Former AEW Tag Team No Longer Taking Indie Dates Amid WWE Interest (WWE News)

The Righteous are believed to be heading to WWE...

by Andrew Pollard
The Righteous Vincent Dutch
ROH

Could former AEW tag team the Righteous be on their way to WWE? Seemingly so.

Per Fightful Select, the tandem of Vincent and Dutch has informed promoters that they'll be finishing up their independent dates in the coming months. From the WWE side of things, the market leader has been interested in the Righteous, and many believe the team is likely to be signed.

This isn't the first time that the Righteous has been in the WWE conversation, for they - alongside KC Navarro and Kylie Rae - took part in an indie-wrestler-only tryout back in late 2022. That was at a similar time that Vince McMahon had managed to bully his way back into the WWE fold ahead of the sale to TKO, and so there was a freeze on any hires that resulted in WWE not bringing in any new talent for several months.

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For the Righteous, they'd be signed to AEW/ROH in 2023, first appearing at that year's ROH Supercard of Honor, then on main AEW programming, and were even managed by the legendary Jake Roberts at one point. Prior to that, the Righteous initially formed in Ring of Honor in 2020, where Vincent and Dutch/William were joined by Tyler Bateman and Vita VonStarr. By the time the Righteous returned to ROH in 2023, it was just Vincent and Dutch.

The Righteous were granted their AEW releases earlier this year, with the team's final match under the AEW/ROH banner being an eight-man tag bout at the 12 April ROH TV tapings.

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Fightful adds that a number of people have been pushing for Righteous, including TNA's Elijah, who has filmed vignettes with them. Previously, the late, great Bray Wyatt was another fan of the team and was keen to work with Vincent and Dutch, pushing for them to get hired by WWE as part of that previous tryout.

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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/Saints, Jamie Hayter, 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.