Kyle Fletcher has revealed that he and his former tag team partner, Mark Davis, held discussions with WWE before officially signing with AEW. The current ROH World Television Champion opened up about the negotiation process during an interview on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, noting that there was significant interest from both major promotions.
“It was a toss-up for a while,” Fletcher said. “We had one kind of like official [call]. At the time, it was myself and Mark Davis as Aussie Open, we had a Zoom call with them. We kind of spoke about what the deal would entail, and that sort of thing. I think when it got to that point, it just didn’t feel like the right fit at the time. So we didn’t get super close. It was kind of at the point where there was options there. But AEW was just the right fit for us at the time.”
Fletcher explained that his prior experiences working with AEW through their partnership with New Japan Pro-Wrestling played a major role in his decision. He cited the creative environment and the trust he felt from the company as key factors that tipped the scales in Tony Khan’s favor.
“We were lucky enough that we’d worked there a couple of times,” Fletcher continued. “We got brought in as a part of New Japan to do a couple of things. And I think it was the vibe there. I think to me, it was, I don’t want to say the freedom, but I think there’s a lot of trust there that I can produce the wrestling I want to produce, and I can wrestle the way that I love to wrestle, and I think experiencing that beforehand and knowing that, I think that was what kind of drew me towards AEW for sure.”
Since signing, Fletcher has broken out as a singles star, recently engaging in high-profile feuds with Will Ospreay and MJF. He noted that the moment he put pen to paper on his new contract was a memorable one.
“It felt really cool,” Fletcher said. “I was on a beach in Jamaica when I signed my contract.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. Subscribe to Insight with Chris Van Vliet on YouTube.
