Nick Wayne Officially Debuts Vs. Swerve Strickland On AEW Dynamite

The wrestling world had its eyes on "AEW Dynamite," to see the debut of wrestling prodigy Nick Wayne.

Unfortunately, the 18-year-old lost his AEW in-ring debut match against Mogul Embassy's Swerve Strickland, despite having his friend and former AEW TNT Champion Darby Allin cheering him on from the entrance ramp. Wayne put up a good fight, nearly felling Strickland to a springboard cutter, but eventually ended up being driven into the canvas with a vicious JML Driver. Allin was not only watching the match of his friend but also keeping an eye on Strickland, who cost Allin and Orange Cassidy their AEW Blind Eliminator Tag Team Tournament semifinal match earlier in the night.

A recent high school graduate, Wayne signed with AEW last year while still matriculating. Brought to the attention of AEW President Tony Khan by Darby Allin, Wayne was the center of a series of vignettes that were the brainchild of Allin. The son of the late wrestler and trainer Buddy Wayne, Nick joins another recent high school graduate Billie Starkz in the company. Starkz recently competed in the Owen Hart Foundation Women's Tournament, losing in the opening round to Ring of Honor Women's World Champion Athena.