David Finlay has officially signed with AEW after a high-stakes bidding war between the industry’s two biggest promotions. Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that while most insiders believed Finlay was WWE-bound, AEW ended up making the best financial offer to the 32-year-old standout. Finlay made his presence felt this week alongside Gabe Kidd and Clark Connors, attacking Orange Cassidy and Darby Allin to announce their arrival.
The decision to work in the United States was reportedly driven by personal circumstances. Finlay recently had a child and wanted to move away from the rigorous international travel schedule of NJPWto be home more often. American promotions like AEW offer a significantly more manageable schedule for the second-generation star, allowing him to balance his career with his growing family.
The Scrapped NXT “Dogs” Faction
Before choosing AEW, Finlay was the subject of a creative pitch from WWE management. The company reportedly wanted him to headline the NXT brand as the leader of a new “second generation” stable. This group would have featured Lexis King, Stacks Lorenzo, Arianna Grace, and Uriah Connors—the latter being David’s younger brother, Brogan Finlay.
The faction was set to be known as “The Dogs,” a direct takeoff on Finlay’s NJPW stable, The War Dogs. While the prospect of working alongside his brother and other legacy talents was on the table, the AEW offer proved too lucrative to pass up.
Finlay had already begun his transition out of Japan, delivering a farewell in the ring following a loss to Callum Newman at The New Beginning in Osaka and working his final independent date on February 27 in Trenton, New Jersey.
