AEW News: Four More Performers Sign All Elite Wrestling Contracts
It’s hard for anyone who follows the independent wrestling scene to keep their excitement about All Elite Wrestling in check. After all, it’s been quite a while since a major new player has entered the professional wrestling scene. Sure, plenty of new independent promotions crop up around the world all the time, but it’s been a while since a company launched with so many top performers involved.
A few of those performers put pen to paper and made their status with All Elite Wrestling official last night. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson), Adam “Hangman” Page, and Brandi Rhodes have officially signed contracts, joining Cody Rhodes as the wrestlers officially signed to the upstart promotion.
Matt Jackson of the Young Bucks sent out a tweet about their time as a free agent, which was rather short.
“Nick & I were free agents for about 12 hours,” he said on Twitter with a laughing emoji.
Other wrestlers who are expected to sign include Christopher Daniels, Scorpio Sky, and Frankie Kazarian, who are part of the group So Cal Uncensored. While they haven’t officially signed to the upstart promotion as of this writing, they should ink their deals at any point.
There are two big names everyone assumed would be involved with AEW who haven’t signed yet — Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho.
Omega is still the IWGP Heavyweight Champion in New Japan Pro Wrestling, so he would probably need to lose that championship before he can sign with a new promotion. He’s scheduled to defend the title at Wrestle Kingdom 13 against number one contender Hiroshi Tanahashi on January 4, 2019. Perhaps, we’ll get a better idea of what Omega is doing in the future after that match.
As for Jericho, no one is quite sure what his plans are. As reported by Inquisitr, we know he announced a second Rock ‘N Rager cruise, which means that whatever contract he signs will need to allow him to do that.
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 2, 2019
The Young Bucks are one of the more decorated and popular teams on the independent wrestling scene. They won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship seven times, the IWGP Tag Team Championship once, and the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship three times. They’re also the three-time ROH World Tag Team Champions and the two-time ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions.
Hangman Page has really stormed onto the wrestling scene over the last couple years. He has held the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship with the Young Bucks one time, and the sky’s the limit as far as what championships he could hold going forward.
Brandi Rhodes is a former WWE ring announcer and the wife of Cody Rhodes. She’s fairly inexperienced working as a wrestler, but she’s improving at an impressive pace, and she’ll make a great asset for the company whether she’s used as an in-ring performer, an announcer, or a valet for Cody.
