2022 has been a stellar year for signings made by All Elite Wrestling. Although no one has had quite the same buzz as the likes of Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson, and CM Punk did in 2021, the company has managed to snap up a plethora of formidable talent.
The Kingdom can call themselves the latest on that list. Per Fightful Select, the trio of Matt Taven, Mike Bennett, and Maria Kanellis are now signed to AEW on “multi-year deals”. This comes following the group making their AEW debut on the October 14th Rampage, confronting FTR.
Taven, Bennett, and Kanellis, though previously stalwarts of Ring of Honor, were most recently with IMPACT Wrestling on short-term deals following a shocking Hard To Kill debut. They finished up with the company on October 8th, dropping the World Tag Team Championships to Heath and Rhino in a match aired on October 20th.
AEW Has Made Upwards Of 30 New Signings In 2022
Beginning as early as January 4th, at least thirty new names have been added to the company’s roster throughout 2022, including those on full-time and tiered deals. The first to be given the ‘X is All Elite’ social media graphic was ex-NXT Superstar Jake Atlas, though he’s since departed.
The likes of Keith Lee, Swerve Strickland, Claudio Castagnoli, Athena, Jeff Hardy, and Toni Storm are among the high-profile names signed this year by Tony Khan. Saraya, formerly known as Paige in WWE, was the latest ex-WWE Superstar snapped up, debuting at Grand Slam Dynamite.
With this ever-growing roster comes some serious decisions. Several AEW talents have left in 2022, many of whom were company originals. When addressing this in an interview with TVInsider’s Scott Fishman, AEW CEO Tony Khan stated how not everyone could remain all elite forever:
“Really only two places were running and the other place was cutting people left and right. I did want to give some job security to people. Now with so many wrestlers coming in, I can’t renew all the contracts. I’ve had to make some tough choices based on ability, fan response, or both. I try to maintain the best roster I can for the company and fans.”