"Slip him some information" - WWE tricked Tony Khan into paying big money to AEW star, believes wrestling veteran

A wrestling veteran claimed that WWE intentionally led AEW President Tony Khan to pay more money for a star. This was Jim Cornette, who shared his thoughts about Daniel Garcia re-signing with AEW late last year.

Garcia, one of the top young stars on the roster, is currently All Elite after he re-signed with the promotion in October 2024. Since renewing the contract, he had a great reign as the TNT Champion and has been one of the mainstays of AEW Collision.

When the Red Death's AEW contract was about to expire, the global sports entertainment juggernaut showed great interest in signing the up-and-rising star. He even took some time off to make the important decision. During that period, multiple reports emerged which said that WWE was highly interested in signing him.

While speaking on his Drive-Thru podcast, Cornette said that WWE possibly tried to increase Tony Khan's bill by hyping up the former TNT Champion.

"I swear to you I can see it happening in the WWE office when they would hear a contract was up and they would 'Yeah, slip him some information, tell him you got an internal memo. We want Garcia, we'll pay any price for Garcia,' to run Tony's talent bill up. Because he did f***ing go to great lengths to sign this sucker and he has produced nothing," he said. (00:50- 01:20)

Daniel Garcia reveals why he chose AEW over WWE

The former TNT Champion decided to sign with the Jacksonville-based promotion last year when Triple H was ready to offer him a contract.

While speaking to Yahoo Sports, Garcia claimed that he chose to sign with AEW as he would also get opportunities to wrestle at other major promotions like NJPW, CMLL, and other companies.

"I can go do indies if I want. We have those relationships with NJPW and CMLL, where I can still get experience in other places. I feel like New Japan Pro-Wrestling was always my dream when I first started being a wrestler. That's something I always wanted to accomplish," he said.

Expand Tweet

It remains to be how Tony Khan books Daniel Garcia in the future.

Please credit Jim Cornette's Drive-Thru podcast and add an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use any quotes from the first half of this article.

About the author

Tejas has been an AEW writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling since 2021. Possessing a degree in Food Processing Technology, it was his brother who introduced him to Sportskeeda, and he has never looked back since.

Tejas’ writing style is analytical and descriptive style, mostly sticking to statistics. He believes in thoroughly checking all statistics and information before using them in his articles to ensure his readers get nothing but the best and most accurate stories. He also does not indulge much in speculation in his content.

His all-time favorite wrestler is Roman Reigns for his journey from being one of the most unlikable babyfaces at the start of his career to one of the greatest modern WWE superstars. If Tejas ever got the chance to go back to the Attitude Era and manage a superstar, it would choose high-flying, risk-taking diminutive entertainer Spike Dudley. Tejas would assure him that he would be involved in long-term storylines, something that he wasn’t part of during his time.

In his free time, Tejas enjoys singing and learning new things.

Know More

Edited by Harish Raj S