Although Bobby Fish has officially departed All Elite Wrestling, there’s still potential for him to one day return to the organisation.
News broke following Wednesday’s Dynamite that Bobby Fish was expected to leave AEW following the expiration of his contract, with the report later being confirmed by Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Radio. Despite this, the two-time NXT Tag Team Champion could still return to AEW.
Writing in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted that the door remained open should Fish wish to become elite once again. He was reportedly only on a one-year deal:
“It looks like we’re never getting The Young Bucks vs. Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly feud that started being teased a year ago. Fish’s one-year contract expired on 31 August and the two sides couldn’t come to terms on a new deal. On his podcast, he’s talked about how he wasn’t happy that he wasn’t wrestling more in AEW and praised Triple H.
Triple H is trying to bring back almost everyone but Fish is the opposite of what they are looking for in NXT (although he can be a valuable vet to work with the younger talent but he’s not getting pushed) and I can’t see him doing a thing on the main roster, but he still could get $250,000 per or more since everyone on the main roster pretty much gets that minimum.”
Dave Meltzer continued, noting that both Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly – Bobby Fish’s now-former allies in The Undisputed Elite – are on five-year AEW deals:
“For those wondering, both Adam Cole and [Kyle] O’Reilly signed five-year deals. The term I was given is that both sides couldn’t come to an agreement right now, and the door is not closed as far as coming to an agreement later.”
Bobby Fish hasn’t wrestled for AEW since the 13 July tapings of Dark: Elevation in a match aired 18 July, besting Blake Li. He’s wrestled just once elsewhere since, defeating Yuya Uemura on 20 August for the DEFY Wrestling organisation.
Alongside the news of his departure, it’s noted that Malakai Black requested his release from the company, while an AEW talent signed to a long-term had also been denied their release from the company. It’s unknown if the two are linked, as ‘The Dutch Destroyer’, too, is on a lengthy contract.