Current AEW champion’s contract expiring, reportedly leaving for WWE
The following contains potential spoilers for this Saturday’s AEW Collision.
A new report out Wednesday has Powerhouse Hobbs expected to depart AEW for WWE as his contract expires Wednesday at midnight.
Days after Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE was “very high” on Hobbs, Fightful Select reported that despite ongoing contract negotiations over the past few months and a “substantial offer” to stay, Hobbs is finishing up with tonight’s post-Dynamite Collision taping.
He, Samoa Joe and Katsuyori Shibata are defending the AEW Trios titles on the show against Hangman Page and JetSpeed.
The outlet said that unless something major changes, the soon-to-be 35-year-old will join WWE when he is contractually eligible to do so which could come as early as this week. They stated he wanted to test the free agent waters and is leaving on good terms.
Hobbs first debuted for AEW in July 2020 and has been a fixture ever since, holding the Trios titles for nearly 300 days in addition to a short TNT title run in 2023.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.