LAS VEGAS, Nev. – One year ago, Clay Guiton was bringing the house down inside T-Mobile Arena.

On Friday night, he brought it to a standstill.

The 2025 PBR Teams Championship MVP returned to the same sparkling dirt where he helped the Carolina Cowboys make franchise history, this time looking to become part of something no team in PBR history has accomplished.

Back-to-back PBR Teams Championships.

No franchise has ever won two titles, let alone two in consecutive seasons, and the defending champions arrived in Las Vegas determined to change that.

But before Carolina could even think about another championship buckle, it had to get past the No. 7 New York Mavericks in Friday's opening round.

And if the commotion behind the Carolina bucking chutes was any indication, the Cowboys were ready for a fight.

Literally.

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

Adriano Salgado was in his element.

The Brazilian, Carolina's resident hype man, was making his rounds behind the chutes, shouting affirmations, encouraging teammates and delivering his trademark battle cry as the Cowboys assembled for their opening game.

There was no shortage of energy in Carolina blue.

And when Thiago Salgado, Adriano's brother and a new addition to the Cowboys after competing for the Florida Freedom in 2025, climbed aboard Humdinger in the opening frame, that energy was about to find another gear.

New York's Bob Mitchell had just opened the game with an 89.25-point ride on Rhino USA Mouse Trap, giving the Mavericks an early advantage.

Thiago answered immediately.

The Brazilian matched Humdinger for 89.75 points, putting Carolina ahead by half a point and sending Adriano into a frenzy.

Thiago had barely cleared the arena before Adriano was all over him, screaming, hugging him and celebrating as if the Cowboys had already secured another championship.

One ride down. Four to go.

Guilherme Valleiras came agonizingly close to adding another score, lasting 7.32 seconds aboard Chicken In Black, a bull that remains undefeated in 2026, before hitting the dirt.

And then it was time for Clay G.

The kid who had practically owned this arena one year earlier.

At the 2025 PBR Teams Championship, Guiton was the Cowboys' spark plug. His electric performances helped Carolina capture its first title, and his efforts earned him Championship MVP honors.

At the time, it seemed there wasn't much that could slow the young cowboy down.

Then came Salt Lake City.

In February, during the PBR Unleash The Beast season, Guiton suffered a terrifying wreck aboard Lieutenant Dan, who knocked him unconscious and stepped on him multiple times as he suffered a grand mal seizure on the arena dirt.

He was sidelined for the remainder of the 2026 Unleash The Beast season, undergoing neurological evaluations, specialist appointments and additional testing before eventually receiving medical clearance to return.

But getting cleared to ride and getting back to riding like Clay G were two entirely different battles.

He could ride practice bulls at home.

At head coach Jerome Davis' house, he looked like the same cowboy who helped bring a championship back to Carolina.

Put him inside an arena with four teammates depending on him, though, and eight seconds suddenly seemed a whole lot longer.

Nine consecutive buckoffs followed his return.

The frustration was obvious. The kid who had made covering bulls look almost effortless was suddenly struggling to do the one thing he knew he could.

But Davis never stopped believing.

"There's no backup in him," Davis said earlier this season. "I know that he's gonna give it everything he's got every time."

Guiton eventually broke through in Austin, covering Outlaw for 87.45 points after a Sunday morning Cowboy Church message from Tiffany Davis, affectionately known as Miss Tiff, helped him find some much-needed perspective.

It was an emotional release after months of trying to feel like himself again.

Still, the road back wasn't a straight one.

As the regular season wound down, Guiton went home, shed some weight and began getting back to basics. He found some momentum late in the season and climbed aboard practice bulls ahead of the Championship, determined to arrive in Las Vegas ready for another title run.

And Friday night, he was back on familiar ground.

Carolina's middle man nodded his head aboard The Paint.

For a moment, it looked good.

Clay G was fighting. The bull was bucking. The ride looked like it might become another one of those championship moments.

Until it didn't.

Guiton was thrown violently from the bull, his body stretched out and vulnerable as he came crashing toward the glittering T-Mobile Arena dirt.

He hit with a thud.

And didn't move.

The same arena that had erupted for him one year earlier suddenly went silent.

Bullfighters Lucas Teodoro, Cody Webster and Austin Ashley worked to clear The Paint from the arena as the sports medicine team rushed toward the motionless cowboy.

Cowboy hats came off.

Behind the chutes, the celebration from Thiago's opening ride was a distant memory.

