AEW Star Expresses Interest in WWE Run

While professional wrestling has evolved into a giant multiverse of sorts, with most wrestlers popping up in a plethora of promotions throughout their careers, the through line between WWE and AEW has largely been a one-way street. Upon the company's inception in 2019, AEW stood on the shoulders of former WWE talent like Cody Rhodes, Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley. Over the next three years, AEW would add dozens of formerly WWE talent, bolstering its roster with past WWE Champions like CM Punk and WrestleMania main-eventers of yesteryear such as Bryan Danielson. At this point in history, the only big AEW star to leap from Jacksonville to Stanford has been the aforementioned Rhodes, who already had a WWE run to his name when he returned to the company in April 2022.

As the industry awaits that next defection, one AEW star has admitted that he has interest in competing for Vince McMahon's promotion one day. Speaking to SO CATCH by Hal 2, Bandido noted that he wants to wrestle for WWE in the future.

"At some point, I would like to go to WWE," Bandido said. "Not in this moment, but I hope later."

Bandido made his AEW debut this past fall during Jericho's Ring of Honor World Title reign. He was one of the many past ROH Champions that challenged Jericho for the gold on AEW Dynamite, and while he came up short, he impressed enough to get a contract offer from AEW President Tony Khan. Bandido took his time putting pen to paper, as it was well-documented that his Dynamite showcase garnered interest from WWE as well.

"I was in WWE, they invited me to the Performance Center. They gave me a Camaro all that week to drive," Bandido revealed. "That was amazing. I made good amigos. Chris Hero, I saw him in the Performance Center, and now he's a really, really good friend."

Bandido's decision to sign with AEW ultimately came down to family. His partner and child are based in Mexico, and signing with WWE would have meant relocating to Florida, the state where NXT emanates from.

As of this writing, Bandido has had just five matches in AEW. His last bout came in January, losing to Danielson in a critically-acclaimed clash. He has stayed busy by wrestling in AAA, GCW, and numerous other independent promotions over the past couple of months.