As everyone knows by now, The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, and Kenny Omega’s contracts are up in a few months and it’s no secret that WWE wants to sign them. Ring Of Honor has already stated that they will do everything they can to keep Rhodes and The Bucks and NJPW is hoping to keep Omega but it will be tough to compete because WWE has more money to spend now with their new TV deals that kick in in the fall of 2019.
Dave Meltzer reported this week that WWE is getting very aggressive when it comes to taking talent off the board and it’s clear that they have taken notice of the attendance numbers for All In and the NJPW/ROH G1 Supercard show at Madison Square Garden.
Fenix and Pentagon Jr. are names that that were reported on last week and WWE is also looking at Shane Strickland from MLW. He is one of the top stars in the promotion and it’s no surprise that WWE wants to sign him because he is very good. Meltzer noted that Strickland “will be coming in for a future look.”
Meltzer noted that Pentagon Jr. and Fenix have told promoters that their 2019 bookings are in question. MLW announced that they will not be on their October 4th show at the Melrose Ballroom in New York because of circumstances beyond their control. When wrestlers start to pull out of bookings, it usually means that they are WWE-bound.
The G1 Supercard show for MSG sold out quickly so you can bet that WWE is going to look at more wrestlers to sign in an effort to keep them away from that show since it will be going head-to-head against NXT Takeover. As noted last week, WWE wanted to sign Rey Mysterio before the All In show on 9/1 but he wanted to fulfill that commitment.
