Top AEW Star Implies WWE Wants to Bring Them Back

By Connor Casey

Reports dropped last week stating that WWE officially had reached out to one of AEW's top stars to inquire about their interest in potentially coming back to the company. The wrestler told the officials he was still under contract and happy with his current position and that seemed to be the end of the story, but now former AEW World Champion Chris Jericho is implying on social media that he was the star who was contacted. While interacting with fans, Jericho wrote that "some higher-ups" want to see himself, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in a faction. He even ended to tweet with "#tampering."

It's entirely possible that Jericho is simply messing with people, but between Cody Rhodes' departure earlier this year and the numerous reports of backstage drama in AEW's locker room, it seems like anything is on the table. Jericho revealed he had signed a multi-year contract with the young promotion at its first official rally in early 2019, then went on to be its first world champion while headlining three of its first four pay-per-views.

Some of the ways AEW President Tony Khan has tried to combat the rumors is by expanding his talent relations team and hosting a talent meeting ahead of tonight's AEW Dynamite. He has also discussed the situation in a number of interviews. 

"We have a great crew," Khan said while on Superstar Crossover with Josh Martinez earlier this month. "We're very happy with the shows we've been doing. We have a great team of people. I recently did some promotions and added to the team. With a new group, hopefully, the communication is only going to get better because I can only be in so many places at one time and talk to so many people with such a big team. I think that'll help. In general, I think we have a really great environment and a great backstage. Overall, it's been a great summer for us and it's only going to get better. A lot of the biggest stars in AEW have been out, so it's been great for us to maintain this position. Last week, on Wednesday night, AEW Dynamite, number one show on all of cable. That's been the case six out of the last seven weeks. That kind of consistency has been thanks to our wrestlers, our staff, and most importantly the wrestling fans that have kept us going. Friday Night Rampage, we did our best number in a long time, being top five on Friday on cable."

He continued — "There is a lot of really good camaraderie and momentum. I can't get everybody on the show. It is challenging, in some ways, when you have three hours of television. I get that, if you're looking at a competitor that has seven hours of television, the people in that company are twice as likely to be on TV if you look at it that way. It's very competitive for spots, but it also means people have to do the most to maximize the time they do get, wherever it is, whether it's on TV or streaming, and I do think our TV show and the participation we've had from fans and why we all feel so good this year to is, it's great to be back on the road this last year after doing the shows in lockdown and a sometimes empty stadium. Overall, I think the vibe is positive and we're all really excited. It's a big time of year for AEW with All Out coming up, one of the biggest events on the calendar, and we approach one of our biggest TV event of the year, coming up to New York for AEW Grand Slam."

0comments
Start the Conversation

of