The WWE ID initiative has shaken up the wrestling industry, and the program will allow several independent wrestlers to get a direct line straight into WWE. Naturally, this might cause interference for other promotions like AEW and TNA, who often sign wrestlers straight from the independent circuit as well. AEW President Tony Khan held a media call ahead of this weekend’s Full Gear, where he gave his take on WWE ID.
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“I think that we still are looking at top young wrestlers every week — international wrestlers and domestically — it will be interesting to see the first time we have a talent that is under one of those that we bring in,” Khan said, further pointing out that he isn’t completely sure how the WWE ID deals will work, and noted that he’s heard WWE might retain match rights, which he simply described as interesting. “I have some thoughts on it, but I will reserve my judgment until I actually test such a mechanism.”
“I think for us we have a great roster right now, of wrestlers, spanning all ages from very, very young wrestlers to decades of experience,” Khan pointed out, further explaining that AEW prioritizes identifying young talent, and that they still bring a lot of young talent into AEW and ROH, but so far, they’ve not had any major conflicts. “It’ll be interesting to see how that goes in the coming future, obviously that’s a recent development.”
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If you use any quotes from this article, please credit AEW and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
