AEW Reportedly Offers Full-Time Contract to Former Ring of Honor Champion

By Liam Crowley

All Elite Wrestling has never been shy about opening the forbidden door. Stars contracted to other professional wrestling promotions have competed in AEW for one-off matches, such as New Japan's Will Ospreay, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide's Dragon Lee, and the National Wrestling Alliance's Thunder Rosa. Some of those wrestlers impressed so much in their one-off appearances, like Rosa, that they were signed to AEW altogether. In Rosa's case, AEW President Tony Khan bought out her NWA contract to ensure that she could join AEW full time. For others like Ospreay, even though fans have clamored for him to officially join the AEW roster, his NJPW deal is good until 2024 and likely has no intentions on leaving until he meets all of his goals in the Far East.

While Bandido is not currently signed to any major promotion, he was brought into AEW this past Wednesday for a main event contest against Ring of Honor World Champion Chris Jericho. Despite defeat, Bandido's performance received rave reviews from fans and critics alike. Khan apparently noticed as well, as he wants Bandido in AEW full time.

As reported by the Wrestling Observer, Bandido has been offered a full-time contract with AEW. It is unconfirmed as to whether Bandido signed the offer or not.

After AEW Dynamite went off the air, Khan greeted Bandido at the top of the ramp, which resulted in the two embracing.

Bandido has been wrestling for over a decade. The luchador burst onto the scene in 2011 as Magnífico II, competing with his cousin across the Mexican independent scene. He would adopt the Bandido name in 2016 when he began wrestling for a promotion called Lucha Libre Elite. Bandido made his presence known in the United States when he first began competing for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. He reached the finals of PWG's Battle of Los Angeles in his first year with the promotion, ultimately coming up short to Jeff Cobb. Bandido avenged both sides of this loss just one year later, as he won the 2019 Battle of Los Angeles and went on to defeat Cobb for the PWG World Title just months later. That championship victory began the longest PWG World Title reign in the belt's 19-year history. Bandido reigned for 863 days before being defeated by AEW's Daniel Garcia this past May.

Most know Bandido for his time in Ring of Honor. He began wrestling for ROH in 2018 and ascended to the top of the promotion in 2021, defeating Rush for the ROH World Title. Bandido would officially lose that title this past April at ROH Supercard of Honor.

Stay tuned for updates on Bandido's AEW status.

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