Rumors about talent interested in leaving WWE have been steady the last couple weeks. Even when it’s not stated outright, the belief is many of those allegedly trying to become free agents are doing so because of the creation of All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
If acts like The Revival or Dolph Ziggler are interested in going to the new company, Executive Vice-President Cody Rhodes isn’t saying.
Of course, Rhodes couldn’t say - something he points out in these quotes taken from his interview with Chris Tubbs on the Breaking Kayfabe podcast. In many cases, it would be illegal to talk to someone under contract to another company in the same field/industry. According to Cody, though, he’s not dodging the question to avoid tampering charges, though. There’s so many unsigned workers who are interested in joining All Elite, he hasn’t had time to talk to his old WWE buddies:
“It’s been tough because when you’re just one of the boys, you can talk to anybody. But in this new role, legality is incredibly important and we want to be on the up and up. We try to be very careful about making sure we’re not taking to anybody who’s under a specific deal, make sure they’re aware this is why we can’t talk to you.
The thing that surprised me a great deal is, we haven’t really had to communicate with anybody on that level because there’s so much fresh, independent talent. When this was announced. I got back from the Rally and my DM’s on social media, on Twitter, just flooded. And they were independent promotions that I’d worked for, and they were suggesting guys. And if they know just how important this is for wrestling, and this is a good thing for wrestling, gosh, it made me feel so good! And a lot of those guys they were right about.”
Rhodes also said AEW will roll out their roster gradually - don’t expect everyone at Double or Nothing in May, they’ll be debuting people at their summer show in Jacksonville, too. He also discusses hoping to personally continue wrestling for New Japan and wanting to partner with them eventually, too.
Check out the whole episode of Breaking Kayfabe here, and let us know what you think about Cody’s roster claims & plans below.