Grizzled Young Veterans have added another championship to their résumé. Zack Gibson and James Drake captured the MLP Canadian Tag Team Titles at MLP Northern Rising, defeating the defending team of 1st Faction and fellow challengers Sinner & Saint in a three-way title match.

The finish came after Sinner & Saint, the pairing of Judas Icarus and Travis Williams, appeared to have the bout won. The referee was in position and counting what looked set to be a match-ending three-count before Bryce Hansen interrupted the count. The disruption created the opening Grizzled Young Veterans needed, and Gibson and Drake capitalized to secure the victory and leave Northern Rising as the new champions.

It marks the first MLP Canadian Tag Team Championship reign for Grizzled Young Veterans. Their win ends a substantial title run for 1st Faction’s Brent Banks and Sheldon Jean, who had held the championships for 190 days and successfully defended them eight times before Northern Rising.

A Chaotic Three-Team Championship Finish

Three-way tag team title matches naturally place a premium on timing, awareness, and taking advantage of even the smallest breakdown. At Northern Rising, that reality became central to the championship decision. With 1st Faction defending against two different challengers, the champions did not need to be involved in the fall in order to lose their titles, while each challenger had the opportunity to turn a brief moment of momentum into a championship victory.

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Sinner & Saint came closest before the eventual conclusion. Icarus and Williams had seemingly put themselves in position to finish the match, only for Hansen’s interference with the referee’s count to deny them the three-count. That moment changed the direction of the contest immediately. Rather than a decisive Sinner & Saint victory, the match remained alive, and GYV moved quickly to take control of the situation.

Gibson and Drake ultimately converted that opportunity into gold. The exact circumstances of the interruption will likely remain a major talking point coming out of the event, particularly for Sinner & Saint. They were within a count of claiming the MLP Canadian Tag Team Titles, and the stopped count prevented what appeared to be a clear finish from being completed.

For Grizzled Young Veterans, however, the result is what matters most. Championship wrestling is often about surviving the unpredictable elements of a match as much as it is about creating offense, and the newly crowned champions were the team able to seize the decisive opening.

GYV Begin Their First MLP Title Reign

The victory gives Zack Gibson and James Drake their first reign as MLP Canadian Tag Team Champions. The duo has long been identified by its cohesion and its ability to operate as a unit, two qualities that become especially valuable in a multi-team match where control can change in an instant.

The MLP titles now provide a new focal point for Grizzled Young Veterans. A championship win does not erase the controversy that surrounded the closing stretch of the Northern Rising match, but it does establish Gibson and Drake as the team the division must chase. Every contender moving forward will be measured against the champions, while GYV will have to prove that their win can be followed by successful defenses.

The circumstances also give the title picture several immediate directions. 1st Faction can point to the length and quality of its previous reign, as well as the fact that Banks and Jean’s run ended in a three-way match. Sinner & Saint have an even more direct grievance after being prevented from completing an apparent winning pinfall. Both teams have reason to believe they remain close to the championship conversation.

That is the inherent consequence of a three-team title change: the new champions may have won the belts, but they have not necessarily settled the question of which team is truly next in line. GYV’s first reign begins with challengers already possessing strong arguments for another opportunity.

The End of 1st Faction’s 190-Day Run

Brent Banks and Sheldon Jean entered MLP Northern Rising as champions with a proven record. Their 190-day reign included eight successful title defenses, a number that underlines the consistency required to remain at the top of a tag division for more than six months.

That run gave 1st Faction credibility as fighting champions. Each successful defense added pressure to the teams pursuing them and made the eventual title change more meaningful. Banks and Jean did not arrive at Northern Rising as short-term holders whose reign was still finding its identity. They entered with a firmly established history as champions.

At the same time, the format at Northern Rising placed 1st Faction in a difficult position from the outset. In a three-way tag match, a defending team can lose without being pinned or submitting. That possibility was realized when Grizzled Young Veterans emerged victorious from the chaos involving all three teams.

The loss closes the book on an impressive chapter for Banks and Jean, but it does not diminish what they accomplished during their time with the championships. Eight successful defenses over 190 days is a significant foundation, and it leaves 1st Faction well positioned to seek a route back toward the titles. Whether that means pursuing GYV directly or first addressing the other teams in the division remains to be seen.

Sinner & Saint Left With a Major Claim

Of the teams leaving Northern Rising without the titles, Sinner & Saint may have the most immediate complaint. Judas Icarus and Travis Williams appeared to have completed the winning sequence, only for the referee’s count to be stopped by Bryce Hansen before it reached three.

In any title match, a near-fall can alter the emotional course of a contest. In this case, it was more than a near-fall. The count was underway, and Sinner & Saint seemed poised to win the championships before the interruption. GYV then took advantage of the altered situation and finished the match themselves.

That leaves Icarus and Williams in a particularly complicated position. They did not leave as champions, but the finish offers them a clear reason to demand that their opportunity not be forgotten. The question for MLP’s tag team landscape is whether Sinner & Saint will receive a direct path to Grizzled Young Veterans or whether the unresolved issues among all three teams will continue to overlap.

The answer could shape the early identity of the new championship reign. If Sinner & Saint are placed across the ring from GYV again, the Northern Rising finish will be impossible to ignore. If 1st Faction also presses for a rematch, the division could quickly become a battle between the former champions, the team denied a seeming victory, and the new titleholders.

What the Title Change Means Going Forward

MLP Northern Rising delivered a decisive championship change without providing a simple conclusion to the rivalry around the belts. Grizzled Young Veterans are the recognized champions, and that status belongs to Gibson and Drake following their victory. Yet the ending ensured that the teams they defeated have compelling reasons to remain involved.

For GYV, the task now is to transform a dramatic first title win into a defining reign. Winning a three-way match under chaotic circumstances puts the belts around their waists; retaining them through the inevitable challenges will determine how their MLP run is remembered. Gibson and Drake now carry both the advantage of being champions and the target that comes with it.

For 1st Faction, the 190-day reign and eight defenses provide a strong case that their championship standing was earned over time. For Sinner & Saint, the interrupted count offers an equally forceful argument rooted in what happened at Northern Rising itself. Neither team is likely to view the result as a clean end to its pursuit of the titles.

Ultimately, Northern Rising established a new team at the summit while intensifying the competition beneath them. Grizzled Young Veterans leave with the MLP Canadian Tag Team Titles for the first time, 1st Faction’s lengthy reign has come to an end, and Sinner & Saint have been left to reckon with a moment that looked like victory before it slipped away. The MLP tag team division has a new standard-bearer, but its next chapter is already filled with unfinished business.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.