WWE Rumors: AEW TV Deal Close, AJ Styles Mocks New Contract Talk

All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is slowly but surely growing in size and the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is feeling their presence after being the most dominant company for the last two decades since WCW wound up.

AEW is backed by Pakistani American billionaire Shahid Khan and his son Tony and they are hoping to rival the WWE in terms of talent and popularity in the long-run. It is unlikely to happen any time soon as the latter has built up years of fan loyalty and brand recognition that is desired by most pro-wrestlers today.

But the new promotion has been making waves by attracting some known faces with their biggest capture thus far coming in the form of WWE legend Chris Jericho. He signed a three-year deal recently with AEW and revealed that it was the biggest deal of his career, one that blew his mind.

Jericho’s revelation has turned the heads of other wrestlers on the WWE roster and that has caused a bit of flutter in the world’s most popular wrestling promotion. WWE CEO Vince McMahon has reportedly ordered the management to hand out new deals to the wrestlers whose contracts are coming to an end in a year or two, while double-your-money deals are also said to be on offer to those who will sign on the spot.

AEW is set to take another major step toward becoming probably the second most recognized pro-wrestling promotion with reports stating that they are on signing a massive deal with a legitimate television station. They are said to have narrowed their choices to two and the size of the deal, according to Dave Meltzer, via Wrestling Inc, is supposed to be the biggest for a non-WWE promotion.

Meanwhile, the negotiations with AJ Styles over a new deal continue with the WWE desperate to tie him down to a new deal before he becomes a free agent in April. Losing him to a rival promotion will be a big blow to WWE especially since he is one of the most popular wrestlers on the roster and was the face of SmackDown Live until recently.

Reports emerged over the weekend suggesting that he had reached an agreement with WWE over a new deal but that was refuted by Styles, who seemed to mock the reports by asking for more information.

Moving to WrestleMania 35, WWE expert Meltzer is of the opinion that John Cena’s match with rising star Lars Sullivan is close to being canceled after the latter failed to appear on last week’s Monday Night Raw episode after being given time to recover from an anxiety attack suffered early in January.

"The guy they wanted to make in the Superstar but he was not gonna win the Rumble was Lars Sullivan. They really wanted him back last Monday and obviously, he was not back so I don’t know what’s going on. Well, he’s not ready to be back, that’s all. I don’t anticipate him not being with the company but as each week goes by, the idea of him wrestling John Cena gets slimmer and slimmer. It may even be out the window right now, I don’t know,” Meltzer said, as quoted on Sportskeeda.