wrestling / News

More Details on WWE Contacting AEW Wrestlers About Getting Out of Their Contracts

September 27, 2022 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris
Wednesday AEW WWE NXT, Shane Douglash, AEW TV, Tony Khan, FTC Image Credit: WWE/AEW

As previously reported, it’s been rumored that WWE had been contacting former talents who were under contract in AEW about possibly returning to WWE, which led to AEW sending a legal notice to WWE regarding contract tampering. Dave Meltzer reported more details on WWE contracting former talents working for AEW on today’s Wrestling Observer Radio.

According to Meltzer, “It’s pretty blatant that they came after so many of the guys because it was multiple guys.” Meltzer added that WWE contacted “most of the people who had worked there” in AEW.

With regards to what names WWE reached out to, Meltzer added that he was told, “Basically, every name that you would think of that they would go after that had a previous relationship with Triple H was contacted and told ‘Try to get your release and come in.'”

This reportedly led to several wrestlers informing Tony Khan, “They contacted us. We have no intention of going.” However, several wrestlers did inform Tony Khan that they wanted their release from AEW. All the wrestlers who requested their releases from the company were denied, so no one is leaving the company at the moment.

As noted, Tony Khan is rumored to have instituted a new doctrine in the past two days that “nobody’s getting released.” Two names who apparently wanted out and wished to return to WWE were Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews.

In a statement he released earlier this month, Black did confirm he requested his release previously. However, he claimed he’s not released at the moment and plans to return to AEW later on.

Also, Keith Lee, a former WWE and NXT Superstar, wrote on his Twitter yesterday, responding to rumors he had been contacted by WWE about getting out of his AEW contract. He wrote: “I am fascinated that such a thing was stated/reported. No one knows my personal business in any capacity. And I certainly have not spoken with whoever those people are. My advice…. would be to ignore outlets that merely use names to make up stories. Read a book instead.”

According to an earlier report by Fightful Select, it was confirmed that Keith Lee’s tag team partner, Swerve Strickland, was among the names who were contacted by WWE. The report also noted that Lee himself was not contacted by WWE.