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FOUR WWE STARS WHO COULD BE EAGER TO JUMP TO AEW SOON

Many pro-wrestling fans and pundits view the arrival of All Elite Wrestling in the sports entertainment industry as a potential game-changer. And why not?! Vince McMahon hasn’t really faced some serious competition ever, since they overcame the threat of WCW in the late 1990s.

WWE has basically monopolized professional wrestling for almost 30 years, with New Japan Pro-Wrestling – the second biggest promotion in the world - and other independent wrestling outfits battling for the smaller percentage of the pie.

AEW, which is backed by billionaire investor and Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan, will essentially become WWE’s first major competition after many years. Although AEW president Tony Khan has insisted that rivaling WWE is far from his mind at the moment, it’s very evident that his fledgling company possesses the machinery to really go toe-to-toe with McMahons.

The battle for talents

Right now, AEW has a solid but not quite deep talent roster. Cody Rhodes, the Young Bucks, Chris Jericho and Pac (previously known as Neville) are so far the only recognizable names on the pool, while the rest of their talents come from the independent scene.

Still, it won’t take much time for AEW to upgrade their roster. Beating out WWE for the service of Kenny Omega, who is universally considered as the No.1 pro-wrestler in the world, has already sent a clear message that they can bid for anyone without money restrictions.

Moreover, AEW’s mission of giving their talents a better working environment with the promise of providing health insurance and other benefits makes it an even more appealing destination for wrestlers. While WWE has turned several wrestlers into millionaires, majority of their talents ended up broke, homeless and without a health insurance to cover their medical expenses – something that came again into the spotlight, when John Oliver took a dig against McMahon’s business.

It is all clear now how much of a threat AEW is to WWE. And honestly, what a perfect time it is for AEW to start raiding talents from WWE. According to reports, there are loads of guys in the WWE locker room eager to make an exit mostly because they are fed up with the way they are booked. These wrestlers aren’t just mid-card players, some of them are big names who worked in the upper cards of PPV events.

So who are they? Let’s all find out.

Sasha Banks

Sasha finally snapped after learning that she and Bayley would be dropping the Women’s Tag-Team Titles to the IIconics at WrestleMania 35. Reports claimed that Banks asked WWE for her release over the weekend as she’s unhappy with her career trajectory in the company these last two years.

Ever since her epic feud with Charlotte Flair in 2017, Banks never got a real shot at becoming the top player of the RAW women’s division. Apart from losing the tag-team title, WWE’s favoritism of Alexa Bliss and the arrival of Ronda Rousey have also contributed to her frustrations.

Banks, who held the RAW women’s championship four times, cancelled her appearance on the “Wendy Williams Show” and unfollowed WWE and Vince McMahon. Speculations of her interest in jump shipping to AEW even kicked up when she started following AEW’s official twitter page, Cody Rhodes, Young Bucks and Kenny Omega.

Dean Ambrose

Ambrose’s impending departure from the WWE has been highly publicized right after the 2019 Royal Rumble. To everyone’s surprise, WWE not even denied the rumors of Ambrose’s impending exit, as the company even released a press release confirming that indeed the Lunatic Fringe is set to leave after WrestleMania 35.

Of course, not all are convinced that Ambrose is really leaving. Some even believed that everything going on with Ambrose was just a backstage work since WWE would never give a superstar on his way out without some sort of a farewell tribute. However, multiple pro-wrestling outlets, including veteran insider Dave Meltzer, all confirmed that Ambrose is without a doubt a goner from the WWE after Mania.

Last week, Slice Wrestling reported that AEW has already placed a lucrative offer on the table for Ambrose. The offer would reportedly pay Ambrose $6 million per year with a much lighter workload than he had in WWE. Unfortunately, he still has no authority to make a decision just yet since he’s still covered by the 90-day no compete clause imposed by WWE on its outgoing talents.

Randy Orton

Orton is a third-generation WWE superstar and a product of the company’s development program. The world be damned if one of these days he would turn his back on WWE and pledge his allegiance with AEW. It’s just too unreal for Orton to be “RKOing” people out of nowhere on another wrestling show.

He’s a WWE guy through and through. There’s no way he would do that to Vince McMahon, right?

Well, the Viper is apparently keen on AEW too. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful dropped several hints about Randy Orton’s interest in the company.

“What I was told this afternoon, was that Randy Orton has been openly discussing his willingness to speak with All Elite Wrestling,” said Sapp, who doesn’t rule out the idea that Orton might be just using his AEW interest as a way to leverage more money out of WWE.

Still, it’s always interesting to see certain Randy Orton sending fillers here and there. Again, no one ever knows what’s on his mind but he sure did stir someone’s curiosity.

The Revival

Now, this is a rumor with four legs to stand. Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder are two of the best wrestlers in the world. As a tandem, they are arguably the best tag-team in WWE skills-wise. However, WWE creative just can’t figure it out how to use them properly. What worked on NXT, doesn’t seem to click on WWE RAW. Perhaps, a change of scenery is needed for the Revival to, yeah, revive their careers.

Few months ago, reports indicated that WWE received a release request from Dawson and Wilder after several months of “misbooking.” WWE creative tried to remedy the situation by giving the Revival a title run all the way to WrestleMania 35, but rumors of their exit have once again resurface after they lost to Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins in a fatal four way match in Mania and failed to reclaim it a day after.

Now, that they no longer have obligations as WWE RAW tag-team champions, it would be intriguing to see what’s next for the Revival. Will WWE finally grant their release request? For now, we will have to hold our horses and wait for what is coming.

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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