10 Huge Signings WWE Must Make In 2022
4. Matt Taven
Like fellow former ROH World Champion RUSH, Matt Taven has also received interest from WWE in the past before opting to re-sign with his home promotion.
The deal, signed in September 2019, would see the OGK member earning up to triple the amount earned by the top-paid NXT wrestler at the time. He'd be working half the schedule and was already at World Champion level; it was a no-brainer. WWE wanted him just so no-one else could.
Since then, however, Taven has confirmed he'd be open to joining the company, despite the dire treatment received by his OGK partners, Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis-Bennett (h/t WrestlingINC):-
“I mean, everyone’s experiences are different. I think Mike would be one to tell you that as well. Just because things went a certain way for him doesn’t mean things would go a certain way for someone else. I grew up a WWE fan, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested. I’m interested in anything. I’ve been able to make the most out of any situation I’ve ever been given. So I honestly feel, whoever or wherever I was to get a shot I would make the most of it.”
Now is the time for Taven to ink a deal with WWE. A 36-year-old, thirteen-year veteran, it's the only feasible choice for him. Again, he's 36 as of this writing; he's got maybe ten years, at best, left to be a top talent before he sinks down from being a main event calibre talent. If he's seriously as interested as he says he is, then the needle must be moved in their direction.
That he's currently part of an ROH invasion in IMPACT Wrestling indicates that he'll be ROH-associated for the foreseeable, though, so count him as a late-year signing.