Alex Zayne
| Alex Zayne | |
|---|---|
 Zayne in April 2023 | |
| Birth name | Alex Zayne Brandenburg[1] |
| Born | October 28, 1986 Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Alex Zayne Andras Vidal Ari Sterling[2][3] Zayne |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[4] |
| Billed weight | 185 lb (84 kg)[4] |
| Billed from | Lexington, Kentucky[4] |
| Trained by | Backyard wrestling WWE Performance Center |
| Debut | March 31, 2007 |
Alex Zayne Brandenburg (born October 28, 1986) is an American professional wrestler primarily working on the independent circuit under the ring name Alex Zayne. He is best known for his tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).[5] He has also appeared on Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor (ROH),[6] Game Changer Wrestling,[7] and WWE, where he performed under the ring name Ari Sterling.
Professional wrestling career
[edit]Independent circuit (2021–present)
[edit]Zayne made his debut in NJPW on November 11, 2019, at New Japan Showdown, in a tag team match, where he and Aaron Solow lost against Amazing Red and T. J. Perkins. Since March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Zayne was unable to work on NJPW events in Japan, leading him to take part in NJPW Strong series. His big matches and performances led him to a WWE Try-out, which he passed, leading him to leave NJPW and sign with WWE in the spring of 2021.
In the fall of 2021, Zayne was released from WWE as part of budget cuts relating to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and returned to NJPW Strong, and made his return match at New Japan Showdown defeating Ariya Davari. Zayne then later faced Will Ospreay on November 17, at the second NJPW's XTRA show in a losing effort. On May 1, Zayne was announced to take part in the 2022 Best of the Super Juniors in Japan. At the tournament, Zayne finished the tournament with a record of four wins and five losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. During the tournament, Zayne formed a tag team with Ace Austin. However, on June 3, Austin joined the Bullet Club, this led Zayne questioning Austin's actions before being laid out by Austin and the Bullet Club. On the June 20th episode of IMPACT, Austin defeated Zayne with the help of Chris Bey.
Championships and accomplishments
[edit]- 3-2-1 BATTLE!
- Six Pack Challenge (2018)[8]
- Hope Wrestling
- HOPE Young Guns Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- USA Championship Wrestling
- USACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Resolute Wrestling
- Resolute Pound 4 Pound Championship (1 time)
- Ring of Honor
- Honor Rumble Winner (2021)
References
[edit]- ^ "Dezmond Xavier, Zachary Wentz, Alex Zayne among new recruits reporting to WWE Performance Center". WWE. December 2, 2020.
- ^ "Former WWE NXT Star Earns Future ROH World Title Shot". Wrestling Inc. September 12, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ "Alex Zayne To Debut As Ari Sterling On 205 Live | Fightful News". www.fightful.com. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Ari Sterling WWE profile". WWE. December 2, 2020.
- ^ NJPW. "Alex Zayne-アレックス・ゼイン | NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING". NJPW. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ P, Dominic (September 12, 2021). "Alex Zayne Returns to ROH". Last Word on Pro Wrestling. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ Rathi, Ishaan (October 4, 2021). "Alex Zayne returns to Game Changer Wrestling following his WWE release » FirstSportz". firstsportz.com. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
- ^ cite web|url= https://www.cagematch.net/?id=26&nr=5176
- ^ cite web|url= https://www.cagematch.net/?id=2&nr=21715&page=12
External links
[edit]- Alex Zayne at IMDb