Pro Wrestling News: Bandido signs with Ring of Honor
What's the story?
Free agency has been in full swing over the last few months and December hasn't disappointed.
Mexican star Bandido, who had reportedly been pursued by almost every major promotion in the world, has been signed.
Wrestlingnews.co reports via Luchablog that phenom Bandido has signed a full-time deal with Ring of Honor.
In case you didn't know...
Bandido has been one of the fastest rising stars in the world of professional wrestling over the last few years.
The 23 year-old started out in Mexico but has wrestled all over the world.
He has wrestled for CZW, the Crash Lucha Libre, Dragon Gate, Lucha Libre Elite, AAA, Pro Wrestling Guerilla and Revolution Pro Wrestling.
He has been on the WWE's radar and was even at a tryout at the Performance Center in Orlando earlier in the year.
He also was a part of the main event of All In when he teamed with Rey Mysterio and Rey Fenix against the Young Bucks and Kota Ibushi.
The heart of the matter
WWE has been trying to find the next luchador to take over as its top Latino babyface ever since Rey Mysterio left in 2014.
Mysterio has since returned but is towards the end of his career.
Wrestlingnews.co also reports that Bandido was at a round of tryouts at the Performance Center earlier in the year but he opted not to sign with the WWE.
The report also mentions that he will start working for ROH in early 2019.
It also notes that the deal he signed with the company will still allow him to work in Mexico as ROH deals have traditionally allowed wrestlers to work for other promotions with which they have a working relationship.
Ring of Honor also recently signed Brody King and PCO to their rosters.
What's next?
WWE allegedly had Bandido in their grasp but were ultimately unable to convince him to sign with them.
He is only 23 so perhaps he felt he had more to do or wanted to do more around the world before signing with WWE.
While WWE is often the end goal for a lot of wrestlers, it isn't always the end all, be all that it used to be.
With several other promotions growing their brand like ROH, MLW, NJPW, Impact and several others doing so, there are more options now than ever before.
Since he is so young, don't be surprised if he does show up in WWE at some point down the road.