Nick Patrick On The 'Mixed Feelings' He Gets From AEW's Nick Wayne

At the age of 18, Nick Wayne made his AEW debut against Swerve Strickland. And while the up-and-comer has created a lot of buzz around his story to get to such a big stage, former WCW referee Nick Patrick has mixed feelings about Wayne's age.

Granted, Patrick admits that he hasn't seen Wayne wrestle yet, but during his latest "Monday Mailbag" podcast, he offered up his thoughts on wrestlers training at such a young age.

"When you're that young, your bones and stuff are still developing. And in our business, we are slam dancing, brother," he said. "We are stunts, and it's tough on your body — even if you do it right. To be starting at that age when your bones are still growing and developing, he'll be getting injuries that could last him for the rest of his life at 14, 15 years old. I'm just not down with that."

Patrick said that he has seen others in the industry who trained when they were young, and while others are happy to allow it, that's not something that he is onboard with personally. 

"Here's a child also in an adult situation in locker rooms, it's just something that I have mixed feelings about," he stated.

The young prodigy actually started training at the age of nine and competed in his first match at 12. However, Tony Khan has handled Wayne carefully after signing him when he was 17. He would not allow Wayne to compete in an AEW ring until he turned 18.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Monday Mailbag with Nick Patrick," with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.