Nick Wayne Clarifies When He Will Make His AEW In-Ring Debut
Already viewed by many fans as a prodigy in the world of professional wrestling, Nick Wayne does not want to rest on his accomplishments.
The 16-year-old independent standout is the youngest wrestler to sign with AEW but has yet to wrestle a match for the company. Wayne says he's working hard to prepare himself for when that day finally comes.
"Just from now until I'm 18 years old, we've got about a year and a half left, I'm just working my hardest as I can right now," Wayne told Andrew Thompson. "So the day I turn 18 I'm ready to go. I look the part, my talent in the ring is crisp, you know. Just working to be the best version of myself."
One individual that Nick Wayne is hoping to wrestle in AEW is Darby Allin. The two already have a history longer than most fans may realize. Wayne can recall Allin's first days in pro wrestling. Allin trained under Nick Wayne's father, the late Buddy Wayne. Allin publicly offered Nick Wayne his AEW contract at DEFY Wrestling's Year V event.
"I hope it happens one day," Nick Wayne said. "Me and Darby have so much backstory behind us. You know, I was there for Darby's first day of training. Yeah, he was trained by my father. I saw him about 4-5 times a week training. We have a really big story together."
Nick Wayne also has a history with another AEW star, Swerve Strickland. They faced one another on February 26 at a DEFY Wrestling show at Seattle's Washington Hall.
"It was perfect timing because that match with Swerve, on my end, was my first DEFY match after getting signed to All Elite Wrestling, my first DEFY match after [the] DEFY Championship match [against Christopher Daniels on February 12], and then, Swerve's first match coming back on the independents – coming back to DEFY," Wayne recalled. "DEFY is a place that he built on his own. That is Swerve's house. So being able to come back and share the ring with Swerve, me being his first match back, I felt so honored.
"And that was our first time ever touching in the squared circle and I felt like there was a lot of anticipation built up to the match for the fans. It was something they really wanted to see and by the sounds of it and the reviews of it, it sounds like we lived up to the expectation and 100% one of my favorite matches and maybe my favorite match I've ever had."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Andrew Thompson Interviews with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.