10 Wrestlers AEW Let Slip Through Their Fingers

For all of the company's faults, IMPACT deserves credit for seeing the star potential in Eli Drake and making him one of their featured players from 2015 to 2019. A silly social media mistake cost him his job at WWE, but there was no reason for IMPACT to not pick up the pieces and build their brand around him.

While there, Drake came into his own as a performer and held their top title for a substantial period of time. Comments he made on Twitter regarding his refusal to wrestle Tessa Blanchard at one of IMPACT's events led to his dismissal in April, sparking speculation as to where he would pop up next.

Drake has been very candid in interviews over the years about how WWE has extended the olive branch to return, but he consistently turned them down because the money wasn't right. Truth be told, he'd still more or less flounder in NXT if he were brought back tomorrow because of the immense amount of talent they have under contract, which is why AEW seemed to be a logical landing spot for him.

According to the Namer of Dummies himself, he had a deal worked out with AEW, but it fell through at the last minute. He then jumped at the opportunity to work with Dave Lagana again in the NWA and the rest is history.