WWE and AEW have been in a heated free agent market lately, with big stars willing to negotiate with both promotions.
The battle to sign talent has been ongoing since 2019, when All Elite Wrestling first launched. WWE attempted to prevent talent from joining the rival promotion. At the time, they were offering lucrative five-year contracts to talent, only to release them during the pandemic. Some went to AEW, while others joined other promotions or returned to WWE.
Mercedes Mone, Kazuchika Okada, and Will Ospreay were all heavily pursued by both promotions before signing with Tony Khan’s AEW.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, “Khan offered more money than WWE, and WWE officials, who seemingly expected the lure of WWE and WrestleMania being enough of a deciding factor, ended up with it not being the case.”
Mone wanted to be paid the same as a top WWE star and is believed to be the current highest-paid female wrestler.
