Randy Orton Reportedly Willing to Speak to AEW

This might be big news. Then again it may Randy Orton doing his best Brock Lesnar impression.On [...]

By Jeremy Snodgrass

This might be big news. Then again it may Randy Orton doing his best Brock Lesnar impression.

On Tuesday, a report indicated that AEW recently made a lucrative offer to a top WWE Superstar. While Fightful.com couldn't confirm who that Superstar was, they did mention that Orton is interested in hearing an offer from AEW.

"What I was told this afternoon, was that Randy Orton has been openly discussing his willingness to speak with All Elite Wrestling," said Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp.

It's unclear whether Orton was the name AEW offered the mega contract to, but Sapp reached out to AEW and the new promotion denied that they had extended a deal to any WWE Superstar. Instead, Sapp was told by AEW that the rumor of a Superstar getting massive offer was likely a negotiation tactic used by a wrestler and his agent to suck more money out of WWE, rather than sign with AEW.

"Now they did not reveal the name and I know who the name is. Now before I get into this, I am not saying that this person was offered an AEW deal," said Sapp "I'm not saying that happened because I don't if that happened. In fact, I asked people in AEW about this and I was told, 'We are not tampering. We are not doing that. Our approach is fresh and independent is the goal for a majority of our recruitment. What you're likely seeing is a particular agent trying to leverage more money out of WWE by possibly planting s—t like this.'"

As to Orton specifically, Sapp said his sources within WWE say Orton has not been shy about entertaining the idea of an AEW contract. But before we start kissing Orton goodbye, it's important to remember that The Viper could be using AEW as leverage in his current WWE contract negotiations.

Chris Jericho made headlines when he said AEW gave him the best contract of his career — and it's unlikely he's bluffing. Back by the Khan Family—who owns two major sports franchises—AEW is well equipped to make juicy free agent offers. While it seems impossible that Orton would wrestle anywhere other than WWE, perhaps the future Hall of Famer would like to try something new.

This is probably the first of several "WWE Superstar Talking to AEW" rumors we'll hear in upcoming months. While it's all speculative, it's at least a fun conversation as AEW has already impacted the wrestling world before it's actually put on its first match.

[H/T Ringside News]

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