Nick Wayne

Nick Wayne
Wayne in June 2023
Birth nameNicholas Wayne Finley
Born (2005-07-10) July 10, 2005 (age 19)
Seattle, Washington, U.S
Parent(s)
FamilyMoondog Ed Moretti (grandfather)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Nick Wayne
Billed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Billed weight162 lb (73 kg)
Billed fromSeattle, Washington
Trained byBuddy Wayne
DebutApril 27, 2018

Nicholas Wayne Finley (born July 10, 2005), known by his ring name Nick Wayne, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Patriarchy stable. He also makes appearances on its sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). He is a former one-time AEW World Trios Champion and is the youngest champion in AEW at 19 years old.

Professional wrestling career

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Early career (2018–2023)

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Wayne began wrestling during childhood, being trained by his father Buddy Wayne.[1][2] He debuted at a Invasion Championship Wrestling show on April 27, 2018, at the age of 12.[3]

On July 31, 2022, Wayne wrestled in a Four Corners match during the Ric Flair's Last Match event.[4]

On April 8, 2023, Wayne won the DEFY World Championship, after defeating Swerve Strickland.[5] He successfully defended the championship on two occasions,[6][7] before being defeated by Kenta on June 4, ending his reign at 56 days.[8]

All Elite Wrestling / Ring of Honor (2023–present)

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See also: The Patriarchy (professional wrestling)

On February 12, 2022, Wayne was offered an All Elite Wrestling (AEW) contract by longtime friend Darby Allin during DEFY Wrestling's 5th Anniversary event.[1][9]

After turning 18 years old, Wayne made his debut for the promotion on the July 12, 2023 episode of Dynamite, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, losing to Swerve Strickland.[10][11][12] Wayne made his debut for AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor on the September 21 episode of ROH on Honor Club, where he unsuccessfully challenged Katsuyori Shibata for the ROH Pure Championship.[13]

At WrestleDream on October 1, Wayne turned on Allin to side with Christian Cage during Cage's and Allin's match for the AEW TNT Championship, turning heel in the process. [14] Wayne joined Cage's stable The Patriarchy with Luchasaurus (later renamed to Killswitch) and was named as "The Prodigy" Nick Wayne.[15][16] At Full Gear, The Patriarchy lost to Adam Copeland, Sting and Allin in a six-man tag team match.[17] On the December 23 episode of Collision, Cage announced that Wayne's mother, Shayna, has joined The Patriarchy as "The Matriarch" Mother Wayne.[18]

On the July 21, 2024 episode of Collision, The Patriarchy defeated the Bang Bang Gang (Juice Robinson and The Gunns) for the vacant AEW World Trios Championship after interference from Mother Wayne. This is Wayne's first world championship title win and also makes Wayne, at 19 years old, the youngest champion in AEW.[19] On August 25 at All In, The Patriarchy lost the AEW World Trios Championship in a four-way London ladder match to Pac and Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta), ending their reign at 37 days.[20]

Personal life

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Wayne is a third generation wrestler, being the son of Buddy and Shayna Wayne, and the grandson of Moondog Ed Moretti.[1][21][9] Buddy Wayne died at the age of 50 on June 17, 2017 from a heart attack.[22][23]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Thompson, Andrew (April 19, 2022). "INTERVIEW: Nick Wayne comments on signing with AEW, being a part of GCW, what DEFY means to his career". POST Wrestling. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  2. ^ Thompson, Andrew (March 4, 2022). "Nick Wayne speaks about his father's influence on his career, wants to write a book one day". POST Wrestling. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  3. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "ICW Rumble In Rutland". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  4. ^ Maitland, Christopher (August 1, 2022). "7/31 RIC FLAIR'S LAST MATCH REPORT: Flair & Idolo vs. Jarrett & Lethal, Alexander vs. Fatu, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  5. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "DEFY The Realest In Rutland". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  6. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "DEFY The Juice". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  7. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "DEFY Vertigo". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  8. ^ Vetter, Chris (June 23, 2024). "Defy Wrestling "Your Nightmare" results: Vetter's review of Nick Wayne vs. Kenta for the Defy Championship, Vert Vixen vs. Shazza McKenzie for the Defy Women's Championship, Allie Katch vs. Nicole Matthews". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Wilen, Jerome (February 14, 2022). "Video: Darby Allin offers 16-year old Nick Wayne an AEW contract". WrestleView. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  10. ^ "Nick Wayne Debuts On 7/12 AEW Dynamite, Officially Signs With AEW". Yahoo Entertainment. July 13, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  11. ^ Tessier, Colin (July 13, 2023). "Nick Wayne Debuts On 7/12 AEW Dynamite, Officially Signs With AEW". Wrestlezone. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  12. ^ Bixenspan, David (July 10, 2023). "Introducing Nick Wayne, the Teenage Prodigy Debuting on AEW Dynamite This Week". SE Scoops | Wrestling News, Results & Interviews. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  13. ^ Black, Ethan (September 21, 2023). "ROH TV Results – September 21, 2023 - PWMania - Wrestling News". Retrieved October 18, 2024.
  14. ^ Howard, Ryan (October 1, 2023). "AEW WrestleDream live results: Christian Cage vs. Darby Allin". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
  15. ^ Pulido, Luis (November 17, 2023). "AEW Collision (11/17/2023) Results: Dax Harwood vs. RUSH, Miro vs Daniel Garcia, Outcasts, More Set | Fightful News". Fightful. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  16. ^ Russell, Skylar (November 22, 2023). "Luchasaurus Is Now Known As Killswitch; Adam Copeland Blasts Nick Wayne With A Con-Chair-To | Fightful News". Fightful. Archived from the original on November 23, 2023. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  17. ^ Powell, Jason (November 18, 2023). "AEW Full Gear results: Powell's live review of MJF vs. Jay White for the AEW World Championship, Hikaru Shida vs. Toni Storm for the AEW Women's Title, Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Page in a Texas Death Match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  18. ^ Powell, Jason (December 23, 2023). "AEW Collision results (12/23): Powell's live review of Bryan Danielson vs. Brody King, Eddie Kingston vs. Daniel Garcia, and Andrade El Idolo vs. Claudio Castagnoli in Continental Classic matches". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  19. ^ Murphy, Don (July 20, 2024). "AEW Collision results (7/20): Murphy's review of Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, and Juice Robinson vs. The Patriarchy for the vacant Unified Trios Titles, Thunder Rosa vs. Deonna Purrazzo in a lumberjack match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  20. ^ Powell, Jason (August 25, 2024). "AEW All In results: Powell's live review of Swerve Strickland vs. Bryan Danielson for the AEW World Championship, Toni Storm vs. Mariah May for the AEW Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  21. ^ Jones, Philip M. (July 1, 2019). "Nick Wayne discusses heritage, and drawbacks of the business as a teen - ProWrestlingPost.com". prowrestlingpost.com. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  22. ^ Meltzer, Dave (June 18, 2017). "Buddy Wayne passes away at 50 years old". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  23. ^ Dubey, Dushyant (June 18, 2017). "WWE News: Former WWE Superstar Buddy Wayne passes away". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  24. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "5CC Wrestling Championship". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  25. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "AEW World Trios Championship". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  26. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "DEFY World Championship". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  27. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "GCW Tag Team Championship". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  28. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2023". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
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