Nick Wayne is only 18 years old, but he’s learned lessons in All Elite Wrestling that several talents older than him haven’t figured out just yet.
All Elite Wrestling‘s Nick Wayne was a recent guest on Busted Open Radio. When asked how he handled the time between signing with the company and turning 18 so he could make his debut, Wayne recalled what he did to prepare himself for such a big stage.
“So when I got presented the contract, I was 16. It was in about February of 2022, and I had to wait until July of 2023 to debut on TV for AEW,” Nick Wayne said. “So that time, that year and a half long, I just tried to get as best as I could. I tried to do all the independents possible, just fill up my days completely.
“While on top of that, still going to a normal high school, junior-senior year. So just the weekends and the weekdays, I would try to fill up my schedule as much as possible. I went international in that time. I did two tours in Japan, I think five in the UK; I went to France. So I just tried to stay as busy as possible and just become the best version of myself and working out and eating as consistently as possible.
“Even though I might not look the best right now. I’m still only 18, but I work out every day. I eat six times a day just trying to put on size and become the best version I can of myself to eventually get to that position that was AEW and just be the best version of myself that I could.”
Nick Wayne believes that less is more
When asked what’s the biggest lesson he’s learned since joining AEW, Wayne said it comes down to the fact that less is more.
“That less is more. Less is very much more,” Nick Wayne said. “There was a phase on the Indies where it felt like more was more, you know what I mean? It just felt like so many like, run run run, run run run to this was like how it’s done, you know? But then once you work with these professionals, it’s like, no, it’s just this and it’s done. And it’s the same thing.
“You get the same effect; you get the same reaction. So less is more, and I kind of learned that less is more working with veterans before or working people from Japan. It’s just straight to the point. I talked and worked with William Regal a few times, and he taught me the same thing. And he was like, run run run to this is the same thing as just ducking and doing this. And I would eventually move on to the duck and this, and it was the same. So learning that less is more is probably the biggest one.”
Longevity through segments over matches
Wayne would go on to say that he believes telling stories and doing segments is just as important, if not more, than his work in the ring right now.
“It’s kind of crazy to see how much longevity you can get with just segments. You don’t even have to do a match, just segments,” Nick Wayne said. “Like from WrestleDream, until now, I’ve wrestled two times. But we’re on a segment every single week, and we have this longevity from then until now, and it’s just crazy to see.
“And the people that maybe don’t understand how much longevity you can get from just segments, they tell me like, ‘Dude, you’re not wrestling at all,’ or they’re like, ‘You haven’t wrestled in so long. Like, what is going on?’
“You don’t need a match every week to get distance and longevity. So just these segments and just standing there on the stage cutting promos is probably so much more distance than doing an eight-minute match against whoever.”
READ MORE: Nick Wayne: I’m Very Grateful To Be Under Christian Cage’s Learning Tree
What do you make of Nick Wayne’s comments? Do you think these lessons being learned at such a young age will benefit him down the line? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of these quotes, please credit Busted Open with a link to this article for the transcription.
