Kaun previously starred in Ring of Honor as a member of Shane Taylor Promotions; alongside Moses and Shane Taylor, he had a record-breaking reign as a ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion. But now that he’s a free agent because the company opted not to renew the contracts of its talent roster at the end of 2021, his future is unclear. But he’s already made a few appearances on AEW Dark/Dark: Elevation, so it’s fair to wonder if he could get a deal with All Elite Wrestling at some point.
In an interview with Andrew Thompson, Kaun discussed his experience with AEW up to this point. He noted that he’s a fan of Andrade El Idolo, so it was a pleasant surprise to face the former NXT star in his AEW debut. Kaun then described how he has been studying AEW Dark in order to learn the way the matches are structured on the show. In doing so, he hoped to maximize his minutes when he got the chance to compete.
“…I was actually supposed to wrestle Frankie [Kazarian] the first time but his flight, something happened with his travel so he came to the show late,” Kaun recalled. “It’s funny because I’m like a huge fan of Andrade [El Idolo]. I was a huge fan of his in NXT and I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m wrestling this dude.’ But I’ve been watching AEW Dark since they started and I’ve been studying these match structures and I know they don’t get a lot of time and I think a lot of people do a lot of stuff that doesn’t really mean too much so in my mind, all right, I’m like, ‘I’m just making a moment. I’m just making a moment.’”
Kaun then specifically described how, with this objective in mind, he aimed to showcase his physicality when he faced Andrade. Even by doing little things to stand out, Kaun hoped to improve his chances of getting signed.
“When I was working with Andrade, fortunately we didn’t do too much because why? It doesn’t mean anything,” said Kaun. “There’s only three or four minutes. If I’m trying to show off my physicality and make a moment. This dude pulls my hair, I slap the sh*t out of him. He can slap me back, but, I make sure I had that moment and look, I’m not here to play either. This is my opportunity to try to get signed. ”
Several veterans are evidently rooting for Kaun; the former ROH star described how Mark Henry has been a “big fan” of his, and he also impressed Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels. Kaun expressed his hope that he’ll have more opportunities with AEW, and he also stated that his experience so far has been “great.” He named the chance to reconnect with people he’s crossed paths with before as one of the best benefits of his time on AEW Dark/Dark Elevation.
“…[I] came to the back, same thing, Mark Henry loved it, Kazarian liked it, [Christopher] Daniels liked it so, I think I’m going back for a couple more opportunities,” said Kaun. “Hopefully some good things come out of that. But it’s been great. I know a lot of those people from ROH, I know some people in the office, I got to meet people. Surprisingly, they remember me when I was at ROH when they were there. So it’s like a great vibe, it’s cool to see people like Austin Gunn, Fuego Del Sol and catch up with people so, hopefully good things happen in the next few weeks.”
Kaun last wrestled for AEW on the January 18 episode of AEW Dark, when he faced top star Adam Cole.
Thanks to Andrew Thompson for sharing the quotes used in this article.
The full interview is available here:
