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Jay White Signs With AEW

By John Canton • Published 5th April 2023
jay white all elite aew

One of the biggest free agents in pro wrestling made his choice after Jay White officially became All Elite.

Since the start of 2023, there have been a lot of rumors about where Jay White was going to sign following the ending of his New Japan Pro Wrestling contract.

To begin 2023, Jay White lost the IWGP World Heavyweight Title to Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in January.

After that, White also lost a Loser Leaves Japan match to Hikuleo and lost a Loser Leaves NJPW match to Eddie Kingston as well. It also became known that his NJPW deal had expired, so he was likely going to either WWE or AEW.

Since AEW has a working relationship with NJPW, the belief was that White losing a “Loser Leaves NJPW” likely meant that he wasn’t going to sign with AEW due to their affiliation with NJPW.

Earlier this week, a report from Mike Johnson at Pro Wrestling Insider Elite indicated that Jay White was not destined to join WWE with Johnson writing: “We are told it does not appear White is WWE-bound.”

On the April 5th edition of AEW Dynamite in Long Island, New York, the 30-year-old White didn’t take long to make his presence felt.

Ricky Starks made his entrance at the start of Dynamite for his match against Juice Robinson, who was already in the ring. Jay White appeared before the match began. White and Robinson are together in Bullet Club so they worked together to double-team Starks including Robinson hitting a spin kick on Starks. White hit the Bladerunner neckbreaker on Starks. White and Juice celebrated as the announcers realized this was all a setup. There was no actual match between Starks and Robinson due to White getting involved.

Moments after White’s AEW debut as a full-time wrestler in the company, AEW CEO Tony Khan announced that White is All Elite now.

Jay White is not a total stranger to the AEW audience because he did wrestle twice in the company last year. White beat Trent Beretta on the February 16, 2022 edition of Rampage. White also successfully defended the IWGP World Heavyweight Title at AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door against Adam Cole, Adam Page and Kazuchika Okada on June 26th, 2022.

After Dynamite concluded, roving reporter Renee Paquette tried to interview White in his locker room. However, the cocky New Zealander didn’t say a word in response to her questions.