Alex Bradenburg (born November 28, 1986) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring-name Alex Zayne, where he is currently working to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as part of NJPW's American brand NJPW Strong. He is also known for his tenure with WWE where he wrestled on the NXT and 205 Live brands under the name Ari Sterling.
Through a working relationship between NJPW and its partner promotions, he has also appeared in Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is the winner of the 2021 Honor Rumble, Impact Wrestling (IMPACT) and Game Changer Wrestling (GCW).
Professional Wrestling Career[]
New Japan Pro Wrestling (2019-2021; 2021-Present)[]
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 TJP. 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 pass leading him to leaving NJPW and be signed 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, Zayned finished the tournament with a record of four wins and five losses, failling 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 layed out by Austin and the Bullet Club. On the June 20th episdoe of IMPACT, Austin defeated Zayne with the help of Chris Bey. From November 21 until December 11, Zayne and El Lindaman took part in the 2022 Super Jr. Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record six wins and three losses, but were left behind them in the final standings due to losing to DOUKI and Yoshinobu Kanemaru on the final day. From November 25 until December 6, Zayne and Lance Archer took part in the 2023 World Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of four wins, and three losses, failing to advance to the semifinals of the tournament
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Cinnamon Twist (Corkscrew senton bomb)
- Taco Driver (Cutthroat pumphandle sitout powerbomb)
- 630º senton
- Signature moves
- Baja Blast (Somersault inverted sidewalk slam facebuster)
- Cross armbreaker
- Headbutt
- Moonsauce (Split-Legged springboard moonsault to an opponent outside of the ring)
- Multiple elbow variations
- Discus elbow
- Elbow
- Elbow stamp
- Multiple suplex variations
- Belly to back
- German
- Snap
- Super
- Multiple kick variations
- Drop
- Enzuigiri
- Super
- Topé suicida
- Nicknames
- "The Sauce"
- Entrance themes
- "Dead Road" by Yonosuke Kitamura
Championships and accomplishments[]
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ranked No. 227 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 2020
- Ring of Honor
- Honor Rumble (2021)