Diamond Dallas Page has admitted that he was “blown away” that Tony Khan didn’t sign one particular WWE star when they were available.
Since the launch of AEW in 2019, as soon as a wrestler has been released by WWE, fans excitedly call for them to make the switch to All Elite Wrestling.
In fact some of AEW’s biggest stars are former WWE Superstars, having achieved great success with the sports entertainment giant. The likes of Chris Jericho, Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley and CM Punk were all huge stars under the WWE banner.
One released star who many expected to sign with AEW was Dakota Kai. The former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion was let go by WWE back in April. Her skills inside the ring instantly made the star a hot commodity as a free agent, with fans expecting the star to pitch up in AEW at any moment. An expectation which only increased as the need for the company to deepen it’s women’s roster climbed.
However, Kai eventually re-signed with WWE and made her on-screen return at SummerSlam alongside Bayley and IYO Sky.
One man who was surprised that Kai didn’t end up in signing with Tony Khan was Diamond Dallas Page. Speaking on his DDP Snake Pit podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer praised Kai before admitting he was “blown away” she didn’t become All Elite.
“Now, when Dakota Kai, when that happened [the release], I was blown away that Tony Khan didn’t pick her up right away. Because she’s beautiful, she can work her a** off, she’d been in the business for a long time now, you know, and she spent a lot of time down there, I thought they were gonna bring her up [to the main roster] long before that.”
In recent weeks and months a number of former WWE Superstars have returned the company. The most recent shock comeback occurred on the September 5th edition of Monday Night Raw when Braun Strowman appeared for the first time in over a year.
H/t to TJR Wrestling for the transcription.