News Roundup: 4-time WWE Champion teases AEW move, Former superstar signs, Tony Khan teases more signings

With 2021 almost over, it's time for the last AEW news roundup for the year. This week, we take a look at a former WWE World Champion teasing a move to AEW, more on Jake Atlas signing with AEW, Tony Khan's comments on further signings, and more.

Before we get to the news, we just want to take a moment to thank everyone who tuned into our AEW coverage this year.

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#6. Tony Khan comments on more additions to the AEW roster

AEW President Tony Khan recently spoke to Scott Fishman of TV Insider. During the interview, Khan addressed whether we could see any further additions to the AEW roster. Khan said that while AEW will indeed continue to gradually make more signings, he said the promotion would be more "discerning" about the names coming in:

"Yes. We will continue expanding the roster. Absolutely, there will be more people coming into AEW. I do think I have to be more discerning than ever in talent acquisition because we have such a strong roster. I was aggressively expanding with the launch of Rampage. We made some big signings in the past, including CM Punk. Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, Ruby Soho, Thunder Rosa, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, Andrade El Idolo, Malakai Black. Christian Cage and many others. We’ve also continued our partnerships with great international companies like New Japan Pro Wrestling and Lucha Libre AAA. We have a lot of great talent working, but it’s time for me to be more discerning than ever in terms of acquisitions."

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#5. Former WWE star Mercedes Martinez has signed with AEW

Former WWE Superstar Mercedes Martinez made her AEW debut earlier this week on Dynamite. Martinez attacked Thunder Rosa during the end of her match, aligning herself with Jade Cargill, helping her reach the finals of the TBS title tournament.

Tony Khan announced that Mercedes Martinez was All Elite on Twitter:

Martinez also took to Twitter to comment:

Mercedes Martinez is a major addition to the AEW Women's division. It will be interesting to see what plans AEW has for the former WWE star.

#4. Alberto Del Rio teases future AEW move

Four-time WWE World Champion Alberto Del Rio was a guest on Spotskeeda's UnSKripted earlier this week. During the interview, Del Rio was asked about a potential move to AEW. The former WWE and IMPACT star said it was a possibility:

"Yes, that's possible. I've been talking to a lot of people and like I said earlier, I know everybody, they're all talking about it and they saw what happened and they know it wasn't fair for me, my career and my life so they are all going to be giving me an opportunity. It's just a matter of time for me and them to put something together and decide where we're going to go."

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#3. Booker T on Cody Rhodes' character in AEW

Booker T recently praised Cody's character work on his Hall of Fame podcast. Booker does not want Cody to make any changes to his character, feeling that Cody is doing a fantastic job at riling up fans:

"I think a guy like Cody is in a prime position to actually be able to go out there and do what I talk about all the time, and that’s the art of going out there and doing nothing and making the people go crazy. If he can do that for the next five years, man he can make a boatload of money and be very, very happy at the end of the day." (H/T Wrestling Inc.)

Cody Rhodes recently beat Sammy Guevara on AEW Rampage to win the TNT Championship. He also made history by becoming the first three-time TNT Champion.

#2. Jim Cornette praises Sammy Guevara's babyface run

On the latest edition of Jim Cornette's Drive-Thru, the wrestling manager reviewed last week's edition of AEW Rampage and reserved special praise for Sammy Guevara. Cornette praised Guevara's babyface character, saying he had the innate ability to get fans to root for him:

"Sammy Guevara has become a big time babyface and has gotten confident in himself and he's got the energy and the enthusiasm we've always liked. Remember, as a heel, I said he had a slappable face. As a babyface, he's got that oomph and that enthusiasm that makes you happy when he does something. It gives you a warm fuzzy feeling when he accomplishes something. He just looks so happy."

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#1. Update on Jake Atlas signing with AEW

Former WWE star Jake Atlas wrestled at the most recent AEW Dark tapings, leading to speculation that he has signed with the promotion. Dave Meltzer provided an update on Wrestling Observer Radio:

"Jake Atlas, who had retired, came back last night in Jacksonville in new taping Dark and beats Serpentico, and because it is not aired, I don't think that if he has signed, which he may have, they won't announce it until it airs on Dark, which I think would be this coming Tuesday. I don't know 100% he's signed, but I do know that this was his tryout, and he did very well."

Jake Atlas was released by WWE earlier this year. Jungle Boy has previously spoken about his desire to wrestle Jake Atlas in an AEW ring.