6 AEW stars who had tryouts with WWE
Every pro-wrestler dreams of having tryouts with WWE to test themselves against the best. Vince McMahon's successful establishment sets the benchmark for stamina, performance, in-ring abilities, storytelling, and promo cutting, amid a host of other parameters, to judge the true potential of every wrestler.
Tony Khan's promotion features a host of stars who have been former WWE Superstars, like CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes, Bryan Danielson, Dustin Rhodes, and Jon Moxley, to name a few.
Having said this, there are other stars on the current AEW roster who had tryouts with WWE in the past, albeit couldn't see the light of day for various reasons.
In this article, we look at six such AEW stars.
#6 and #5 The Young Bucks had WWE tryouts in 2008 and 2011
The Young Bucks, a team comprising of brothers Matt and Nick Jackson, are one of the top tag teams on the current AEW roster. Apart from achieving great heights in the ring, the brothers also serve as Executive Vice Presidents for the company.
The former AEW Tag Team Champions appeared on WWE television way back in 2008. The older brother Matt wrestled in two matches, one against Chuck Palumbo in February and the other against The Big Show in a Last Man Standing Match in October, losing both.
In October of the same year, The Young Bucks appeared on The Dirt Sheet in ECW, a talk show hosted by The Miz and John Morrison who were feuding with D-Generation X at the time. The WWE Superstars made Matt and Nick dress up as D-X before beating them in the ring. Despite this appearance, a WWE contract wasn't awarded to the Jackson brothers.
On August 15, 2011, The Young Bucks again had tryouts for WWE producers before RAW tapings in San Diego amid no luck for a second time.