Top AEW faction seemingly disbands

The latest episode of AEW Collision saw the addition of a top star and champion to one of the promotion's most hated groups. The talent in question, Kazuchika Okada, may have left his former faction in the process, the latter being The Elite.

The June 21 edition of the Saturday Night Show featured an in-ring interview, which started off with Tony Schiavone introducing Don Callis and two of his clients, Lance Archer and Josh Alexander, to the ring. The Invisible Hand then introduced the newest member of his "family," the reigning Continental Champion, Kazuchika Okada. Their alliance was born earlier this month when the former New Japan ace annihilated Kenny Omega after their All In: Texas contract signing.

Okada joining The Don Callis Family may have brought to an end his time as a member of the current heel version of The Elite. The former IWGP Heavyweight Champion aligned himself with The Young Bucks last year, shortly after debuting as an official member of the AEW roster. He fought against the promotion's babyface opposition alongside the "Founding Fathers" and Jack Perry in last year's Anarchy in the Arena and Blood and Guts match. Okada teamed with The Bucks as recently as this past April.

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It remains to be seen if The Ace of The New Era has completely severed his ties with The Bucks moving forward in AEW. Currently, he seems to be in the crosshairs of Kenny Omega's long-time tag partner Kota Ibushi, who returned to take Okada out on Collision.

What have the remaining members of The Elite been up to in AEW lately?

While Kazuchika Okada has seemingly allied with Don Callis, Matthew and Nicholas Jackson have been courting a partnership with Jon Moxley and the Death Riders since their return at Dynasty 2025.

Although the EVPs failed to assist the heel faction in winning this year's Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing last month, they played a part in allowing the AEW World Champion to pick up the victory when The Bucks teamed with Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, and The Beast Mortos against Swerve Strickland, Will Ospreay, and The Opps at Grand Slam Mexico this past Wednesday.

In the meantime, the other member of the "new" Elite, Jack Perry, has been absent from AEW television since losing his TNT Title to Daniel Garcia at Full Gear 2024.

About the author

Anurag is an AEW writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling. He holds a BA and MA degree in English along with a TEFL certification to teach English. Before Sportskeeda, he worked as a Content and Correspondence writer at Nayabad Titas, a theater group. He has also worked as a English language tutor.

To ensure complete accuracy, he uses internet resources, social media platforms, and especially pieces composed by his peers to find solid, verified information that he presents as objectively as possible. Thanks to his academic background, he can research different subjects thoroughly.

Anurag's interest in wrestling began as a child. He watched RAW and Smackdown frequently from age 10 or 11 and was officially hooked by the YES Movement story in WWE heading into WrestleMania 30.

As a lifelong wrestling fan and lover of stories, Anurag would read news, articles, and other content about the talent and events he enjoyed watching. His understanding of the business continued to grow with time, and his interest in the art and sport of wrestling led him to pursue a career as a writer.

Apart from writing, he loves to read books, watch movies and television programs, play and listen to music, and write poetry and fiction.

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Edited by Anurag Mukherjee