With speculation swirling about WWE contacting AEW stars about their employment options, speculation has now mounted over the five names possibly contacted.
A report from one of AEW’s recent talent meetings divulged that Tony Khan revealed to the locker room that Megha Parekh, AEW’s Chief Legal Officer and the promotion’s second in command had emailed WWE’s Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon, warning them “not to tamper” with talent.
This warning came amid rumours of WWE contact with AEW contracted stars with names such as Malakai Black rumoured to be among those contacted. This has not been confirmed but Black has since requested his release from AEW.
The Wrestling Observer’s Ryan Frederick commented on the site’s message boards about who he thinks could have been the stars under contract contacted by WWE:
“I’d expect that one may well have been Buddy Matthews. The other ex WWE guys I guess it could be would be Keith Lee, Cole, O’Reilly or Andrade.”
All of these names were part of – and some heavily featured on – the NXT brand when it was under the control of Triple H.
Now Triple H is running the entire WWE as the company’s Chief Content Officer, several other former NXT stars have returned including Johnny Gargano, Dakota Kai, Dexter Lumis, Karrion Kross, Scarlett, and Hit Row.