All Elite Wrestling currently finds itself working with Impact Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, the NWA and various Japanese Joshi promotions as part of its weekly programming. In a new interview with the New York Post this week, AEW executive vice president Cody Rhodes was asked about the possibility of crossing over with WWE, its direct competition. The odds of WWE working with a promotion of AEW’s size are incredibly slim, but Rhodes left the door firmly open for it to happen down the road.
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“There’s no reason that there couldn’t be a potential WWE crossover one day,” Rhodes said. “And I don’t mean that’s a thing that’s been discussed or happening, but none of those rules that exist for other places exist for us. Wrestling is really this universal industry. The territory reference that you made, that’s fairly accurate, but the part of it that’s most accurate was there was a genuine trust.
“[1970s NWA President] Eddie Graham and Vince [McMahon] Sr. they traded people all the time and made prolific pieces of business out of it and they did it in a way where they introduced these characters in New York and then next thing you know they introduce these characters in Florida and it kept things fresh because above all, Wednesday Night War or not, the main thing we have to do for fans for the rest of this run — and I want this company to be around forever — is keep it fresh,” he continued. “It can’t ever get stale. Our doors are open if the business is right, if the moment is right, if the time right. Our bridges are down. I’ll be the one curmudgeon AEW guy to make sure it’s all good.”
Last week’s Dynamite marked the first time an active member of New Japan’s roster, Kenta, competed inside of a WWE ring. There are already reports of former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada appearing in both AEW and Impact in the future, and numerous reports popped up over the holiday weekend of Sammy Guevara being booked for Impact but creative issues getting in the way.
AEW’s next pay-per-view, Revolution, takes place on March 7. Check out the full card (so far) for the show below:
- AEW World Tag Team Championships: The Young Bucks/Santana & Ortiz vs. Chris Jericho & MJF
- Sting & Darby Allin vs. Brian Cage & Ricky Starks (Street Fight)
- AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida vs. AEW Women’s Eliminator Tournament Winner
