Ace Austin Says He ‘100 Percent’ Feels Pressure Being Compared To AJ Styles, Explains Why IMPACT Felt Like Home
Photo Credit: IMPACT Wrestling
IMPACT Wrestling star Ace Austin certainly feels the pressure when being compared to all-time greats like AJ Styles, and explains why he’s made IMPACT Wrestling his home for the past few years.
Ace Austin recently appeared on Busted Open Radio and talked about his impressive career so far, as well as how he’s seen as a future cornerstone of the IMPACT Wrestling roster. It was noted that some people compare him to AJ Styles and see him as potentially being the face of IMPACT Wrestling for years to come in the same way that Styles was in the early years of the company. Austin said he does feel the weight of living up to that responsibility, then described what ultimately led him to signing with IMPACT after having such a productive year in 2018.
“100 percent, yeah. When I came in to IMPACT, 2018 was such a good year for me because that’s when I got to do 205 Live and that’s when MLW first booked me and that’s when IMPACT first used me. So, in a span of three months, I had worked for the three major television companies at the time and they were all interested. I had interest from all sides but I had really felt a connection with IMPACT,” Austin explained, “a lot having to do with the roster because so many of them were guys that I had been working with on the indies and they were mentoring me, so it was an environment that I thought I’d be most comfortable in.
“But also, just having spent a little bit of time in every environment, I felt the most at home in the IMPACT locker room, so that just seemed like the right way to go and it felt like a good way to build my foundation and learn to work on television. Especially going to WWE in 2018 when I was 20-years old or whatever, I was just too young, I was way too young. That system wouldn’t have been good for me, I don’t think. So, when stuff blew up in 2018, I had a lot of fun doing all that but ultimately IMPACT felt like the right move and that’s where I landed at the end of 2018. I signed at the end of 2018 but I started at the beginning of 2019, Vegas was actually my first set of tapings, in February 2019.”
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