6 Wrestlers who turned down AEW contracts
All Elite Wrestling or AEW has been reasonably successful since its inception in 2019. The promotion managed to get AEW Dynamite on TNT and bring back the excitement that WCW Monday Nitro did for the network.
AEW Dynamite has won most of its ratings 'war' against WWE NXT and always done well in the 18-49 demographic. AEW has used a mixture of young independent stars, experienced former WWE Superstars, and raw talent finding their footing on televised wrestling.
They have signed some of the best talents around like Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, Jake Hager, Pride-n-Powerful, and many others. It also looks like they're planning to add more familiar names down the line. Tony Khan, while commentating on Ricky Starks' recent signing said:
"Ricky Starks was a great signing. That was totally organic too. Ricky Starks was a person who had earned an opportunity and was somebody we were looking at to challenge for the TNT championship against Cody. That’s a good example, but I think there’s going to be some other guys, maybe people you’d even be more familiar with down the line."
With that said, not everyone signed with All Elite Wrestling, and some people opted out to mostly stay with their current wrestling promotion. That may change in the future as AEW continues to establish itself.
Here are 6 wrestlers who turned down AEW contracts.
#6 Nick Aldis
While Nick Aldis first got popular in Impact Wrestling, his tenure as the NWA World Champion has put him on the map. As the NWA Champion, Aldis was able to take back to its wrestling territory routes defending the belt anywhere and everywhere.
One of his most-hyped fights came in All In in 2018, where he defended the title against Cody Rhodes. The build-up to the match was so well done that the final result was excellent, with Aldis dropping the famed Championship to Cody.
Of course, when AEW came around, there was a possibility that Aldis could join. Aldis confirmed this in an interview but turned it down because of his commitment to the NWA. He said:
"I'll tell you the truth: I was made an offer by AEW. I counter-offered with, 'I'd like to be able to do both.' I'd like to work with them because obviously, I have great admiration for Cody and the Bucks for what they've been able to do. But I wasn't prepared to walk away from the two years of work I've done with the NWA. And that was that. I left it open with, 'If you can find a way to keep doing this and do your show, I'll do your show."
While NWA has established themselves with their NWA Power web television program and Aldis being at the center, it does seem that he's there to stay (for now).