All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is promising some answers on Thurs., Feb. 7 at a ticket party for their May Double Or Nothing pay-per-view (PPV), but at this point, there are a lot more questions than answers about Cody Rhodes & The Young Bucks venture with the Khans.
We’re hearing rumors that a big time television deal may be announced soon, and pretty much everyone expects Kenny Omega to sign with AEW now that his New Japan contract has expired. But, while they’re off to a good start, do they have enough talent to fill out the roster for a regular TV show? What will their relationship with New Japan look like, when Cody & Chris Jericho are on record that they plan/hope to still wrestle for NJPW while that company’s President says they’re in a wait & see mode with All Elite?
This past weekend, regular Lucha Underground/MLW/Impact and occasional AAA & CMLL stars Pentagon Jr & Fenix, aka Lucha Bros, jumped into that uncertain mix.
On Friday, Feb. 1 at the Hell or High Water PPV in Georgia which was broadcast on Fite.TV (owned by Anthem, the same Canadian company which owns Impact) and featured several AEW talents, the Bucks showed up after Lucha Bros defeated SCU to make them an offer...
Lucha Brothers and the Bucks! #CHHW #AEW
— TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) February 2, 2019
➡️ https://t.co/0tDU7JTcDj pic.twitter.com/AEnCmIgIOD
Brothers Matt & Nick Jackson thanked brothers Pentagon & Fenix for representing tag wrestling and keeping it alive. The Bucks invited Lucha Bros to join AEW, and after a brawl with some local talent and a save from SCU’s Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian, the luchadors shook on it.
This all happened in story, of course, but even an angle with the team who at the time were both Impact and MLW tag champs was noteworthy. A since deleted kayfabe tweet from Jericho really stirred things up, however:
Just heard that @PENTAELZEROM & @ReyFenixMx have signed exclusively w @AEWrestling! Everybody is ao excited..except me. Both are pale comparisons to my mentors #NegroCasas, #BestiaSalvaje and #EmilioCharles. So stay the hell away from me…
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) February 2, 2019
That tweet deletion was followed by subsequent reports by sources ranging from Lucha Central to Wrestling Observer Radio that Penta & Fenix are not exlusive and will continue to honor other commitments while working with AEW (and are in fact still under contract to Lucha Underground in deals which could limit what they can do should that promotion get a fifth season and its producers try to enforce the terms of their notoriously strict agreements). It also left fans with even more questions about what All Elite will look like, even as they were amped for the prospect of Bucks vs. Lucha Bros at Double or Nothing.
Like Impact, AEW may end up using a lot of shared talent. One company which doesn’t appear interested in promoting wrestlers who could jump ship permanently to another fed, however, is MLW. At Sat., Feb 2’s live Superfight event, Pentagon & Fenix dropped the tag belts to the New Hart Foundation (Teddy Hart & Davey Boy Smith Jr.). It’s not confirmed Lucha Bros are 100% done with MLW, but based on their announcement about CMLL talent after Rush signed with Ring of Honor, and this tweet from CEO Court Bauer, it seems like they are:
I want to thank @PENTAELZEROM @ReyFenixMx for an extraordinary 7+ months as the @MLW World Tag Team Champions. Mas chingons! MLW will always embrace you as family as you helped build this house. Wherever you go next always know you both are 1000000000% leyendas de Lucha Libre!
— Court Bauer (@courtbauer) February 4, 2019
So, the good news is Pentagon & Fenix will be wrestling for All Elite!
There really is no bad news... unless you’re ride or die for Major League Wrestling, but they already announced their next live special and a date for next year’s Superfight, so they’re not throwing in the towel by any means. At this point, however there are still a lot of questions for the entire indie scene, and perhaps some disappointment for people wanting AEW to have a set roster like WWE as opposed to one which shares talent a la Impact.