Ace Steel Talks About His Time In NXT, Praises Bron Breakker and Tiffany Stratton

In an interview with Fightful, Ace Steel spoke about his time in WWE NXT as a coach at the WWE Performance Center. He worked there from 2019 until his release in 2022. Here are highlights:

On Bron Breakker: “Steiner [Bron Breakker] didn’t have much training whatsoever, but he had something you could tell it was a no-brainer. When he gets in the ring and runs the ropes, he runs the ropes like his dad [Rick Steiner]. If you study wrestling, as we do, we’re like, holy shit. He runs just like Rick and sounds like Scott [Steiner]. I don’t know if he does math, like Scott, but he certainly sounds like it, but he’s the blue chipper; eventually, it will hit.”

On Tiffany Stratton: “Tiffany Stratton, when she came in. I think she was a CrossFit athlete. I don’t remember her background exactly, but I knew right away. I looked at her and wondered, if they don’t hire this girl, what the hell are they looking for? Because sometimes the trials were geared towards, we’re looking for stars, or we need people that, you know, could fill the roster, you name it. Tiffany Stratton, for one, could do anything physically. So it’s just putting her mind to it, to the character, and look what she’s done, just brilliantly, you know, she’s back on TV after a little bit of a hiatus, but she’s got the character down, and that’s stuff you can’t teach. Like, where is that? Like, she’s a quiet girl, and she’s not loud. She’s not boisterous. You don’t know, she’s in the room, at least from what I’ve seen around her, but she pulled that character out when they said you’re going to be daddy’s little girl.”

On looking for specific talent at specific times: “We’re looking for referees this time, point blank. So sometimes they have it to see what’s in the world. Then you’d see people come back; I saw Joe Gacy’s trial, and I saw many people like that. So coming to fruition after a year of these people in, especially with the new mandate of, hey, you’re around NXT for two years, and it’s not going anywhere, they’re going to cut them loose just like a football team or baseball team.”