A lot of recent WWE stars in the free agent market: Priorities for AEW

Jake Jeremy at F4WOnline.com wrote today that there are “at least seven names who are currently ‘waiting’ to be signed by AEW, though, in the finest F4WOnline.com tradition, he doesn’t know “exactly when the deals are expected to be done, nor who the seven names/acts are specifically.”

If you hang around Dave Meltzer long enough, you learn to hedge your bets, to the point that they’re not bets.

AEW President/CEO Tony Khan, in his pre-“Redemption” media call on Thursday, seemed to confirm … something.

There are a lot of great free agents in wrestling, particularly right now. There’s a lot of people coming out of contract. It’s no secret that a lot of very talented wrestlers were released recently from their contracts, and it has put more people on the market. And it’s something I am keeping an eye on, because I’m very cognizant that there’s a lot of really talented people that just got cut or fired or released, and I am keeping an eye on that.

TK obviously learned from Meltzer as well.

That’s a lot of words right there to say almost nothing.

What about it, though?

With the “Redemption” pay-per-view coming up on Sunday, and the biggie of the year on the horizon – the London show, “All In,” set for Aug. 30, which is picking up steam at the turnstiles, just under 32,000 tickets sold as of Thursday, per WrestleTix – it seems like this would be the season to introduce some fresh faces into the AEW mix.

Who should be the priorities?

---

The New Day and The Motor City Machine Guns

You’d need fresh names for Kofi Kingston (real name: Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah) and Xavier Woods (Austin Watson), and a new tag team name, but the gimmick is well established.

MCMG has used that name and their wrestling names (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin) since their days in TNA.

You sign these two, and you build your tag division around them for the next couple of years, working in FTR, when they come off their freshening up, and The Young Bucks, who are faces now, but like FTR, can switch back and forth as needed.

Is it possible, then, that we can get TK to stop using his big-name teams to put over makeshift, ad hoc acts?

Asking for a friend, who wants to see tag wrestling treated the way it was in the ‘80s.

---

Sheamus

Sheamus – real name: Steven Farrelly – can add to the tag division if Khan reunites him with Claudio Castagnoli.

I’d love to see them used together in an APA-type role as tough-guy enforcers.

He can use the name Sheamus O’Shaunessy that he used pre-WWE for familiarity purposes.

---

Kairi Sane and Zelina Vega

I’m not sure Kairi Sane is a priority, per se, but if she’s available, what the hell, sign her.

She may want to return to Japan, and if that’s the case, Khan can bring her in for guest spots, if she’s game.

I’ve always liked Zelina Vega – real name: Trea Trinidad – as a talent, but she may have to come as part of a package deal with her husband, Aleister Black, and if that’s the case, Khan may very well pass.

Adding one or both adds depth to the women’s division; I don’t know that either or both moves a lot of merch or adds to the PPV buyrates.