Kenny Omega, Adam “Hangman” Page and The Young Bucks have all signed new, multi-year contracts with AEW as confirmed by Sports Illustrated this week. The report notes that Omega and the Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) will also continue to serve as executive vice presidents of the promotion, positions they’ve held since AEW launched back in 2019. Amongst the four, The Elite have held the AEW World Championship twice, AEW World Tag Team Championship three times and the AEW World Trios Championships twice.
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“Our original goal was to create a wrestling alternative and give a platform to talented people that we’d all felt deserved a spotlight,” Omega told the outlet in the announcement. “I feel like we did our best in that time, and hopefully some people you’d never heard of pre-AEW are folks you enjoy watching today. Or if you knew them from their previous work elsewhere, have maybe found a new appreciation for them. That feeling, combined with the feeling of knowing they can provide for themselves and their family doing what they love, was always the biggest reward of being an EVP/founder.”
“We’re literally the ‘E’ in AEW,” Matt Jackson added. “The Elite are the main characters of this company. No matter how different AEW is now from its original inception, we are the DNA. And if you lose the foundation of your home, it eventually collapses. It’d be a lie if I said that didn’t weigh on us, when making the decision.”
Why Kenny Omega Is Staying With AEW
Omega had potentially the most value of the four given his success as a singles wrestler. And while there were reports of WWE having an interest in signing “The Cleaner,” those rumors cooled off shortly before the deal was announced.
“I was careful to weigh out all options and was open minded to all possibilities,” Omega said. “I’m here to help whomever I can while I’m still around. Up to this point, I’ve made the choice to sacrifice everything in the name of pro wrestling. I can’t say that family or my kids influenced the decision to stay with AEW–I’m not married and without kids–but what I can say is that I’m incredibly proud of my match catalog and the wonderful people I’ve met and continue to meet. AEW not only allows me to continue doing what I do at a high level, but allows the freedom to pursue some other passions I have in life–which, after nearly 25 years in the ring, have become more and more important to me.”
Why Hangman Page Chose to Stick With AEW
As for Page, the decision came down to AEW offering a lighter schedule than any other viable option — “At this stage of my life the selling point was the schedule. AEW’s schedule allows me to be home with my family for the majority of the week and will ideally help my body hold up better in the long run. And the pay is good.
“AEW emerging as a legitimate wrestling company has helped drive up bargaining power for wrestlers and others who work in the industry. Making a long-term commitment to a still-growing AEW I felt was the best way I could help continue that progress,” he added.
The Elite’s presence will be felt on tonight’s 200th episode AEW Dynamite as Omega and The Bucks will take on Jay Lehal, Jeff Jarrett and Satnam Singh. Stay tuned for live coverage of the event!
