AEW has been aggressive in the free agent pool in 2024. This past February, Will Ospreay wrapped his New Japan Pro Wrestling commitments and officially began working with AEW on a full-time basis after signing his contract in November 2023. One week later, multi-time IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada made himself #AllElite, signing his first full-time contract with an American-based wrestling company. The week after that, Mercedes Moné debuted at AEW Dynamite: Big Business in her hometown of Boston. All three of those acquisitions, which drew parallels to AEW’s 2021 signings of CM Punk, Adam Cole, and Bryan Danielson, signed multi-year, big money deals.
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Even with those three blockbuster signings squared away, the pro wrestling free agent pool remains overflowing. WWE successfully re-signed top stars like Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, and Finn Balor just weeks before they were set to become free agents. The current crop of available talent is confirmed to include Becky Lynch, Dijak by the end of this week, and Ricochet whenever his WWE contract officially comes to an end.
Tony Khan Speaks on Current High-Profile Free Agents
The AEW President is staying quiet on his free agent pursuits.
When asked by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful if AEW is interested in Becky Lynch or Dijak, Tony Khan told the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door media call that it would not be in his best interest to comment.
“There are some great free agents out there. These are great names you’re talking about. I have a lot of respect for everybody you said,” Khan said. “But it probably wouldn’t behoove me or benefit AEW for me to give my contract thoughts on all of them or what I would negotiate or what I would have with any of them. I do think they’re all great talents.”
The three big names available now, Lynch, Dijak, and Ricochet, are all forecasted to have very different futures. Lynch is currently taking time off from wrestling and is expected to ultimately sign with WWE when she is ready to return to the ring. Dijak appears to be focused on embarking on a Cody Rhodes-esque pilgrimage across the independent circuit. Ricochet is speculated to be AEW bound given the timing of his WWE exit and Will Ospreay’s interview with ComicBook when he emphasized his desire to wrestle him again.
“It’s been a big past year for us in free agency, signing those four and many others. We’ll continue to be active in free agency,” Khan continued. “Anytime there is somebody of the standard of [Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada, Mercedes Moné, Adam Copeland], who are four of my personal favorite wrestlers ever, then I’m always going to be looking to be involved.”
AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door goes down on Sunday, June 30th.
