In September of 2018, the sold out ‘All In’ event came to the Sears Centre Arena in Chicago, Illinois. One of the stars featured in the shows main event was Bandido, who teamed with Rey Fenix & Rey Mysterio in a losing effort to the Golden Elite (Kota Ibushi & The Youbg Bucks).
The event served as the catalyst for the formation of All Elite Wrestling, although many were surprised to see that Bandido wasn’t signing with the fledgling promotion.
Speaking with Hal 2 of SO CATCH, Bandido revealed that his desire to work with NJPW prevented him from signing with AEW, although he admits he’d be open to the move as of now.
“In that moment, the rules for AEW [was] not good for me or my career. In that moment, New Japan is like my goal. When I started the negotiation with WWE, AEW, and Ring of Honor, Ring of Honor mentioned it in my contract, ‘Also you can go to New Japan,’ and I say, ‘okay, I want to sign, but I want to go to New Japan too.’ They say, ‘Okay, yeah, we’re going to try to help you to go to New Japan”. And they helped me. I did Best of Super Juniors, and I took a match against Will Ospreay, and that was amazing. Yeah, for that reason, I don’t sign with AEW.”
-Bandido
Ring of Honor was officially purchased by AEW President Tony Khan in March of this year, and Bandido was asked if he had any interest in signing with the company.
“Yeah, I’m here. And why not? If AEW is interested in Bandido? Yeah, I want to do AEW, I want to do Ring of Honor, I want to do independent wrestling. Now I’m focusing on my career and focusing on my life because when my baby comes in to my life and I need to be 100% healthy for him.”
-Bandido
Bandido competed on the first ROH show of the Tony Khan era, Supercard of Honor XV on April 1st, where he lost his ROH World Championship in a winner takes all match to Jonathan Gresham.
With the ‘Forbidden Door’ between AEW & NJPW now wide open, Bandido may see this as the perfect opportunity to work across all three promotions. We look forward to seeing what Bandido does next, as there’s no doubt he’s one of the Independent scene’s most exciting talents.
H/T to WrestleZone for the transcription.
