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The talent trade between North America's top two wrestling promotions, WWE and AEW, has been heating up throughout 2023. However, one former AEW champion has revealed that he rejected an offer from the world leader in sports entertainment last year. The star in question is IMPACT Wrestling's Frankie Kazarian.
WWE has lagged far behind in snagging stars from its rival promotion. Up until this year, the company had only managed to sign former AEW EVP Cody Rhodes. However, WWE recently acquired the services of Lexis King (fka Brian Pillman Jr.), former TBS Champion Jade Cargill, and CM Punk, who Tony Khan fired on September 2.
It seems that Triple H & Co. may have also been interested in signing inaugural AEW World Tag Team Champion Frankie Kazarian.
Speaking on the latest episode of Talk is Jericho, the IMPACT star revealed that he spoke to WWE representatives after leaving AEW at the end of last year:
"I have relationships with a lot of people there. Matt Bloom is one because Matt Bloom and I were in Kawolski's [Killer Kawolski] school together. He runs developmental, and he had contacted me. 'You still want to wrestle?' 'Absolutely.' 'What do you think about coaching?' 'I don't know, maybe down the road that is something I want to do.' 'Okay.'"
It's unclear whether Kazarian was offered anything more than a coaching position, but the 46-year-old confirmed that he turned the offer down:
"We talked about player-coach roles and a whole bunch of things. I had conversations with a few other people. There were offers made, and very generous, and everybody up there was very cool. Something told me, 'Not yet, this isn't the place to be right now.'" [h/t Fightful]
Former AEW star Frankie Kazarian urges wrestlers to bet on themselves
Since leaving All Elite Wrestling, Frankie Kazarian has competed in IMPACT Wrestling and put in a lot of work on the independent circuit. Despite the offer from WWE and reports that he would be welcomed back in the Jacksonville-based promotion, the 46-year-old seems content with his choices.
Kazarian took to X earlier this week to reflect on his departure from Tony Khan's company. The veteran star declared 2023 to be one of the most rewarding years of his career and urged other talent to bet on themselves:
It will be interesting to see if Frankie Kazarian will ever return to All Elite Wrestling or sign with WWE in the near future.
Are you a fan of Frankie Kazarian's work in IMPACT? Do you think he'll ever return to All Elite Wrestling? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
