John Crist (born July 13, 1984), known under the ring name Jake Crist, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with Impact Wrestling where he a one-time Impact X Division Champion and one-time Impact World Tag Team Champion.
From 2003 until 2020, Crist was one-half of the Crist Brothers alongside his older brother Dave. For the majority of their careers, they wrestled on the Midwest independent circuit, most notably for the Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA), where they won the HWA Tag Team Championship a record six times. They also wrestled for Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), Chikara, IWA Mid-South (IWA MS), and Ring of Honor (ROH), as well as Canadian promotions, Far North Wrestling (FNW) and UWA Hardcore Wrestling (UWA). After years of being The Irish Airborne, they changed their name to Ohio Is 4 Killers (OI4K) and later Ohio Versus Everything. Crist has also competed for Juggalo Championship Wrestling, where he is a former JCW Tag Team Champion.
Professional wrestling career
Buckeye Pro Wrestling (2004) Under the ring names Lotus and Crazy J respectively, Dave and Jake Crist made their debut in Buckeye Pro Wrestling against Dean and Chet Jablonski in which they lost the match. The Crists continued to wrestle their way through the ranks of BPW often feuding with the team of American Youth, ultimately defeating them on February 24, 2004 to become the BPW Tag Team Champions. During their time in BPW, the Irish Airborne had chances to work on cross promotion shows with Heartland Wrestling Association and were eventually offered a match with the HWA.
Heartland Wrestling Association (2004–2006) The Irish Airborne then entered HWA, where they instantly became fan favorites due to their performance in BPW and the shared fan base. Their first match was a four-way tag match where they teamed up with Viper and Zeta against 4BJ, J.T. Stahr & Jimmy Turner & Ala Hussein. The Irish Airborne continued to have success in HWA leading to a tag team title championship victory against Necessary Roughness in May 2005. As success came quickly for the brothers, tension ensued, ultimately leading to a bloody feud that began in the Autumn 2005 and lasted through early 2006. The feud culminated in a best of seven series in which both brothers would attempt to top the other in amounts of violence and wit. The feud finally ended in one of HWA's bloodiest and most gruesome ladder matches to date. Both men realizing neither of them could top the other ended the feud and began to wrestle as a team once again.
Name change and Ring of Honor (2006–2007) On January 27, 2006, the Crists were invited to wrestle a dark match in Ring of Honor against each other in which Lotus defeated Crazy J. The following night, they were again allowed to wrestle in a dark match, this time as a tag team against Shane Hagadorn & Conrad Kennedy III in which they won. On March 4, 2006, at an Insanity Pro Wrestling show in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Airborne announced that they would no longer use the ring names of Lotus and Crazy J, but instead under their real names of Dave and Jake Crist. John decided to use the first name "Jake" rather than John due to the fact there were too many well known Johns in professional wrestling. On March 11, 2006, at Arena Warfare, the Crists earned a roster spot with ROH as they took on and defeated Tony Mamaluke and Sal Rinauro at the New Alhambra Arena (now 2300 Arena).
Combat Zone Wrestling (2011–2012; 2014–2016)