5 current WWE Superstars that were close to signing for AEW

#3 John Morrison: Considered choosing AEW over WWE?

John Morrison

The high-flying and charismatic John Morrison made his much-anticipated return to WWE on January 4th, 2020. Released back in 2011, John Morrison is a part of a small group of wrestlers (along with Drew McIntyre) who honed their skillset on the indie scene after they left WWE and were then re-signed by the company. It is interesting to note though that John Morrison contacted not only WWE but also AEW when he became a free agent.

Confirmed ✅ I have signed with @WWE - I’ve never been as good at anything as I am at wrestling & I can’t wait to stand again in a #WWE ring opposite the most talented people in the business‼️

— John Morrison (@TheRealMorrison) December 4, 2019

John Morrison made his presence felt on multiple wrestling promotions including Lucha Underground and IMPACT, and was a huge draw in both promotions. After his stint with IMPACT ended, John Morrison was finally a free agent. While John Morrison ultimately signed with WWE, he revealed in an interview with Chris Van Vliet that he indeed had AEW as an alternative.

While it is unclear as to which stage the talks with AEW had reached, John Morrison said it took one positive phone call with Vince McMahon to convince him to head back to WWE.

"I talked to WWE and I talked to AEW. And... um... I had a really good conversation with Vince (McMahon) and they made me a really nice offer and I ended up taking it."

BREAKING: @TheRealMorrison has agreed to a multi-year contract with @WWE, as first reported on @FS1's #WWEBackstage. https://t.co/u7AEiU9tGi

— WWE (@WWE) December 4, 2019

While John Morrison has made himself right at home in WWE and working in a tag team with The Miz, he undoubtedly would have been a huge acquisition for AEW had he chosen to go to the new promotion.