Ace Austin has spoken about the surreal moment he had facing Matt Cardona in IMPACT Wrestling recently.
The former X-Division Champion was interviewed by Inside The Ropes‘ Lead Writer Gary Cassidy recently, and revealed how he watched Cardona as a kid, but that those are the moments which test you as a professional athlete.
“It’s moments like that, that are like a real test of your growth as a professional athlete in this industry. Zack Ryder, Matt Cardona, is one of those guys that I watched as a young kid with my brother, he was one of the guys that we liked a lot.”
The Super X Cup winner would go on to reveal how he had to hide those emotions and see it as a test of his professionalism.
That’s happened to me so often now in my career that those moments are the true test where you have to have that moment inside of yourself where it’s like, ‘Of course, as a human being, this is so exciting, this is so fulfilling’ – but as a professional athlete, as a competitor, you have to glaze that over and you have to be ready for the fight – and that’s what makes or breaks you and that’s why I’ve gone so far so fast, because I’m able to flip that switch and be like, ‘I won’t be outshined by anyone, even my favorite pro wrestlers in the world.'”
Austin also called not winning the IMPACT World Championship his “biggest career failure so far” but says he will still become the youngest ever talent to win the title.
“You’ve got to take the good with the bad. I have to say that, it feels like my biggest career failure so far, almost – but “The Inevitable” was born out of that. The confidence that I have in my ability is where that “inevitable” phrase comes from, because I have zero doubt in my mind that, that might not have been the day, but it’s never over. I’m not a quitter, so I’ve still got time and I’m confident that I’m going to make that happen.”
You can read our full interview with Ace Austin here.
Thanks so much to Ace Austin for taking the time, and to IMPACT UK & Ireland for facilitating the interview. Fans in the UK & Ireland can catch IMPACT! every week on IMPACT Plus Wednesday on Facebook & YouTube, and catch all IMPACT PPVs via IMPACT Plus and Fite TV worldwide.