4 AEW rumors we hope are true and 1 we hope isn't: Bray Wyatt's status for wrestling return; WWE's interest in ex-employees; Is Jon Moxley happy with his position?
Welcome back to this week's edition of the AEW rumors we hope are true and some we hope aren't.
Never before has the free-agent market been more eye-grabbing than right now, courtesy of WWE's shocking releases since the pandemic era. While AEW has managed to sign most of their talents, stars like Bray Wyatt are still waiting for an opportunity.
Dave Meltzer recently provided an interesting revelation about the former Universal Champion's demand for a potential return.
Meanwhile, WWE seems interested in bringing back former employees. Is Jon Moxley happy with how his booking has been handled by the company thus far? With all these lead stories, we'll dive straight into the top five rumors of the week.
#5 Hopefully true: Bray Wyatt has reportedly set a price for his services
His asking price is very high. twitter.com/champdapug/sta…
Bray Wyatt's future in the wrestling business has been up in the air since he was released by WWE last summer. While there were initially rumors about him potentially signing with All Elite Wrestling, nothing as such has materialized so far.
In a Twitter exchange with a fan, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio shared an intriguing lead on Wyatt. The wrestling journalist tweeted that there's reported interest from both AEW and WWE in signing each other's talents.
A Twitter user responded to Meltzer's claim by asking whether either of these companies is interested in acquiring Bray Wyatt's services. Dave Melter noted that the former Universal Champion's asking price to sign with AEW or a WWE return is "very high."
We hope this report is true because Wyatt is one of the hottest commodities available in the business today. He was also a top merchandise seller during the peak of his WWE career.
The 34-year-old star is a creative genius, and he knows that very well. The latest developments likely suggest that AEW and WWE have held talks with Wyatt, though none of these parties could offer him a lucrative deal.
#4 Hopefully true: FTR reportedly staying with AEW despite WWE's intention to re-sign them
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select recently reported that while he has heard there is "interest internally" within WWE about bringing FTR back to the company, the stars' AEW contractual situations have held the company back from reaching out to them.
Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood reportedly have another year left on their current deals. It was initially reported that FTR's deal would expire sometime in the summer of this year.
But with the latest developments, the company may have exercised a one-year option on their deals. In a nutshell, FTR isn't expected to be leaving All Elite Wrestling anytime soon.
We hope these reports turn out to be true because Wheeler and Harwood are relishing arguably the best run of their careers in AEW. The two men have clearly been utilized to their full potential this year.
FTR currently holds the ROH and AAA Tag Team Championship, and even more so, they've set their sights on winning the AEW Tag Team Championship. If one may recall, the duo left WWE, citing poor handling of the tag team division.
It wouldn't be a wise decision for them to jeopardize their legacies by potentially returning to WWE down the road.
#3 Hopefully true: Jon Moxley is "very happy" in AEW
Jon Moxley has been making the rounds on social media lately due to some wide speculations from some fans.
The word out was that the 36-year-old was unhappy with AEW and that he could potentially jump ship to WWE when his contract runs out. However, Dave Meltzer immediately squashed these assumptions by disclosing his conversation with Moxley.
As per the journalist, The Purveyor of Violence is "super happy" with his position in All Elite Wrestling:
“He told me last week he was super happy," Meltzer noted. (h/t WrestlingNews.co)
We hope the Meltzer report is credible. Like FTR, Moxley has been heavily protected by management this year.
He's been undefeated since returning from rehab and has joined forces with William Regal, Wheeler Yuta, and Bryan Danielson to form The Blackpool Combat Club. Mox has previously relished tremendous success as he held the AEW World Championship for 277 days.
Aside from that, Tony Khan has given him considerable freedom to perform outside AEW's umbrella. He has wrestled in dream battles with the likes of Minoru Suzuki, Yuji Nagata, and Will Ospreay, to name a few.
Keeping that in mind, there's no reason to believe that Jon Moxley is unhappy with his position in the company.
#2 Hopefully true: Tony Khan could be planning to announce a mega show between AEW and NJPW
If the AEW/NJPW supershow happens and I don't have this as the main Event, I'll truly be disappointed. https://t.co/xwA4jkFGtU
In the upcoming episode of Dynamite, Tony Khan will make a "huge" announcement on the show. The news has sparked a debate among wrestling fans, with different speculations having been thrown into the hat thus far.
RSN recently reported that Mr. Khan could be planning to announce a mega show between AEW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. As of this writing, the supershow between the two promotions could go down in Chicago, Illinois, this year.
We hope this report turns out to be true because it could change the landscape of the wrestling industry.
The prospect of booking a plethora of dream matches on the show would be unimaginable. Tony Khan could book a stadium to organize arguably the biggest event outside WWE's sphere.
#1 Hopefully not true: AEW looking to turn Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti into a heel
Sammy Guevara and Tay Conti have been on the receiving end of hostile reactions from fans since partnering up on-screen.
The Spanish God received a mixed response from the audience when he dethroned Scorpio Sky to become a three-time TNT Champion at Battle of the Belts II.
On that front, Dave Meltzer reported that the company could be planning to turn the real-life couple into heel characters.
"We know them making out is going to get heat. They’re probably going to go in that direction. That’s probably what they should be doing. It is what they should be doing and that’s fine if people want to boo them.”
We hope this isn't true. The idea of turning Guevara and Conti heel in the middle of a feud with another heel stable in The Men of the Year would be a shoddy booking decision. As a solo star, Guevara is over with the audience, as we've seen how fans were rallying behind him during his quest to become TNT Champion.
Even if the company is planning to turn the pair heel, then they should pull the trigger after their feud with Sky and Page has culminated.
Last week, Scorpio Sky asserted that he would stop at nothing to reclaim the TNT Championship.
What do you make of these rumor stories? Sound off in the comments section below.