Oh man where to start?
Okay so I'm pretty sure everyone or just about anyone on here is well aware of what has been transpiring over the past few months with the new promotion AEW or All Elite Wrestling which has been gaining more and more attention from
wrestling sites that mostly cover 95% WWE and while this is good and all I'm wondering how well it will do in the long run? A number of talent from both ROH and New Japan has already made the initial roster
but biggest signing thus far is Chris Jericho.
Apparently because of who is financially backing it in one Shahid “Shad” Khan who is not only the owner of NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars but is also a billionaire with an estimated being 6.4 billion to be exact
but what does this mean?
I can hearken back to the early days of WCW when Ted Turner which didn't have the greatest starts but thanks to guaranteed contracts to big name talent that came over from WWF at the time along with the rise of the NWO, they initially took over wrestling for a time in the late 90's but it would all come crashing down in just a few years thanks to backstage politics and the AOL-Time Warner merger which was said to be a failure years later according
to fortune.
For more info go here.
Of course no one needs a history lesson but it does bring up some parallels since both Turnerand Khan are or were billionaires at the time of their purchases but also I believe Turner wanted to put WWF out of business or atleast compete
with them which seems to be almost why Khan might be investing but I don't want to try and lay skepticism or try think it's some diabolical plan but it is interesting with the talent they have signed not to mention anyone that
watches the BTE show knows that's all that's been talked about from Omega and company.
Speaking of which......segwaaaay
Omega has been the hot topic as of late ever since it was announced the announcement of AEW and his buddies help running it but it's not like Omega hasn't been a topic of conversations since he broke out into being a heavyweight in New Japan and putting on a classic IMO with Okada to win the IWGP championship which I always felt it's the title that's held the most prestige for the past few years thanks to Okada's reign and while those that came before him helped bring up the value of it, I believe it was Okada that helped define what it is to be a long term champion, I know it's a bold statement and I have nothing but respect for the other tites especially the NWA and both the Impact & ROH titles.
Jay Lethal is a prime example of showing where hard work can get you...anyways I'm getting off topic.
Ever since AEW made its presence, a number of talent has said to possibly make their way over from other that other big company. Just a few off the top of my head are The Revival, Nakamura and AJ Styles.
Of course rumors are just that so we'll see. I know that WWE has recently been offering big number contacts to keep their talent from possibly jumping ship since you know AEW has that financial thing going on.
Back to Omega...so speculation ran amok when his contract was ending with New Japan and most of the IWC ran wild like Hogan back in the day with the belief he would be in the Royal Rumble but the problem with that is that his contract is said not to expire until today (2-1-19) or in the next few days with all signs pointing to him joing AEW.
Those that watched the All In event have seen what it's like when you have the right amount of promotions working together which in turn could be reminiscent of the AWA Superclashes or atleast the first one but times have changed and there seems to be a shift that WWE is no longer the be all end all of where you can make enough money to support yourself or even have a long term career but even that's no guarantee.
So the Khan's had recently spoke about where they stand with AEW in separated interviews.
First from Shahid Khan:
Then his son Tony Khan made his own statement:
Whats more is that there's been a recent press release about their next big event:
Hmm...it'll be interesting to see just who they are talking about since it was said that AEW reached out to see if New Japan would work with them but they opted
to stay with working with ROH instead, atleast according to Meltzer below.
It makes sense though since there hasn't been any major issues between the two and have been working with one another for sometime now and this could make the relationship stronger.
On a side note, I'm actually happy they aren't working with AEW since it seems alot of the stories were almost centered on the Bullet Club drama and while I'm a big fan of Omega as I've mentioned in the past, I get alittle annoyed by the Bucks antics or shenanigans....that's not to say they aren't talented, I guess I still have alittle of that old school mentality even my views have adapted with the times and I don't try make as many comparisons as I did to past
situations unless it calls for it but that's just me.
My understanding is that they have been shopping around also for some sort of tv deal which is said to help Jericho make his decision with signing with AEW.
Cody Rhodes also mentioned something:
The impressive roster has already been mentioned but there are recent rumors floating that the tag team of the very underrated talents of Trent Baretta and Chuck Taylor who work
with both New Japan and ROH are looking to be on the way out and signing with All Elite Wrestling.
ROH has taken some steps it seems like to fill the void of the number of talents that left first with Lifeblood.
And with the signings of both Brody King & PCU who just joined Villain Enterprises
I'm not 100% sure on the contract status of Marty Scurll but I believe his does not end until another year with ROH so where he ends up we'll see.
I know he's boys with all those in AEW but has brought alot of life into the Jr division of New Japan IMO and a MOTY candidate from last year with WIll Ospreay which is also the match that nearly ended Ospreay's career but damn is he actual human highlight reel.
Still hurts looking at it but yeah I highly recommend watching the entire match if you can.
The other big rumor is that Dean Ambrose aka Jon Moxley is looking to leave WWE aswell even though that's a giant speculation there's no doubt he's been frustrated with WWE for sometime now even though I haven't really watched anything WWE related in months, it's hard not to overlook this.
There's also the notion that WWE offered him alot of money he turned down
That info is here.
While others believe its all a work with WWE announcing him leaving since it's not something they're known to do.
Some more notes from WOR (Wrestling Observer Radio):
I really don't know what the future holds all I know is they have this big upcoming event which is the first since Omega's contract is set to expire or already is and it could be his debut for the company and while it seems they have things going for them with being linked in trying to go head to head with the big bad wolf in WWE, I guess only time will reveal just how long they'll be around.