AEW Slowing Down On New Wrestler Signings?
The latest on AEW's signing policy following Cody and Brandi Rhodes' departures...
All Elite Wrestling's free agent signing blitz appears to be slowing down - for now.
Per Dave Meltzer on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, AEW is to lessen the flow of new talent coming into the company for the time being, adopting a more conservative approach until it has secured its next television deal. This follows an intensely busy six months of incomings, with the likes of Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Adam Cole, Keith Lee, and more entering the promotion.
AEW is currently paid around $44 million annually for its television rights deal with WarnerMedia, who broadcast the promotion's Dynamite, Rampage, and Battle of the Belts shows across TNT and TBS. Meltzer states that AEW hopes to score a bigger deal through the next set of negotiations.
Said negotiations are expected to commence later in 2022, with the current rights contract running through 2023. AEW's current deal is widely considered undervalued for its impressive P18-49 viewing figures - particularly when compared with WWE's numbers.
It's unlikely that AEW will stop signing wrestlers completely, given the volume of potential money-making talent available at the moment (and perhaps in the future). Nonetheless, it sounds like fans should at least expect things to slow down in 2022.