One MIND-BLOWING Secret From Every WWE Royal Rumble

2019 - WWE Wanted To Debut The Elite

The Elite
AEW

On December 17, 2018, The McMahon Family - minus Linda, who you wouldn’t have noticed regardless - opened Monday Night Raw.

Ratings were in the toilet, gates were poor, and the product was so unspeakably awful that even WWE, encased in its arrogant bubble, had to apologise, beg for forgiveness, and promise its fanbase that it would get better. Vince McMahon still told the crowd that he knew better than them within seconds, but the fact that he entertained the idea in the first place was incredible.

This wasn’t just a stunt, nor a means of buying some time and goodwill: WWE promised actual, elusive change because the promotion had convinced themselves that they’d just brought in three absolute game-changers: Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks, who at the time were the most acclaimed and talked-about characters in the entire industry. This was a massive coup: WWE had “signed” the three guys who didn’t need its machine to get over. Imagine how successful they’d be, if the machine got behind them.

WWE was convinced they’d got their men because the terms of the deal were unprecedented. Omega and the Bucks were offered main event-level money from the off and a major storyline they would be allowed to approve - which never happened in the NXT era - but the unprecedented part was an “out” clause. If the Elite weren’t happy after the first few months, they would be allowed to leave, no questions asked.

In the January 14 Observer, a look into the launch announcement of All Elite Wrestling, Meltzer wrote “those who work in WWE with knowledge of the deal were certain [Omega and the Bucks] wouldn’t turn it down, and outright told me they would be debuting at the Rumble, and had a Rumble-to-Mania significant storyline”.

Obviously, this didn’t happen, but it was a clever play; even if the Elite did bail after signing, their romantic aura as the wrestlers who stuck it to WWE would have tarnished the launch of AEW, if it was still able to even get off the ground.

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!