Massive update on former WWE stars' contract status with AEW - Reports
New details have come to light regarding two former WWE stars' contract status with AEW. These stars have previously competed in Tony Khan's promotion.
The Grizzled Young Vets were a popular tag team in NXT UK. After the brand became defunct, they moved onto NXT where they were a top team for a while. However, poor booking left them frustrated with the company and they soon left the sports entertainment giant.
Since then, they have been wrestling around the world for various promotions. They even appeared on AEW TV earlier this year, sparking rumors that they were headed to the Jacksonville-based promotion. However, nothing came of it. They even worked a match this past week on AEW Rampage and showed up at AEW All In.
Fightful Select is now reporting that the Grizzled Young Vets working US shows for AEW doesn't indicate their contract status, as they are now based in the US.
Zack Gibson details reason behind leaving WWE
The news of the Grizzled Young Veterans leaving the Stamford-based promotion came as a bit of a shock to everyone. This was due to the fact that they were the inaugural NXT UK Tag Team Champions at one point and even featured every week on NXT TV.
During a recent interview with Daily Star, Zack Gibson confirmed that there are no ill feelings towards their former employer but they felt that their personal stock was on the decline and so they gambled on themselves.
"I've done some great things over there with WWE, TNA, and AEW, and I've also been privy to some things that didn't quite go my way. That's just the nature of the job. There's no need to point fingers (...) It's already documented that we asked for our release, and there are no ill feelings towards WWE. It's just the reality of the situation is that WWE stock was going up and our personal stock was going down. We had a decision to make on how to approach that. We tried one approach, and it didn't feel like it was working out. So we took a gamble and pivoted," Gibson said. [From 16:10 to 17:00]
It will be interesting to see if the Grizzled Young Vets will join AEW eventually, especially since they showed up at AEW All In 2024 and with the promotion already planning more events in the UK in the future.