Wes Barkley has become one of the top names in the northeast independent scene and is one of the top talents at AIW as the reigning AIW Intense Champion.
In August 2022, Barkley competed at the AEW Dark: Elevation tapings at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
Speaking to Jeremy Lambert & Joel Pearl on In The Weeds, Barkley reflected on his AEW appearance.
After joking that he got some heat for cutting in line in catering, he said, "It was awesome, top to bottom, the match was only like four minutes, but I gave it all I got. Dante [Dante Martin] picked up the win, but it was amazing to be in Cleveland, it was amazing to get the response, the 'Maserati' chants, that was very cool. Not going to lie, I don't get nervous often, but I was pretty nervous. Would love to go back, hoping we can work some stuff out in the future, I know they're coming back to Cleveland, we'll see what happens there. After that, I got some great opportunities, got to go to GCW. AEW is an amazing company, they treated me amazing both times, and that was just me being an extra and doing a Dark match."
He continued, "I got to meet some talent, Christian Cage is awesome. He was probably the coolest dude. He gave me some great advice backstage. I told him, 'Hey, I'm nervous. Going out there, first match, any advice?' Instead of some other guys that were like, 'Do your best, kid,' and keep moving, he kind of broke some stuff down and was talking about when he wrestled the Undertaker. He looked at me like, 'You know who Taker is?' Uh, yeah, this ain't on that level brother, but I appreciate you bringing that up [laughs]. It was awesome for him to actually go out of his way and give me a little speech."
Barkley also credited Britt Baker, who also came from AIW, for helping him get the booking and acclimated to the environment.
Barkley is set to compete at Greektown Wrestling on August 19.
Fans can check out the full interview with Wes in the video above.
