WWE is seemingly bent on recruiting top talents from its rival, AEW. Cody Rhodes signing up with WWE was the first nail in AEW’s coffin. The American Nightmare’s return in 2022 was the year’s biggest draw. Although Rhodes wrestled only three matches last year, his stellar performance at Hell in a Cell raised everybody’s eyebrows. With the success that Rhodes has had in less than a year, The Royal Rumble winner has paved the way for other AEW talents whose contracts are set to expire soon to jump ships without a second thought.
It was previously reported that WWE is interested in signing Kenny Omega over Jay White. NJPW’s Jay White is currently a free agent, but WWE is keener on bringing over Kenny Omega. However, Tony Khan has reportedly extended Omega’s contract because of his absence due to injury.
WWE is reportedly going “hard” after AEW talents
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed the possibility of more AEW talents considering joining WWE next year when their contracts lapse. According to Meltzer, if Cody Rhodes was buried by Triple H, the company would have had “no shot” at pursuing Kenny Omega. Losing Kenny Omega could mean bad news for Tony Khan, as he is at the peak of his career.
“This is going to be a really interesting year for Tony. A lot of key deals are gonna be up this year, and WWE is gonna go hard at everyone good. There’s gonna be a lot of WWE deals up and he [Tony Khan] needs to make the product, and the perception of the product, attractive enough where guys on the other side go, ‘they’re solid, they’re financially stable, they have an easier schedule, they’re doing good. Right now I don’t think the perception of WWE talent is to go there.” stated Meltzer
On the other hand, Meltzer also noted that a lot of WWE deals will be up soon and Tony Khan should capitalize on the opportunity. Meltzer believes that Tony Khan needs to gentrify the perception of the product so that the WWE talents think the grass on the other side is greener because of its easy schedules and financial stability.
As an example, Meltzer mentioned bringing Dolph Ziggler over who could help their roster, but also clarified that Ziggler wouldn’t be as big a draw as someone like Seth Rollins.
WWE could sign three top AEW talents within a few months
Dave Meltzer noted that Tony Khan may add more time to Kenny Omega’s deal because of his nine-month absence due to his injury. Omega’s contract is slated to expire at the end of January but, if AEW adds an additional period of nine months to his deal to compensate for his absence, Omega would be locked with the company till November 2024.
Meltzer further reported that The Young Bucks’ contracts are also set to expire soon and the word backstage is that Omega and the YB will continue to work together regardless of which promotion they go to. The Elite is represented by Barry Bloom who has many household names in wrestling, namely, Hulk Hogan, Chris Jericho, Kevin Nash, and more.
At this point, it’s unknown if The Elite would consider leaving AEW, but Meltzer thinks other promotions aside from WWE, like NJPW, Impact Wrestling, and more would be interested to sign the top three stars.
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