Ace Austin

Austin in November 2022

###

Reading, Pennsylvania, United States

**Austin James Highley** (born February 28, 1997), better known by the ring name **Ace Austin,** is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Impact Wrestling (IMPACT), where he is a former one-time Impact World Tag Team Champion and a former three-time Impact X Division Champion. As part of a working relationship between IMPACT and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), he also appears in the promotion, where he is a member of the Bullet Club.

## Professional wrestling career

### Early career

Austin began his career in Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) after graduating from the "CZW Dojo" wrestling school. He spent his early years also wrestling for the Anoa'i family's World Xtreme Wrestling promotion.

### New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2022–present)

On May 1, Austin was announced has one of the participants in the 2022 Best of the Super Juniors by New Japan Pro Wrestling. At the tournament, Austin finished his block with a record of five wind and four losses, with a loss against Francesco Akira by count out at the final day, forcing him to miss the finals of the tournament by a single point. During the tournament, Austin formed a tag team with Alex Zayne. However, on June 3, Austin interrupted a tag team match, between Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens and El Phantasmo) and United Empire's, Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan and Aaron Henare. During his interference, Austin revealed himself as Bullet Club's newest member stable, with his distraction helping them win the match, this led Zayne questioning Austin's actions before being layed out by Austin and the rest of Bullet Club. On the June 20th episdoe of *IMPACT*, the recently joined Austin defeated Zayne with the help of fellow Bullet Club member Chris Bey. From November 21 until December 14, Austin and Bey took part in the 2022 Super Jr. Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record seven wins and two losses, advancing to the finals. On December 14, Austin and Bey were defeated by Lio Rush and Yoh in the finals.

## Personal life

Austin is an avid skateboarder and trains in parkour.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ Inverted Frog splash
	+ Springboard Guillotine leg-drop
	+ *The Fold* (Running somersault neckbreaker)
* **Signature moves**
	+ *Ace's High* (Arm trap corkscrew suplex neckbreaker)
	+ *Awesome Clothesline* (Corner clothesline followed by multiple clotheslines)
	+ Bicycle knee strike to a rope-hung opponent
	+ Avalanche headscissors takedown
	+ Cross armbreaker while scratching an opponent's hand with a card
	+ Corkscrew senton
	+ *Fosbury Flop* (Over the top rope moonsault plancha)
	+ *House of Cards* (Neckscissors double foot stomp)
	+ *Hurricarrana from Rope* (Avalanche Hurricarrana)
	+ Multiple kick variations
		- Drop, while sometimes in the middle rope
		- Roundhouse to an opponent's chest
		- Running 540º
		- Slingshot roundhouse
		- Spinning heel
		- Spinning roundhouse to a kneeling opponent
	+ Tiger feint from the ring mat followed by an elbow strike
	+ Snap suplex
	+ Turnbuckle defence
	+ Twisting suplex
	+ **With Chris Bey**
		- *Art of the Finesse* (Assisted diving cutter) (Bey) / *The Fold* (Running somersault neckbreaker) (Austin) combination

* **Nicknames**
	+ **"The Ace Of Spades"**
	+ **"The Inevitable"**
* **Entrance themes**
	+ **"Pumped To Win"** by Oliver Spink and Christopher White

## Championships and accomplishments

* **Impact Wrestling**
	+ Impact X Division Championship (3 times)
	+ Impact World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Chris Bey
	+ Super X Cup (2021)
	+ Impact World Championship #1 Contender's Tournament (2020)
	+ Impact Year End Awards (2 times)
		- X Division Star of the Year (2020)
		- Match of the Year (2020) vs. Eddie Edwards vs. Trey vs. Eric Young vs. Rich Swann at Slammiversary
* ***Pro Wrestling Illustrated***
	+ Ranked No. 94 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the *PWI 500* in 2020