Miss Tiff began praying with the team.

For anyone who had watched Guiton's frightening wreck in Salt Lake City, the scene was painfully familiar.

And as he lay on the dirt, there wasn't much to do but pray.

Please, God.

The moments stretched on.

Then came the news everybody had been waiting for.

Trevor Reiste, Ezekiel Mitchell and Keyshawn Whitehorse made sure word got back to Tiffany.

Clay was awake.

He was moving his arms and legs.

And just as the medical team was preparing to secure him to a backboard, Guiton was on his feet.

Battered and visibly dazed, the Carolina cowboy walked across the arena toward sports medicine.

But he was walking.

And T-Mobile Arena could finally breathe again.

For the Cowboys, the game wasn't over.

They still had a championship to defend.

Jess Lockwood, the two-time PBR World Champion who helped Carolina capture the 2025 Teams title, was unable to convert his rematch with Holy Shift, bucking off in 6.26 seconds.

But the Cowboys continued to hold their slim half-point advantage heading into the fifth frame.

When New York's Mauricio Gulla Moreira bucked off Jameson in 2.92 seconds, Carolina had officially secured the victory.

The Mavericks had run out of outs.

But Adriano Salgado still had a bull left to ride.

And after watching his brother start the night with a qualified ride, there was no chance he was going to let Thiago have all the fun.

Adriano climbed aboard Time Traveler and went to work.

Eight seconds later, the scoreboard read 88.90.

Carolina 178.65. New York 89.25.

Two Brazilian brothers.

And one more game added to the Cowboys' championship run.

Thiago had opened the scoring, Adriano had put the finishing touches on it, and the defending champions were headed to Saturday's quarterfinals.

Behind the chutes, the celebration was back on.

The small space behind the chutes was packed with Carolina Cowboys and quickly turned into something resembling a mosh pit.

Guys were screaming, hugging, jumping around and celebrating the victory, with Adriano once again right in the middle of it all.

The Cowboys had fought their way through opening night.

They slapped the Carolina sticker onto the championship bracket, officially punching their ticket to the next round.

And for all the excitement surrounding the victory, there was one cowboy missing.

Guiton, the same kid who had been at the center of Carolina's championship celebration one year earlier, had given his team another scare.

But anyone familiar with Clay G knows he isn't one to back down easily.

When asked for an update following Friday's wreck, he kept it simple.

"I feel great. Gonna see how I feel the rest of the day and go from there," Guiton said.

His status for the remainder of the Championship remains uncertain, but Guiton could potentially return Sunday if he feels well enough and receives the necessary medical clearance.

But if there's one thing his journey back from Salt Lake City has demonstrated, it's that Clay G isn't particularly interested in letting adversity write the final chapter.

He's fought through injury, months away from competition, nine consecutive buckoffs and the frustration of trying to rediscover the rider he knows he can be.

And while Friday night wasn't the homecoming he or his teammates had envisioned, the tough Carolina kid isn't ready to call it quits.

Neither are the Cowboys.

On Saturday night, Carolina will face the No. 3 Nashville Stampede, the inaugural 2022 PBR Teams Champions, in the opening quarterfinal game of the 2026 PBR Teams Championship.

And Nashville has a few advantages of its own.

While Carolina spent Friday night battling through a physical opening-round showdown and an unsettling injury scare, the Stampede had the luxury of watching from the stands.

By securing the No. 3 seed and one of the tournament's coveted first-round byes, Nashville enters Saturday's matchup rested and fresh, without having to put its riders through an additional game.

But there's a catch.

In the history of PBR Teams, no team entering the Championship with a first-round bye has gone on to win the title.

Carolina knows a little something about winning from the other side of that equation.

The Cowboys arrived in Las Vegas in 2025 without a first-round bye and rode their way to the franchise's first championship. Now, the defending champions have another opportunity to prove that a little extra work on Friday doesn't necessarily hurt a team's chances come Sunday.

For Nashville, Saturday is a chance to break the bye curse.

For Carolina, it's a chance to keep its historic title defense alive.

Two former champions. One rested, one battle-tested.

And while Guiton won't return for Saturday's quarterfinal matchup, a potential Sunday comeback could put the Cowboys' 2025 Championship MVP back on the dirt in time for another shot at a title, pending medical clearance.

The defending champions are still standing.

And their fight for back-to-back buckles continues.

The 2026 PBR Teams Championship continues Saturday, Nov. 7, with all four games airing live on The CW beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media