AEW Star Denies WWE Tried To Sign Them

WWE never made a bid to sign a popular star before they landed in AEW.

Bryan Keith signed with AEW in February 2024 after appearing in Ring of Honor and later on Collision.

At the time there was a considerable buzz around the star after an impressive 2022 and 2023 which saw him emerge as one of the top names on the independent scene. During this period, Keith wrestled for Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling promotion, leading to rumours WWE could be in pole position to land his signature.

However, during an appearance on Talk Is Jericho, Keith claimed WWE never showed any interest. He explained that his wrestling dream was actually to perform in Japan, rather than for the likes of WWE and TNA.

“No, nothing. I’ve been at Booker’s for a long time. I did extra work and things like that, but nothing like, ‘Hey, come in and we’ll take a look at you and things like that.’ I watched WWE all the time as a kid. I’m a WWF kid, I never even watched WCW growing up. But I feel like whenever I got older, I gravitated towards the Japanese style of professional wrestling, so in my head, I literally wanted to go to Japan.

WWE or TNA and all these other places, it wasn’t the goal. I’d work for them. At the time, if they were giving it, I was gonna see what’s up. But in my head, I was like, ‘Japan, Japan, Japan.’

I remember my parents being like, ‘How? How the hell do you think you’re gonna get on the other side of the world and do that?’ Actually, at the beginning of this year, I went for the first time for two weeks. DDT brought me out, and I wrestled out there.”

AEW Stars Expected To Join WWE

While WWE never had any interest in Keith, the company is looking to land two AEW stars.

It’s been revealed that the Lucha Brothers have already received a contract offer from WWE. The preliminary offer is said to be similar to the one made by AEW.

To add further fuel to the fire, Rey Fenix has pulled out of an independent booking on September 27th, which is crucially after his AEW deal expires.

H/t to Fightful