Nick Wayne Recounts the Nerves He Had Going into His First AEW Match

In a recent interview with Denise Salcedo, AEW’s Nick Wayne shared his thoughts on his first televised appearance with the promotion (via Fightful). Wayne, recently turned 18 and therefore eligible for TV performance with AEW, faced Swerve Strickland in his debut bout in July. You can find a few highlights and watch the complete interview below.

On his mindset going into his first AEW Dynamite match: “Previous to the debut, I can tell you about the day before, I had nerves the entire day before the match. I was like, ‘I’m not even wrestling today and these nerves are killing me.’ I was traveling to Saskatoon, which is where the debut match was. I had nerves the entire day, it was hard to sleep because it was happening tomorrow. It felt like a year and a half of built up anticipation was leading to tomorrow. I couldn’t believe it was already happening. Being in the moment of the year and half of waiting, ‘this feels like it’s taking forever.’ Then we got there, ‘it went by so fast.’ The waves of emotions I got, I was so nervous, but at the same time so happy and thankful. I cried tears of happiness after the match. My mom was there, everyone was watching at home. I got so many messages the day of, before the match, after the match. My goal was to make the world proud, and I feel like I did just that and it really touched my heart because that’s what I wanted to do and I feel like that’s what I did. I’m very glad I made everyone at home happy, all my brothers and sisters and family. It’s a moment I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.”