with a baseball bat while accidentally struck in the head with a chair. This allowed him to swear revenge against Callihan, in a rivalry that also involved his own wife, Alisha.
Was nicknamed as "The Heart and Soul of Impact Wrestling" due to his loyalty with the company, like the previous top ace AJ Styles before him, that is until Edwards himself turns Heel in No Surrender 2022 by arriving late in the match between Team Impact and Honor No More, and while he attempted to help Rhino attack Maria Kanellis and the rest of the group, he instead attacked the very people he considered his friends, costing them the match and revealing himself as the leader of the ROH renegades in the process.
Die Hard Tropes:
- The Ace: Unlike AJ Styles who played it straight, he's a deconstruction of the trope in Impact Wrestling, especially in 2018, where he got consumed with revenge against Sami Callihan for breaking his nose, and at some point, is almost in risk of becoming like Callihan if not for his wife Alisha.
- Anti-Villain: Ever since he turned Heel, his reason to reveal himself as the leader of Honor No More have noble intentions, as he was the one to bring his old comrades from Ring of Honor after the aforementioned promotion released their contracts, but at the cost of attacking various wrestlers of the Impact Wrestling roster, even attacking the then ROH World Heavyweight Champion, Jonathan Gresham. He then calls out the Impact Wrestling management because they didn't give him a chance to fight Kenny Omega when the latter stepped foot in the Impact Zone.
- Arch-Enemy:
- In Ring of Honor: Austin Aries, The House Of Truth, SCUM, The Kingdom and reDRagon.
- In Impact Wrestling: His old partner Davey Richards, Bobby Lashley, Sami Callihan and W. Morrisey have all become this since he returned to singles wrestling, and lastly, Moose, to the point that even the aforementioned Callihan has decided to join him only because he and Callihan share the same hatred for the self-proclaimed "Wrestling God".
- However, as a Heel, he now sets his eyes on the very people he considered his friends: Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Rhino, Chris Sabin, and especially the new face of Impact Wrestling: Josh Alexander.
- As a member of Honor No More, the faction has stepped enemy territory with Bullet Club due to his teammates Matt Taven and Mike Bennett's previous history with The Good Brothers.
- After Honor No More imploded, he earned the enmity on the one responsible for it, PCO. It doesn't help he never had a good eye on the French Canadian Frankenstein during the time they were in the group.
- Battle Couple: With Alisha, to the point of her adopting his same Hardcore wrestling style and getting her own kendo stick named "Kendra".
- Beware the Nice Ones: Is generally seen as a really good dude, but if you piss him off enough, especially by targeting his family, he can get really heated and personal in a hurry. Even without that, taking his kindness for weakness in the ring is not advised, as he's gone toe-to-toe in championship level feuds with the likes of Lashley.
- Determinator: He's not called "Die Hard" for nothing. Just watch his title matches at ROH Best in the World and Final Battle 2011 to see how hard, and how many times, Davey Richards had to kick him in the head to keep him down.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Lost a chance to regain the ROH Television title from Matt Taven due to Scarlett Bordeaux shaking her ass in front of him with the crowd calling for an "Eiffel Tower". Edwards, apparently not knowing what that was, chopped her ass instead, though Adam Cole showed him after the match.
- Face–Heel Turn: In No Surrender 2022 he did the unthinkable: Betraying Impact Wrestling, the very brand he used to be the heart and soul, to side himself with the Honor No More stable comprised of former ROH stars Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, Vincent, PCO, Kenny King and Maria Kanellis.
- Finishing Move: A running high knee called the Boston Knee Party.
- Fire-Forged Friends: When Moose is getting into the nerves of everyone in the Impact Zone, including his wife Alisha, surprisingly, Sami Callihan made the save, and convinced him to team up to stop Moose, but Callihan, uncaring as he is, declined at first. Eventually, Edwards and Callihan joined forces in an unorthodox team with a common interest: stopping Moose. However, this doesn't last long as Callihan got injured.
- Garbage Wrestler: Originally a tag team specialist and then a high flyer, he becomes this as a result of Sami Callihan's botched baseball bat strike in the head.
