Ace Austin’s performance in a losing effort against Claudio Castagnoli on Saturday’s Collision has drawn notice inside AEW, Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio.
Austin lost the first round Continental Challenge Cup match after a pop-up European uppercut, in what was the first singles meeting between the two. He is 1-9 in televised singles matches in AEW since arriving.
“As far as Ace Austin’s standing, I think he did himself a world of favors with this performance because people are talking about him, including in the company, being very impressed by him… I don’t know that it’s gonna get him a bunch of wins, but I do think it will get him some television time and, you know, being thought of as, ‘Hey, we got a TV match for Mike Bailey or whatever, and we need a win, and hey, we know Ace Austin, he can do that job great,'” Meltzer said.
Austin previously worked as a tag team with Chris Bey in TNA.