Darby Allin Appears At Defy Year V - Offers 16-Year-Old Nick Wayne AEW Contract

Have AEW landed their next new signing?

by Andrew Pollard
Defy Year V Nick Wayne Darby Allin
Twitter @bryanalvarez

With Keith Lee this week becoming #AllElite, it looks as if AEW has already found its next recruit.

Following the main event of last night's Defy Year V show, former AEW TNT Champion Darby Allin appeared and offered an AEW contract to 16-year-old Nick Wayne.

Wayne was unsuccessful in challenging for Christopher Daniels' interim Defy World Championship at the show, but he looks to have landed himself a deal with All Elite Wrestling. Not just was the youngster offered an AEW contract by Darby, he happily accepted said offer to join Tony Khan's promotion.

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If that wasn't enough for those in attendance at Seattle's Washington Hall, all of this was followed by a further surprise as Shane Strickland - the former Isiah 'Swerve' Scott - came to the ring to let Wayne know that this was Swerve's house.

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For those not familiar with Nick Wayne, he's a third-generation star - his father being Buddy Wayne, his grandfather being Moondog Ed Moretti - who has been causing waves for the past several years. Having made his in-ring debut at just 12 years of age, Wayne has been a regular presence for Defy, Black Label Pro, and GCW across the past year or two.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.