AEW President Tony Khan has claimed that WWE is partaking in contract tampering by speaking to several stars under All-Elite deals.
Since being founded in 2019, AEW and WWE have been at odds, as seen with the Wednesday Night Wars which saw Khan’s promotion emerge victorious.
The two promotions have occasionally aligned, with Khan allowing AEW talent to appear via video to celebrate John Cena’s 20th anniversary on WWE’s main roster last June.
Contract Tampering
Multiple names from AEW once called WWE home, though Vince McMahon was able to bring back AEW EVP Cody Rhodes in April 2022.
Speaking on the Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, Tony Khan said he’s consistently approached by talent who claim WWE are speaking to them. Here’s what he said, courtesy of POST Wrestling:
“I can’t really comment on what their (WWE) internal struggles, internal strife’s are because I don’t work there and I’m not there. I can only speak to the challenges we’ve had.
“I got a lot of wrestlers come to me and allege that WWE reached out to them to tamper with their contracts and ask them to break their contracts. I can’t confirm that specifically. I can only tell you what the wrestlers have come to me and said.”
Tony Khan.
Khan didn’t name who WWE has allegedly contacted, but called the action “very disturbing.”
On WWE’s Radar
There’s no shortage of prominent names that WWE would love to snatch away from AEW and use to draw viewers to their own product.
In January 2022, it was reported that WWE had shown interest in Wardlow, and have also reportedly shown interest in Brian Cage.
The biggest name WWE has reportedly shown interest in is AEW World Champion MJF, who has teased leaving to join WWE when his AEW deal expires on January 1, 2024.
