Category: AEW

Kenny Omega Expected To Sign With AEW

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Kenny Omega is expected to sign with All Elite Wrestling when his contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling expires at the end of the month, according to Dave Meltzer on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio. Nothing can be officially announced until February 1st.

Omega revealed during an interview with Tokyo Sports over the weekend that he would be leaving the promotion when his contract expires on January 31st. Meltzer noted that NJPW found out that Omega was leaving through the interview and were not happy about it. NJPW preferred how KUSHIDA, who is also leaving NJPW and is expected to start with NXT, handled his departure.

As noted earlier this week, NJPW had decided to work with ROH over AEW going forward. Meltzer stated that NJPW “badly” does not want to lose Omega, so it is very likely that NJPW will warm up to working with AEW. It was noted that ROH didn’t want The Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes at the upcoming ROH – NJPW G1 Supercard event at Madison Square Garden on April 6th, even though they are all cordial.

With the current landscape in wrestling, NJPW is now signing talent to longer term deals. AEW had signed Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks to five-year deals. Meltzer noted that Cody and the Bucks did not have to use their own money on the venture.

AEW will be holding their “Double or Nothing” rally in Jacksonville this evening at 5 pm ET at the parking lot of West Club at the TIAA Bank Field, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s expected that several signings and the upcoming Double or Nothing event will be officially announced at the rally. Tonight’s SmackDown will emanate from Jacksonville as well.

Source: WrestlingINC

The Billionaire Khan Family Confirm Involvement In All Elite Wrestling

tony shad khan family confirm involvement all elite wrestling

The billionaire Khan family have finally confirmed their involvement in All Elite Wrestling with lengthy statements about the future of the promotion.

Shad and Tony Khan released statements to the media on Tuesday ahead of AEW’s rally in Jacksonville. The statement from Shad reads as follows:

I am the lead investor, a supporter and a backer of All Elite Wrestling, and I anticipate great things today and into the future for AEW and everyone who has worked passionately on this week’s launch.  I know AEW will be welcomed by wrestling fans here in the U.S. and throughout the world who are ready for something new and authentic.  AEW will work hard to deliver on that promise.

As important, I am the father – the proud father – of Tony Khan, who will serve in a leadership role at AEW during the 2019 launch and in the years ahead.  Tony will assemble a great team to take AEW over the top, for the benefit of everyone who loves the wrestling industry, while continuing to serve in his current capacities with the Jaguars and Fulham.

AEW will operate as an organization completely independently from my other interests.  It will not deter attention or divert resources from any of my businesses, teams, projects or investments.  At the same time, AEW will enjoy the same full commitment I’ve given to everything and everyone in my life – my family and friends, my business and, in recent years, to sports, hospitality and now entertainment.

His son Tony, who will serve as President of AEW, states:

Wrestling fans are a community unlike most others. I’ve been a part of this community since I was 7 years old, and I can tell you that wresting fans see the world every day through a special lens.  We see wrestling in Hollywood films and tv shows, we see elements of wrestling in the presentation of sports and in the marketing of grandiose star athletes, and we certainly see wrestling in politics.

The wrestling community is a constant; its members are diverse, we are physically located on all corners of the planet, yet we are constantly connected. Recently, a new family has formed, bonded by love and respect for wresting but armed with a vision and resources that have never before been available to the wrestling community.  Our objective is to connect our community closer than ever before through All Elite Wrestling, or AEW.

AEW does not mean any less of a continued commitment to existing obligations and duties that I have, or my family has, to our business and sports interests.  That will never be the case.  What’s important is that every individual decision we make as family, whether it’s ownership or investment in a team or property, is 100 percent beneficial to those specific interests.  I will always welcome that accountability and responsibility, as nothing is more important than serving our supporters and friends.

AEW will launch with a roster of the top wrestlers in the world.  While they’ll clash in what will be some of the most intense and fast-paced contests ever sanctioned in the squared circle, they’ll also share a common goal: to make this the true golden age, to make this the greatest time ever to be a wrestling fan.  Likewise, as a business, by treating our wrestlers with respect and warmth, we also seek to make this the golden age for the performers themselves.

I urge everyone who believes in what we’re doing, or wants to believe in dreams coming true, to support AEW by spreading the word and passing the wrestling bug onto someone else.  My message: Get in on the ground floor with AEW today and help lead our movement to grow the wrestling community and ensure that the voices of the wrestling fans, their creative minds and their remarkable ideas, will always be heard.

Wrestlers currently signed to AEW include The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, Hangman Page, Brandi Rhodes, Scorpio Sky, Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

WWE Has Reportedly Made A “Fantastic Offer” To Kenny Omega

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Despite Kenny Omega being under contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling until later this month, Dave Meltzer reported on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE made Omega a “fantastic offer.”

With All Elite Wrestling being announced earlier this week, Meltzer noted that Omega is a “wildcard”, as NJPW obviously wants to keep him while AEW wants him as well.

Omega was defending his  IWGP Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 13.

Source: WrestlingINC

WWE Reportedly Planning To Offer Big Developmental Deal Soon

With the announcement of All Elite Wrestling this week and with Ring of Honor getting aggressive regarding signing new talent, Dave Meltzer recently indicated on Wrestling Observer Radio that WWE offered a developmental deal that is much larger than their standard contracts.

“I think there are going to be some interesting ones,” Meltzer said of talent signings in early 2019. “Nothing that hasn’t been rumored, and imminently. But there’s also an instance of someone who is under contract to a company, they’re going to be out of contract with the company in a couple of months. WWE, and another company, and maybe even two other companies, were involved in being interested [negotiations] in this person. And this would be a developmental deal [for WWE NXT] but I will say that the developmental money compared to others that WWE has offered was way, way higher. Multiples. Because the business has changed so much, and because of everything that’s going on,” Meltzer said in an apparent reference to the buzz going around the pro wrestling world these days.

It’s no secret that the new AEW promotion will be announcing talent acquisitions as they prepare for their first big event, rumored to be held this spring. Meltzer had recently reported that three members of The Elite (Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, Hangman Page) had themselves turned down major money deals from WWE, reported to be multi-year deals that were worth more than seven figures annually.

ROH’s offer to Bandido was said to be much higher than the deal he had on the table from WWE. WWE came back with a second offer that was “dramatically higher” when they realized he had better offers on the table, and that he wasn’t going to sign for low money just because it was WWE. Bandido will be making his ROH debut on January 12 in Atlanta at Center Stage for an international TV taping.

It should be noted that the wrestler set to receive the large deal was not identified in the report.