WWE Is Offering to Beat Contract Offers, Looking to Lock Wrestlers Into Longer Deals

WWE has made it clear to several people that they will beat any other company’s offer for talent, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, saying that if wrestlers can show another offer on paper, they’ll beat it or even double it on the spot in some cases if the deal is signed immediately.

Several wrestlers have recently decided to sign with other companies despite WWE making them offers, including Bandido (ROH), Juice Robinson (NJPW), The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, Hangman Page, and likely Kenny Omega.

One notable exception where WWE did not beat an offer is Chris Jericho, who said that he got the best offer of his career from AEW. According to Dave Meltzer, Vince McMahon decided to not match the offer, so Jericho went to AEW.

WWE’s profits have grown so much in recent years (new TV deals, Saudi Arabia deal) that they have tons of money to throw around for the next several years at least. Despite all of the extra money WWE executives are now making, most wrestler contracts have stayed relatively the same, so WWE is now able to easily afford doubling or even tripling offers that they used to make in the past. Though the Khan family is much richer than Vince McMahon, AEW is not their only business, or even their primary business, though they do also plan on spending a lot of money on AEW. But right now, with no TV deal official yet and the company just launching, AEW is obviously not profitable yet, while WWE is very profitable and can afford to make massive offers.

WWE has also been approaching wrestlers whose deals are coming to an end in the next year and trying to lock them into longer deals, according to PWInsider.

With the new competition, WWE has also been giving pushes to unhappy wrestlers who they were doing nothing with. The Revival and Andrade Almas are two recent examples, though The Revival still requested their release this week.