"I want to be taken more seriously"- Latest AEW star Tony Nese discusses major character change from WWE 

Tony Nese has recently signed with AEW. In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, he explained that he intends to change his gimmick.

The Premier Athlete was restricted to 205 Live for much of his WWE career, so he could never portray a layered character. All we knew about the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion was that he was extremely well-built and had some great matches.

During the interview, Tony Nese disclosed how he would like his character to be like in AEW.

"So the premiere athlete is still going to be who I am and what I represent. But I do want it to be a little bit more of a serious thing rather than 'Hey look at my abs.' I love being booed and flexing, but at the same time, I switched up my look to where I am wearing more branded stuff. In WWE, I was just trying to pop by getting gear that just looked good. I wore a jacket because they told me I needed something up top. They said 'You should wear something, but don't cover up anything.' For 1 show I wore a He-Man type thing, but nobody thought it looked cool, Vince said 'Is he wearing a bra out there?' Straight after I heard that, I threw it into the garbage. But now, I think this is getting old and it doesn't represent me, I want to be taken more seriously. I want to be my own brand, that's the attitude I'm going in with. I still will be kissing my biceps and flexing though," Tony Nese said.

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Tony Nese made his in-ring debut on AEW Dark

AEW Dark reportedly taped a month's worth of matches, and Tony Nese was spotted in one of those tapings. He went one-on-one against Fuego Del Sol.

Nese was first spotted during AEW Dynamite, sitting in the crowd and observing the show. The former NXT star was clad in formal clothing and didn't do anything of note.

During most of his WWE run, Tony Nese was reduced to pre-show appearances on WWE pay-per-views and wrestling in 205 Live. Seeing how AEW has used fellow-former NXT star Bobby Fish so far, it will be interesting to see how the Long Island native is used in AEW.