Will Kenny Omega, Hangman Page and the Young Bucks Stay in AEW? Update on The Elite's Future
The Elite's AEW contracts are expiring around the new year.
"Four Pillars" talk aside, there are five men who can lay claim to being the legitimate foundation of All Elite Wrestling: Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, the Young Bucks, and Cody Rhodes. Collectively known as The Elite, these five men's character work on YouTube series Being The Elite and proven ability to draw large crowds with 2018's independent wrestling event ALL IN were precursors to AEW itself. Beyond that, the company was literally named after them. Omega, the Bucks and Rhodes went on to be Executive Vice Presidents within AEW, although that title's power has since reportedly evaporated.
Today, only four of those stars remain. Rhodes exited AEW in early 2022, opting to return to WWE. His exit combined with the backstage drama that plagued AEW come the back half of last year led to speculation on the rest of The Elite's AEW future. Omega was due to become a free agent at the beginning of this year, but his contract was extended due to the time he missed from injury. There is no definitive public expiration date for Hangman and the Bucks' contracts but it is believed that those deals are due up around the new year.
Will The Elite Stay in AEW?
While nothing has been made official, current rumblings point to The Elite sticking around in AEW. As written by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there is a "prevailing belief" within AEW that Omega, Hangman and the Bucks will re-sign with the company.
If AEW does not extend The Elite before the end of the year, there could be a bidding war for the group between AEW and WWE. WWE's interest in Omega specifically has been reportedly high for months, and previous rumors had said that the sports-entertainment giant believed that they had a good shot at landing the Best Bout Machine.
WWE's recent failure to sign top free agents like Jay White has led to belief that Omega will be no different. WON writes that WWE's interest in Omega has "gone cold."
If WWE were to win the Omega bidding war, they would have to also make the best offers to Hangman and the Bucks. Following AEW Dynamite: Blood & Guts, Omega addressed the TD Garden crowd and emphasized that no matter what the future holds, he will be going wherever his friends go.
"As long as I am an active performer in professional wrestling, I'm gonna go wherever these guys [points to Young Bucks and Hangman Page] go," Omega said on July 19th.