Rising AEW star Darby Allin made a surprise appearance last night at DEFY Wrestling’s Year V event. The former TNT Champion ended up offering indie star Nick Wayne an AEW contract once the main event came to a conclusion.
Though Wayne was defeated by Christopher Daniels in the final match of the night, he obviously impressed the AEW talent scouts over the course of their work together. Darby emerged as a surprise and after taking some time to recover, Nick Wayne happily accepted the contract.
You can see a video of the exchange below:
On an episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that followed the event, it was noted that his contract will be unique because Nick Wayne is still 16 and in high school. For the time being, he will be considered an apprentice but will eventually move to an adult contract when he turns 18.
Nick Wayne, the son of Buddy Wayne, has made a name for himself on the indies wrestling for promotions such as DEFY, Black Label Pro, and GCW just in the last year. He’s competed against stars like Blake Christian, Lee Moriarty, and Joey Janela.