Alex Brandenburg
Lexington, Kentucky, USA
Alex Zayne Brandenburg is an American professional wrestler currently 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), Game Changer Wrestling, and WWE, where he performed under the ring name Ari Sterling. 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.
