Mount Rushmore of Wrestling or simply Mount Rushmore was a villainous professional wrestling faction in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) from 2013 to 2016.
The original incarnation, led by Adam Cole, was formed at the 2013 Battle of Los Angeles, when Kevin Steen formed an alliance with Cole and The Young Bucks called Mount Rushmore. The faction dominated PWG throughout the year until Steen and Cole departed the promotion in August and December, respectively, in the following year.
The second incarnation of Mount Rushmore was formed at Mystery Vortex III, where Young Bucks made their surprise return to PWG from Japan and formed an alliance with Roderick Strong and the returning Super Dragon. Cole would later rejoin the group in December after making his surprise return to PWG during All Star Weekend 11. The group would disband quietly in 2016.
Mount Rushmore was a very influential faction in PWG and is widely considered the most famous stable in the promotion's history.
Concept
In an interview on AEW Unrestricted, Adam Cole revealed that Kevin Steen was considering options of creating further ideas for his PWG career, so he pitched the idea of turning heel and forming a faction with Cole and The Young Bucks in PWG after having wrestled as a face for a very long time. Young Bucks called themselves the "Mount Rushmore of PWG" and the name "Mount Rushmore of Wrestling" stuck.
History
Mount Rushmore (2013–2014) The PWG World Champion Adam Cole and the PWG World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) were paired up to compete in six-man tag team matches at the 2013 Battle of Los Angeles. Cole and the Bucks defeated T.J. Perkins and Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero) on the first night, and the team of AR Fox, Candice LeRae and Rich Swann on the second night. Later, Cole confronted his former Future Shock tag team partner Kyle O'Reilly after the latter won the 2013 Battle of Los Angeles tournament. Cole sarcastically congratulated O'Reilly on his win as "the second best member of Future Shock" which infuriated O'Reilly, who proceeded to attack Cole. Young Bucks rushed to attack O'Reilly. LeRae tried to make the save but was attacked as well. Joey Ryan confronted the Bucks and Cole on attacking LeRae claiming that only he had the right to attack LeRae and he prompted to attack Cole, which led to Bucks assaulting Ryan. Finally, the referee Rick Knox and Kevin Steen made the save but Steen turned into a villain by betraying Knox as he attacked him with a package piledriver. Steen delivered another package piledriver to LeRae and subsequently formed a new faction with Cole and the Bucks called Mount Rushmore.
PWG's following event Matt Rushmore was named after the group, where the new faction made its first appearance together by interrupting Excalibur and bullying him. At the event, Steen defeated ACH, while Young Bucks defended the World Tag Team Championship against Candice LeRae and Joey Ryan, who had formed an alliance after being attacked by Mount Rushmore at Battle of Los Angeles. Young Bucks retained the titles. Cole defended the World Championship against Battle of Los Angeles winner Kyle O'Reilly, and retained after assistance by Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore attacked O'Reilly after the match prompting several PWG wrestlers including Johnny Gargano to make the save. Gargano challenged Cole to a match for the World Championship, which was made official for the second night of All Star Weekend 10. On the first night of the All Star Weekend 10, Steen and the Bucks defeated AR Fox and The Inner City Machine Guns (Rich Swann and Ricochet). Later that night, the trio interfered in Cole's World Championship defense against Chris Hero and helped Cole in retaining the title. On the second night of the event, Steen and the Bucks lost a match to AR Fox, Candice LeRae and Rich Swann. However, the trio helped Cole in retaining the World Championship against Johnny Gargano in the main event.
Cole and Steen represented Mount Rushmore in the 2014 Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament by participating under the team name Cole Steen Cole. The duo defeated Candice LeRae and Joey Ryan in the quarterfinals and Cole proceeded to spit LeRae in the face after the match. Later in the night, LeRae interfered in Cole Steen Cole's semifinal match against eventual winners Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent?) and got her payback by spitting Cole in the face, allowing Best Friends to win. At Mystery Vortex II, Cole helped Young Bucks in retaining the World Tag Team Championship against Best Friends and then issued an open challenge for the World Championship, which was answered by LeRae. Cole defeated her to retain the title.
