Tony Khan's massive blunder allowed Triple H to lure major talent away from AEW to WWE - Reports
Tony Khan's booking decisions are often criticized online, with many, from veteran wrestlers to fans claiming they know better. However, Khan's habit of letting stars wrestle on television without a contract might have allowed Triple H to steal Dragon Lee under his nose.
While numerous smaller names have stepped into the AEW ring without a contract, Cody Rhodes is likely the most notable for having been through this. Tony Khan has notably put both Bandido and Dragon Lee on television without contracts without quickly signing them, even after positive fan responses.
During the recent Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed that WWE first gained interest in Bandido and Dragon Lee after realizing that both stars were wrestling without contracts.
"Like with Bandido, WWE’s interest in Dragon Lee came when they found out that AEW put this guy on television with no contract. So it was kind of like, ‘We can swoop in.' That was one of the things. They came after him after that deal, and right after that, he was signed, but he was signed a couple of weeks back. That was the catalyst of it was them finding out that AEW put a guy on television with no deal," said Meltzer. [H/T: Wrestlingnews.co]
😱😱😱 Dragon Lee just launched himself at Kenny Omega and they topple into the crowd! #AEWDynamite is LIVE on TBS! https://t.co/SdI73qlnJD
While some fans have taken to social media to heckle Tony Khan for missing out on signing Dragon Lee, Mark Madden recently claimed that AEW fans are growing weary with the number of stars Khan has picked up overall.
Missed out on last night's AEW Dynamite? Catch up with the results right here.
Tony Khan was reportedly aware of the deal between Dragon Lee and WWE
Shortly before announcing that he'd be signing with WWE, Dragon Lee and Dralístico defeated AEW's FTR for the AAA World Tag Team Championships. But after the announcement, the Luchadores vacated the belts instead.
FTR just lost their AAA tag titles to Dragon Lee & Dralístico. https://t.co/Konkp0hK8G
During the same WOR, Dave Meltzer claimed that there was no way Tony Khan could not have known about Lee's WWE deal, especially since FTR were set to lose to him.
"The deal was made a couple of weeks ago, but they were told to keep it quiet, and they won’t make the announcement until they won the tag team titles, which is very interesting because he pinned an AEW star which was part of the deal. Tony Khan was aware of it. I am sure if this was reversed that it would have never happened." [H/T: Wrestlingnews.co]
While Dragon Lee is set to perform on the NXT brand, it's unclear when he'll officially make his debut. Dralístico, on the other hand, has been appearing in AEW lately, leading to some fans speculating he'll be signing with Khan instead.