10 Huge Signings WWE Must Make In 2022
2. Ace Austin
It was revealed in spring 2019 that Ace Austin had signed with IMPACT Wrestling, where he remained since as a two-time X Division Champion and a Super X Cup winner.
That contract is due to expire in April, though, as Ace detailed following the 2020 Hard To Kill pay-per-view (h/t WrestlingINC):-
“I’m signed for at least three years and I’m only nine months into that now. So, we’ve got time and I’m gonna be here for a long time. I’ve been talking about an age-old phrase that weekend – it was manifest destiny. I’ve made a career at putting myself in the right place at the right time and being nothing short of an opportunist."
Departing IMPACT may be the right call. A former two-time X Division Champion, Austin's IMPACT tenure likely sees him as a perennial mid-carder, with a World Championship match coming every now and then. IMPACT has dropped the ball on him a couple of times now, having him fail to capture their top prize on occasions where he was the right choice (Slammiversary 2020, for example).
He's good looking, has the charisma required to thrive, and has already demonstrated the ability to connect with a crowd and hook them in more than a solid chunk of WWE's current roster. Ace is easily detestable, you see, but his flurries of offence make it impossible to zone out while he's performing.
The World Championship may not be all Ace is looking for in IMPACT, but given how the company has refrained from making him their top star twice, it's hard to see him sticking around for much longer.