Impact Wrestling's Ace Austin Nearly Joined WWE In 2018
Impact Wrestling star Ace Austin could have become a stalwart of WWE's purple brand.
Speaking to Tommy Dreamer on his House of Hardcore podcast, Impact Wrestling's Ace Austin reveals he came close to heading to WWE in 2018.
This came after an appearance by Ace on 205 Live, where he teamed with Chris Robinson under the guise of Ryan DePolo in a losing effort to Kalisto and Lince Dorado. Having previously taken part in WWE tryouts, which included being in No Way Jose's conga line, Ace recalled his time backstage on the fateful 24 July 2018 evening:
It went great and I think I did a very good job with what I was given. The feedback I got from that was even better. I got emails from Scott Armstrong and [William] Regal after. It could not have gone better, but that wasn't the avenue I wanted to go in 2018. I felt like I was too young to go down that road.
Of course, Ace would officially sign with Impact Wrestling the following year, going so far as to winning the X Division Championship in October 2019. Had Ace actually gone to WWE, it's no surprise where he would have ended up - meaningless bouts on Friday nights as part of 205 Live.
Ace Austin now looks ahead to entering Impact's fourth Super X Cup tournament at Genesis.
Thanks to Jeremy Lambert of Fightful for the above quote.