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What's the story?
Despite having a stacked roster, WWE has never shied away from signing up new talents at regular intervals. Promising talents from the independent circuit and various other promotions are picked up and given NXT contracts before they are eventually called up to the main roster.
That has always been the plan of action, however, while a majority of the stars accept WWE's advances, there are a handful of names who flatly refuse a lucrative WWE contract.
One such name is Eli Drake.
As revealed on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the former TNA/Impact Wrestling World Champion piqued the interest of WWE officials a few months ago but he reportedly turned down the prospect of returning to the company.
In case you didn't know...
If you remember, Eli Drake sporadically appeared in WWE between 2006 to 2014. He teamed up with Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose) for a match against Big Show in 2006.
Drake was one of the security guards during the atrocious text message promo segment between Kevin Nash and CM Punk in 2011. He wrestled in NXT under the ring name Slate Randall and lost to the likes of Mojo Rawley and Baron Corbin before getting released in August 2014. He didn't get along with head trainer Bill Demott, which contributed to his ouster.
After being treated like a mere jobber in the WWE, Drake hit the ground running on the indie circuit and began a career resurgence. Drake would get signed by TNA in 2015, where he would go onto to shine as one of the top stars of the company.
He has one reign each with World, Tag Team and King of the Mountain titles with Impact Wrestling/TNA.
The heart of the matter
Drake's Impact Wrestling contract comes to an end on May 31st, and naturally enough, speculation of his future has been doing the rounds.
His contract status was a matter of contention backstage in Impact a few months ago and it seems WWE too were snooping around for his signature, as disclosed on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
However, Drake reportedly renewed his contract with Impact after WWE was said to have offered him a lukewarm deal.
WON stated, "We had heard a few months ago that Drake had some interest in WWE, but at the end of the day, at that time he signed back up [with Impact] which indicated if they made an offer, it couldn’t have been that good."
What's next?
Eli Drake is an incredibly talented performer who would surely be an asset wherever he goes. Considering his well-rounded skill set, it isn't surprising to see WWE showing interest in the Impact Wrestling star.
For now, Drake isn't planning on leaving the Impact Zone.