- Grievous Harm with a Body:
- An accidental case when he knocked out ROH referee Todd Sinclair while giving Roderick Strong the Die Hard while Sinclair was arguing with another referee, Paul Turner, over the match outcome. Turner counted three soon afterwards but since Sinclair was the original referee, the first of Showdown In The Sun's three way dances for the world title was named, giving Strong another chance. (Richards retained anyway)
- At A Night Of Hoopla he actually had a fan whip him for an apron dropkick on Matt Taven. The crowd also chanted "No More Babies'' after a hesitation dropkick to the back of Adam Cole's head sent Cole's face into Taven's crotch. He the accidentally recreated the accidental DDT first done by Jake Roberts when he pushed Taven into the referee, who stumbled and took Taven down with him.
- Hanging Separately: Teamed with Adam Cole while Davey Richards formed team ambition with Kyle O'Reilly. While they weren't at each other's throats, this division made it harder than it should have been for them to deal with The House Of Truth, SCUM and The Kingdom, and as evidenced by the last group and reDRagon, their two proteges almost ended up being their undoing.
- Hard Head: Davey Richards would throw people at him, whom Edwards would meet head on, literally.
- He Who Fights Monsters: His 2018 issues with Sami Callihan would affect him to the point where Tommy Dreamer, his own wife, and even fans looking at video thumbnails, would all point out numerous times that he's becoming more and more like Callihan in his zeal to destroy him.
- I Call It "Vera": His signature Kendo Stick which he calls it "Kenny".
- Irony: As unlikely as it seemed when he debuted, Eddie Edwards went on to become the first Triple Crown Champion in Ring of Honor History. The man he beat for the World Title, Roderick Strong, would go on to be the second triple crown champion.
- Made of Iron: Competed in the Ladder War in Glory by Honor IX with a broken elbow, and the Survival of the Fittest finals with a torn muscle in his shoulder. He won both.
- Nice Guy: Despite the ferocious wolf motif he was definitely the nicer of the two between himself and his partner Davey Richards, though this didn't mean he was a pushover.
- Power Trio:
- The Dojo Bros with Adam Cole and Roderick Strong in PWX.
- During his time with Honor No More, he frequently teamed with fellow stablemates Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, representing their state of Boston.
- Power Stable: The System with his wife Alisha, Brian Myers and Moose.
- Red Baron: "Die Hard", "Mr. AIP", "The Heart and Soul of Impact Wrestling".
- Revenge Before Reason: He's gotten himself booked into jail, stormed into an entirely oVe-sympathetic wrestling show and proceeded to get beat down for his trouble, and accidentally decked his own wife, all while trying to get revenge on Sami for his attacks on the Edwards family.
- Tag Team:
- With Davey Richards in The (American) Wolves.
- With Sami Callihan, ironically, during their shared mission to take Moose down.
- Take That!: Subtle, but when TNA was in New York City, the crowd started chanting "ROH!" while he was wrestling Austin Aries, leading Aries to pause and extend a handshake to him as per ROH tradition, only for Eddie to slap it.
- True Companions: With Davey Richards in both ROH and TNA/Impact, to the point where Richards didn't want to challenge Edwards for the ROH World Title. Subverted later in Impact when Richards turned on Edwards.
- Took a Level in Cynic: He was once an optimist and friendly person, but when the Impact Wrestling management declined all his chances for the Impact World Championship and instead gives it to Josh Alexander, his heart has become hardened, and therefore, he started attacking many wrestlers in backstage without being noticed since Honor No More started invading the Impact Zone. Eddie revealing himself as the attacker in No Surrender 2022 and siding with said invaders changed him entirely into a bitter person from now on.
- Ur-Example: Eddie Edwards is the inaugural ROH Television Champion.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: The July 28, 2012 episode of ROH TV featured a clip of Sara Del Rey attacking Maria during a brawl between Edwards and Mike Bennett. This was followed by an Edwards promo where he said that he could do anything to Mike Bennett but he couldn't put his hands on Maria, so he got someone who could. This set up the mixed tag for Boiling Point on August 11th, which Edwards and Del Rey won.
- Attempted to attack Maria again in No Surrender 2022 when he came to apparently save Team Impact, but in the end, he stopped from doing so because it's in his nature to never hit women, hence why he wanted Rhino to do it in his stead before attacking the ECW Original, which led to his aforementioned Face–Heel Turn.
