Major AEW star opens up on whether WWE had any interest in signing him

A major AEW star has disclosed whether WWE had any interest in signing him. The talent's comments may come as a surprise to some fans.

The star in question is none other than Bryan Keith. He is currently a key part of the AEW roster and Chris Jericho’s Learning Tree faction. Keith was directionless for a while, but being alongside Jericho has seemingly given him a new lease of life.

On an episode of Talk Is Jericho, Keith recently revealed that he was a big WWE fan growing up. However, the 32-year-old added that he eventually gravitated towards the Japanese pro wrestling style. The Bounty Hunter further mentioned that the global juggernaut didn't make him an offer before his AEW signing.

“No, nothing. I’ve been at Booker’s for a long time. I did extra work and things like that, but nothing like, ‘Hey, come in and we’ll take a look at you and things like that.’ I watched WWE all the time as a kid. I’m a WWF kid, I never even watched WCW growing up. But I feel like whenever I got older, I gravitated towards the Japanese style of professional wrestling, so in my head, I literally wanted to go to Japan. WWE or TNA and all these other places, it wasn’t the goal.” [H/T: Ringside News]

---

AEW star Bryan Keith expressed admiration for Japanese wrestling

In the same interview, Bryan Keith spoke about his admiration for Japanese pro wrestling. He worked on the independent scene before coming to AEW and revealed how he grew fond of the East Asian country's wrestling circuit.

“I’d work for them. At the time, if they were giving it, I was gonna see what’s up. But in my head, I was like, ‘Japan, Japan, Japan.’ I remember my parents being like, ‘How? How the hell do you think you’re gonna get on the other side of the world and do that?’ Actually, at the beginning of this year, I went for the first time for two weeks. DDT brought me out, and I wrestled out there,” he said.

Despite his love for Japanese wrestling, Keith is now an established star in AEW. Given the company’s working relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, The Bounty Hunter may soon find himself working in a Japanese ring too.