Is Kevin Owens The Next WWE Vet To Bail And Join AEW?
The WWE has been standing by the last few months, watching as All Elite Wrestling does their best to ink some of the biggest names off their roster.
The latest defection came two weeks ago when outspoken C.M. Punk inked a deal with AEW, claiming that he's going to the upstart company to help build it and not take spots away from veteran wrestlers.
Punk's arrival may have been the biggest arrival in any wrestling company over the last decade, and the AEW fan reaction has been nothing short of amazing.
While Punk's arrival was a boost to AEW, there were a couple other wrestlers who also decided to jump ship.
One was NXT standout Adam Cole, who debuted in the PPV over the weekend, and by the end of the intro and promo, he was getting plenty of cheers.
There was one more massive arrival this weekend. Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) was the final surprise, coming out to his old WWE music and cutting a promo.
While Punk, Cole and Bryan for sure made things move in a positive direction for AEW, there are still questions as to who is next to leave WWE and join AEW.
One WWE star who could be ready to make the jump is Kevin Owens, whose deal with WWE expires in January 2022, not 2023 as originally scheduled. Owen's deal with WWE got re-worked during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now his expiration date with the company has been changed to January 2022.
The former WWE Champ took to Twitter to express what appeared to be some frustration about his current place on the roster. Owens tweeted the coordinates to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Then he changed the location in his Twitter bio to "Almost there" which is being linked to the Mount Rushmore coordinates.
WWE and Owens have had a deal since 2014, and while he's been back and forth between being a heel and face, fans generally have embraced the veteran wrestler. When he's the focus of a program, he usually is over with the fan base.