Watch Former WWE Star Make Their AEW Debut

By Matthew Aguilar

All Elite Wrestling just brought in a former WWE star during the latest episode of AEW Dark, and you can watch his introduction to the AEW crowd in the video below. Last night's AEW Dark was the debut of Parker Boudreaux in AEW, who was formerly known as Harland in WWE NXT, and many were shocked to see him among the onslaught of releases by WWE over the past two years, especially after all the buzz he came into the company with. Now he's had his first match in AEW, and while it remains to be seen if he will sign (or has signed) a long-term deal with the company, the first step towards that is now complete, and you can watch his introduction in the video below.

Boudreaux was introduced by Ariya Daivari and Slim J as part of the Trustbusters, and it would seem like the group now has a powerhouse as part of the group. Boudreaux debuted in NXT as Harland, a silent and mysterious figure that ended up being paired with Joe Gacy, acting as his bodyguard.

Despite the buzz around him coming into WWE, he didn't really get in the ring much on WWE TV, as he only wrestled six matches during his time in WWE. The last match he wrestled for WWE was in March of this year, and he was released the following month. When he came in the Brock Lesnar comparisons were plentiful, and during a previous media call, Triple H addressed those comparisons directly.

"It's funny, people look at somebody like Parker and they go, 'Oh my God, he looks like Brock Lesnar,'" Triple H said (h/t Wrestling Inc). "So immediately, they go, 'Oh, he's the next big thing, and he's got a big personality.' We'll see what he can do. For all of this, you have to be ready to be a performer. Even Brock Lesnar wasn't a guy as amazing, and Parker is as well, as amazing as an athlete as he is [now]. You got to be trained, you got to know what you're doing. Everything's has got to be done safely. Everybody that we bring in the door, you want to succeed to the best of their ability and their capability."

"I am incredibly excited about Parker Boudreaux coming in," Triple H said. "[We also have] Bronson Rechsteiner, we have a lot of people coming in the door. Just as I am about people that have been here for a while, like Rik Bugez and a lot of people that are in the door and at the cusp, COVID has slowed that down, but they're right there. When I say the future is bright, that is what I'm talking about. The ability for those folks that are in those positions, in those on deck positions to be able to explode into growth and be the next, I want to use the 'next big thing' because everybody thinks about Brock. But to be that next big star, that next mega star, and they want to put it on everybody else's development."

Boudreaux also addressed those comparisons, saying that he wasn't the next Brock Lesnar, but the first Parker Boudreaux. Now he's in AEW, and the future seems bright for him moving forward.

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