Major Update On The Future Of The Elite
WWE or AEW?
According to a report in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the AEW soft roster split gamble appears to have proved a success. Per Dave Meltzer:
"The prevailing belief is that the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and Adam Page are staying."
The return of CM Punk, following the events of Brawl Out, was fraught politically. In order to accommodate all of his top acts, AEW President Tony Khan used the additional two hours - that Warner was going to allocate to AEW regardless - to separate the Elite from CM Punk, who is now the fulcrum of Collision. This experimental compromise is in some ways bittersweet, in that it has all but killed any CMFTR Vs. Elite worked shoot fantasy booking, but if the report proves to be accurate, it was the correct business decision.
Many thought that Khan had created an untenable scenario, but this appears not to be the case. Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, Hangman Page and CM Punk were all present in the Scotiabank Arena for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door (albeit on separate ends of the building) without incident. That workaround, coupled with Meltzer's report, indicates that this compromise has worked.
Meltzer substantiated the report with the following:
"We do know from a WWE standpoint that months ago they had the impression they had a good shot at Omega in 2024 and he was the most coveted of all the guys being talked about like Jay White and the others. That has gone cold so they do believe he’s staying with AEW."