Rey Fenix is in All Elite Wrestling for the foreseeable future. The former AEW International Champion joined the company as part of its day one launch roster and immediately established himself as a pillar of the tag division alongside brother Pentagon Jr. Together, the two tagged together as The Lucha Bros. and regularly found themselves in and around major AEW storylines. Their chase for the AEW World Tag Team Championships culminated at AEW All Out 2021 when they defeated The Young Bucks to capture the gold inside a steel cage. In the three years since then, Fenix and Pentagon made waves in the trios division, winning the AEW Trios Titles alongside Pac. Beyond that, the brothers were largely utilized as reliable opponents for blossoming singles and tag stars, but struggled to re-cement themselves as the main focus of on-screen programs.
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Going into this past summer, reports began to circulate that both Fenix and Pentagon were on their way out of AEW and heading to WWE. While it appeared that they would be able to jump ship without issue, AEW President Tony Khan ultimately decided to add injury time to both men’s contracts at the midnight hour, keeping Pentagon for another couple of weeks while Fenix is stuck on AEW’s books for an extra 9-10 months.
Why Did AEW Freeze The Lucha Bros. Contracts?
All Elite Wrestling’s top brass were not too keen on a rival promotion making plans for a pair of its former champions before they were free agents.
As reported by WrestlePurists, AEW President Tony Khan ultimately decided to add injury time to both Rey Fenix and Pentagon Jr.’s AEW contracts because he “found out what the plan was for them on SmackDown.” Beyond that, Khan reportedly did not want this circumstance to set a precedent in AEW, as he “felt that if he let this thing slide, other people were going to start taking advantage of him.”
The report added that outside of Khan, people within AEW “don’t have strong feelings” on the matter, likely indicating that there is no heat on either Fenix or Pentagon for the contractual situation.
It’s unclear as to what exactly WWE had planned for The Lucha Bros. beyond wanting them to be on the WWE SmackDown brand. Even assigning them to Friday nights comes as a bit of a surprise, as fans had speculated that the two would slot nicely into The Judgment Day feud on WWE Monday Night Raw. Damian Priest is currently battling his former stable at a numbers disadvantage, and he could have called upon Fenix and Pentagon to help him even the odds against Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, Dominik Mysterio, and Carlito.
Even though having both Fenix and Pentagon on its books will have to wait at least 10 months, WWE SmackDown won’t miss out on adding a prestigious veteran tag team to its ranks this fall. Vignettes began airing last week for the arrival of the Motor City Machine Guns, one of the larger wrestling world’s most decorated duos. The unit of Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley were one of TNA’s most popular acts in the 2000s and rode that momentum towards championship gold in Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling to boot.
It remains to be seen as to if WWE will attempt to sign Pentagon on his own once he becomes a free agent in a couple of weeks. While The Lucha Bros. are best known for being a unit, both Fenix and Pentagon have their own solo success stories, as both men have reigned with world titles in various promotions over their respective careers.
Stay tuned to ComicBook for updates on Fenix and Pentagon’s contract statuses.
