WWE Making Plans For Former AEW Star
A former AEW wrestler is headed to WWE and preparations are underway for the debut.
It became official earlier in March that Rey Fenix is no longer under contract to AEW and is free to leave the company. It is not a secret in the wrestling world that WWE was already making plans for Fenix to debut in the company.
Fenix is the younger brother of WWE Raw superstar Penta, who was free from his AEW deal and made the jump to WWE a few months ago. Since joining WWE, Penta has thrived on the Raw brand as a singles star who has the support of the fans.
Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer wrote about how releasing Fenix will save AEW some money, but it also tells other wrestlers that if you want out then AEW could let them go.
“Rey Fenix was released from his deal and is now free to join WWE. On the plus side, it saves a very significant amount of money (as did the releases of Ricky Starks, Miro and Malakai Black) since they were being paid to do nothing.
On the negative side, it does encourage WWE to try and get guys to quit while under contract using those examples to tell you that you don’t have to wait until the end of your deal, just make it clear you won’t do what creative asks and won’t lose, and want to leave as soon as your deal is done. Before the reaction was to be iced. Now the precedent is he’ll let you go.
There’s no right or wrong, and you can make a great argument to let guys go if they aren’t contributing, but it is a great competitive disadvantage in the marketplace.”
AEW’s Owner Tony Khan said that he’ll evaluate talent requesting releases on a case-by-case basis and in the case of Fenix, he felt like it was okay to let him go. Fenix had spent over five years in AEW and was a former Tag Team & Trios Tag Team Champion.
WWE Is Already Working On Rey Fenix Merchandise
It has been reported by Fightful Select that Fenix is expected to get his WWE medical testing done very soon. If Fenix hasn’t signed a contract already, it is expected to happen very soon.
Fightful has also been told that WWE has worked on merchandise items for Fenix to prepare for his debut.
Rey Fenix officially got his AEW release recently, and is expected to head to WWE. When Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp asked about Fenix’s status, we’re told that he’s expected to get WWE medicals done very soon.
It’s not yet known what brand Fenix will be on in WWE, but with his brother Penta on Raw, it makes sense to put Fenix there as well.