AEW are confident in retaining the services of their EVPs despite no deals having been agreed yet.
Multiple reports over the past several weeks have confirmed that The Elite (Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, and The Young Bucks) are currently in the midst of negotiating their contract status with AEW, with the quartet being represented by Barry Bloom.
Fightful Select have now provided an update on these negotiations, revealing that despite the deals not being done yet, agreements have been close several times over the past few months. Additionally, it was added that AEW are currently confident they’ll retain the services of The Elite, even with CM Punk making his return this weekend.
“When we asked for an update this week, we were told that the deals aren’t done yet. However, both sides have felt like several deals had been close, with one side noting that could have been said for several months, and not a lot had changed on that front. Those we spoke with in AEW were confident they’d retain the Elite, despite CM Punk returning to the company.”
-Fightful
On the topic of CM Punk, the report notes that there’s been no update regarding whether The Elite and the former AEW World Champion are willing to work together, although it was also added that both sides have creative plans mapped out for quite some time.
As a result of Omega’s lengthy absence due to injury between late 2021 and August of last year, ‘The Cleaner’ has notably had time added to his current deal. When considering added injury time, option years, and a multitude of other potential variables, it’s tough to nail down exactly when each deal is set to expire.
Unsurprisingly, WWE sources told Fightful that they’d be interested in signing all four men should they become available. However, it was also specified that the company doesn’t expect this to happen and are currently “nowhere near being legally allowed to talk to any of them.”
Rumours had previously circulated, stating that The Young Bucks had reached out to WWE last year to gauge interest, although sources close to the pair have since denied this.
Fightful closed their report by revealing that most people within AEW expect all four men to remain with the company and receive significant pay rises, and thus it appears to only be a matter of time before they put pen to paper.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on The Elite’s contract negotiations with AEW as soon as we hear more.
