Ace Austin

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 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is one half of the current TNA World Tag Team Champions alongside Chris Bey.

He also makes sporadic appearances for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a member of Bullet Club.

He began his career in Combat Zone Wrestling after graduating from the "Wild Samoan Pro-Wrestling Training center" wrestling school and has also competed for various promotions throughout the United States and Mexico including Major League Wrestling, Tommy Dreamer's House of Hardcore, Florida-based World Xtreme Wrestling, and Mexico's Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA).

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 Anoaʻi family's World Xtreme Wrestling promotion.

In early 2019, vignettes began airing to promote Ace Austin's debut in Impact Wrestling.

On the March 8 episode of Impact!, Austin made his debut in Impact by defeating Jake Atlas.

It was then revealed that Austin had signed with the company.

Eventually over the next couple of weeks, Austin would remain undefeated against Damian Hyde and Aiden Prince before making his pay-per-view debut at the United We Stand event, where he participated in an Ultimate X match to determine the #1 contender for the X Division Championship.

Johnny Impact won the match.

Austin continued his winning streak by defeating Aiden Prince, Eddie Edwards, Jake Crist, Jake Deaner and Petey Williams in a six-way match at Rebellion.

Austin would then engage in a brief feud with Williams, which led to a match between the two on the May 3 episode of Impact!, which Austin won.

Austin's winning streak ended on the June 21 episode of Impact!, when he lost to the returning TJP.

Austin received title shots for the X Division Championship at Code Red and Unbreakable, but failed to win on both occasions.

Since the summer of 2019, Austin would enter into a feud with Eddie Edwards over his wife, Alisha.

Austin defeated Edwards in a match on the October 11 episode of Impact! to qualify for a five-way ladder match for the X Division Championship at Bound for Glory, which he won by defeating Tessa Blanchard, Daga, Jake Crist and Acey Romero.

Austin continued his feud with Edwards, losing to him in a street fight at Prelude to Glory but won a street fight rematch on the October 29 episode of Impact!.

Their feud concluded with a tables match between the pair at No Surrender, which Edwards won.

Austin continued to successfully defend the X Division Championship against former champion Jake Crist at Turning Point, Dez at Motown Showdown and Trey at Hard to Kill.

Austin began feuding with the Impact World Champion Tessa Blanchard in early 2020, stemming from the fact that Austin had beaten her in a ladder match to win the X Division Championship at Bound for Glory.

The feud between the two led to a champion vs. champion match between the pair at Sacrifice, which Blanchard won.

This win earned Blanchard a title shot against Austin for the X Division Championship on the February 25 episode of Impact!.

Austin retained the title by getting disqualified after Taya Valkyrie attacked Blanchard.

Austin lost the title to Willie Mack at Rebellion Night 1.

He received a rematch for the title against Mack in a three-way match, also involving Chris Bey, on the May 5 episode of Impact!, where Mack retained the title.

After losing the X Division Championship, Austin participated in a tournament to determine the #1 contender for the Impact World Championship.

He defeated Rhino, Hernandez and Wentz to win the tournament but didn't win the title.

In 2020, he began an alliance with Madman Fulton to capture the Impact World Championship.

At Slammiversary, he lost a five-way elimination match for the vacant title in a match that also involved Trey, Rich Swann, Eric Young and Eddie Edwards who was the eventual winner.

At Bound for Glory, Austin and Fulton participated in a match for the Impact Tag Team Championship, but were defeated by The North.

Austin was inactive for weeks since Impact didn't have plans for him, but he returned as part of the 2021 Super X Cup at Genesis.

At the event, he defeated Suicide in the first round, Cousin Jake in the semifinals, and Blake Christian in the finals to win the tournament.

At Hard to Kill, Austin issued an open-challenge, who was answered by Matt Cardona.

Austin lost the match by disqualification.

At No Surrender, Austin participated in the Triple Threat Revolver to determine the number one contender for the X Division Championship, but the match was won by Josh Alexander.

On the March 2 episode of Impact!, Austin defeated Black Taurus and Chris Bey to become the number one contender for the X Division Championship at Sacrifice.

At the event, Austin defeated TJP and won the title for the second time of his career.

He successfully retained his title against TJP on the March 23 episode of Impact!, losing by disqualification, but lost the title to Josh Alexander at Rebellion, in a match who also included TJP, ending his reign at 43 days.

He failed to regain the title against Alexander on the April 29 episode of Impact!.