Saquon Shugars

Copeland Barbee (born April 30, 2000) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Saquon Shugars as a member of the DarkState stable. He also makes appearances in partner promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Saquon Shugars
Birth name	Copeland Barbee
Born	(2000-04-30) April 30, 2000 (age 25) Washington, DC[1]
Alma mater	Queens University of Charlotte[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Saquon Shugars Lucky Ali[3] Lavar Barbie
Billed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Billed weight	222 lb (101 kg)
Trained by	Caleb Konley George South[4]
Debut	2018

Barbee was previously known under the ring name Lucky Ali on the independent circuit.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2018–2023)

Barbee began training in 2018 under Caleb Konley and George South in North Carolina and made his debut on June 7, 2018 under the ring name Lucky Ali. On April 4, 2022, he debuted in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in a match taped for AEW Dark Elevation, where he lost to Frankie Kazarian.^[5] He also began working for Deadlock Pro-Wrestling around this time, where he won the Carolina Classic and the DPW Worlds Championship. He lost the title to Jay Malachi on September 17, 2023, ending his reign at 309 days. His last appearance for the promotion was at DPW World's Strongest on November 11, 2023, where he lost to Colby Corino in an I Quit match before signing with WWE.^[6][7][8][9]

WWE (2023–present)

Barbee competed on the May 15 edition of Raw, under the name Lavar Barbie, where he and his partner Drake Thompson were defeated by Indus Sher (Sanga, and Veer). In December 2023, it was reported that Barbee had signed with WWE after completing a tryout, where he would report to the NXT brand.^[2] He made his debut under the ring name Saquon Shugars on the March 22, 2024 episode of NXT Level Up, losing to Tavion Heights. In April, he would suffer a knee injury, sidelining him for almost a year.^[10][11] At NXT Vengeance Day on February 15, 2025, Shugars made his return as a member of the new stable DarkState alongside Dion Lennox, Cutler James and Osiris Griffin, where they attacked Fraxiom, Josh Briggs, Yoshiki Inamura, and Oba Femi.^[12] Over the next few weeks, they would attack and lay out several wrestlers, claiming that "nobody is safe".^[13][14][15] On the April 8 episode of NXT, Lennox, James and Shugars defeated Trick Williams, Je'Von Evans and Femi in a six-man tag team match in their first match as a team.^[16] At NXT Stand & Deliver on April 19, Lennox, Osiris and Shugars defeated The D'Angelo Family (Tony D'Angelo, Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo, and Luca Crusifino) in a six-man tag team match.^[17]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2025–present)

On the July 3, 2025 episode of Impact!, Barbee, as Saquon Shugars, made his Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) debut alongside Darkstate where they attacked Matt Cardona.^[18]

Championships and accomplishments

• American Combat Wrestling
  • ACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Deadlock Pro-Wrestling
  • DPW Worlds Championship (1 time)
  • DPW Carolina Classic Tournament (2022)
• Full Impact Pro
  • FIP World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• WWNLive
  • WWN Proving Ground Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 412 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2023^[19]
• Premiere Wrestling Xperience
  • PWX Innovative Television Championship (1 time)

External links

• Saquon Shugars on WWE.com