10 Wrestlers Who Turned Down AEW

9. Cain Velasquez

CM Punk AEW
WWE

It's a little nuts to think about just how brief Cain Velasquez's WWE tenure was.

Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Velasquez was one of the many unfortunate victims of WWE's initial approach to the ongoing global pandemic. As in, he was released as part of the company's mass cull in order to help balance the books and bring in record profit margins.

Before signing with WWE in late 2019, as per Dave Meltzer, Cardio Cain had held talks with both AEW and NJPW. That came after Velasquez had made his pro wrestling debut at AAA's Triplemania XXVII in August of that year, and the MMA icon ultimately opted against signing for any promotion other than WWE.

The silver lining now for AEW fans, of course, is that Velasquez is a free agent who, if he still wants to pursue a career in pro wrestling, is once more back in the conversation for Tony Khan's promotion.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.