When AEW first launched in 2019, it was reported that WWE was trying to lock down wrestlers who they had under contract as well as free agents to big-money deals that were for five years. This was done to keep wrestlers from going to AEW.
That has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last April, WWE released several wrestlers as a way to save money. Thus, WWE WWE is no longer in “talent hoarding” mode.
Fightful Select reports that WWE made contract offers to several wrestlers towards the end of 2020. However, those offers were said to be “disappointing” in comparison to deals offered just one year earlier.
Several WWE stars noted that they have outright passed on these new offers as they think when the world becomes “more normal,” they can get better deals. The company is also under this belief and also willing to wait to see how things play out.
The report specifies that this applies to wrestlers across each brand – Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and NXT UK.
It should be noted that Matt Riddle just signed a big-money deal to stay with WWE for the next few years.
