Former WWE Star Makes His AEW In-Ring Debut At Dark Tapings

Last June 2nd, WWE released a number of Superstars reportedly due to budget cuts brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and one of those Superstars is “The Premiere Athlete” Tony Nese. Nese is a one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion, with his win taking place on the kickoff show of WrestleMania 35, when he defeated Buddy Murphy in front of his home crowd. After his 90-day non-compete clause with WWE ended, he worked on the independent scene.

During the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament Match between Bryan Danielson and Dustin Rhodes on a special episode of Saturday Night Dynamite this past weekend, Tony Nese was shown in the crowd and he was referred to as “one of the hot free agents in pro wrestling.”

All Elite Wrestling recently held their latest set of TV Tapings for Dark inside Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida and the former WWE Star made his AEW in-ring debut when he went up against Fuego Del Sol in Singles action during the first session of the tapings.

There’s no word yet on if this was just a trial match or if AEW plans to sign Nese to a deal, but the promotion usually announces a new signing on their Twitter account with a graphic, especially if that talent signs a full-time deal with them.

You can check out the posts below:

Scoop #6: Fuego Del Sol vs Tony Nese pic.twitter.com/kSAhPegJGN

— Jacob Cohen (@MrJacobCohen) October 24, 2021

The premier athlete @TonyNese #AEWDark pic.twitter.com/CZIFswfBM5

— JJ Williams (@JJWilliamsWON) October 24, 2021

Tony Nese makes his AEW in-ring debut against Fuego del Sol in the best match of the session thus far. #AEWDark pic.twitter.com/AiF4HfZyPN

— Showcase of the Kimmortals (@HurriOwl) October 24, 2021