Details On AEW Roster’s Reaction to Harold Meij’s NJPW Exit & Possible Partnership Between Companies

A new report has details on how AEW talent feels about Harold Meij’s NJPW departure and whether it could lead to a partnership between the two companies. Fightful Select spoke with talent in the company over the last week and according to them, most who haven’t worked in Japan very much don’t consider the development a primary concern of theirs and haven’t heard much discussion about it. The consensus is that everyone is aware there was some bad blood on both sides of the split when much of NJPW’s talent left for AEW.

One top name in the company told the site, “It definitely won’t hurt things. Most people here are still in touch with the people over there and Meij had alienated a lot of the English-speakers they had on the roster. There wasn’t a lot of belief in him to begin with, but the way he handled that wasn’t good. Tony (Khan) has done his best to keep it amicable.”

Aked about Khan’s efforts to keep things amicable with NJPW, a former NJPW star said, “A lot of the deals are set up to allow people to work there. He could avoid that if he wanted. I think that’s a pretty clear sign whether he says it or not that he wants to. I don’t know if he had a personal relationship with Harold, but I did, and I didn’t want to do business with Harold anymore.”

One member of the current NJPW roster said they were hopeful for a relationship between the companies, as “it would mean more money for New Japan, AEW and the wrestlers.” They noted however that NJPW’s expansion into the US may be a “hiccup” for such chances.