Multiple names “waiting” to sign with AEW | Exclusive
The 90-day no compete clause for a number of released WWE stars has now expired. That means there will probably be somewhat of a hiring spree in the coming weeks, with AEW potentially going to be one of the places looking to hire as we head further into the summer and All In Wembley season.
I’ve learned after speaking to sources that there are at least 7 names who are currently “waiting” to be signed by AEW. As of yet, I’ve been unable to confirm exactly when the deals are expected to be done nor who the 7 names/acts are specifically.
One source also confirmed that there “may be more, but I only know of 7 personally,” so there could be a big move to grab more talent for AEW/ROH in the next few weeks. This might surprise a few people (as AEW does already have a lot of people on the books), but with Dynamite, Collision and ROH TV weekly to fill, Tony Khan could be looking for some extra talent to fill out the different rosters.
WWE Releases
WWE has gone back to releasing batches of people over the last few years, doing those big “clearouts” rather than one-off releases here and there. It’s not known exactly why they do that now, but there’s a chance (that with there being stronger competition now than there was back in mid to late 2010s) that it is a way to dilute the free agent market more and take away that one big “hot free agent” tag. That’s conjecture on my part and in no way a confirmation of why the big batches of releases take place, but it’s worth considering as a potential scenario.
We’re working on getting more on this in the coming days, as this should start to ramp up with the 90-day non-compete for April 2026 released WWE talents now coming up.
Jake is the Head of Audience at F4WOnline, having previously worked as a Combat Sports, Gaming and Pro Wrestling writer, successful Editor in Chief and Sports Coordinator. He has more than ten years of experience covering mixed martial arts, pro wrestling, football and gaming across a number of publications, starting at SEScoops in 2012.
He previously also worked for PROGRESS Wrestling as Head of Media as well as working on the social channels of the company.