Rehwoldt, an Illinois native who studied acting and stage combat at Columbia College Chicago, tested his thespian character in Florida Championship Wrestling and carried it over to “NXT” following the developmental territory’s rebranding in 2012. But it would take some additional time to get the character of Aiden English fully formed and ready for the main roster.

“It took about a year after we got to Orlando before they finally were ready to go with that character,” said the former “NXT” Tag Team Champion. “Which was good, because it gave me time to get more confident and better in the ring.”

In September 2013, Aiden English made his way to the ring while singing a parody of “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General” from the musical “The Pirates of Penzance,” and the character became fully realized. Utilizing his own version of other Broadway staples, English would continue to sing before, during, and after his matches in an antagonistic way, which fans would absolutely eat up. 

Eventually, he would join with Simon Gotch to form the Vaudevillains, and the team would become unlikely fan favorites and tag team champions before being drafted to “Smackdown” in 2016 after memorable matches with Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy, American Alpha, and the team who would later be known in All Elite Wrestling as FTR. When Gotch and English’s partnership was dissolved, “The Artiste” would join forces with Rusev and Lana to form Rusev Day, arguably one of the most popular acts in all of WWE during 2017 and 2018.