(Hypothetical scenario) AEW goes out of business. Where do you see the future of their wrestlers?

[marky]

I've been wondering what would happen if, for example, Shahid Khan suddenly turned off Tony's source of money?
Or Tony would get bored with wrestling?
Who do you think would find employment where?

For practical reasons, I have created the following classification:

WWE:
TNA:
AAA:
NJPW:
CMLL:
Indies (MLW, GCW, PROGRESS, BJW, WXW, NWA and others):
Retirement:

 

[bjork]

If we're talking AEW is just gone immediately: I think indies would see a lot of those faces, and TNA picks up not as many as they'd like due to budgetary restrictions, though if they grow by being on AMC, maybe they could get more. I don't know enough about Mexico or Japan to have any idea who would want to go where. I assume wrestlers from those regions could go back with a hero's welcome kind of storyline, or maybe a heel coming to tear down their old stomping grounds, but I don't know who or where.
All of that said, hopefully Tony's taking some of that money and investing it elsewhere, or he's built up enough good relationships that if the money were cut off, he could find funding from somewhere?

 

[marky]

If I haven't included someone, it means the indie scene, and the less significant one at that.

WWE: Bandido, Brody King, FTR, Chris Jericho (one last run), Danhausen, Daniel Garcia, Dustin Rhodes (also one last run or one last match with Cody), Eddie Kingston (KO vs Eddie, just book it!), Hook, Jack Perry (I just want to see CM Punk vs Jack Perry on Wrestlemania or Summerslam :) ), Mox (The Shield reunion! yey!), Katsuyori Shibata, JetSpeed, Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, MJF, Nick Wayne, Rush, The Outrunners, Will Ospreay, Billie Starkz, Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter, Kris Statlander, Megan Bayne, Mercedes Moné (one last run), Mina Shirakawa, Riho, Toni Storm

TNA: Ace Austin, Anthony Bowens, The Gunns, Bobby Lashley (one last run), Buddy Matthews, Private Party, John Morrison (also one last run), Josh Alexander, Kip Sabian, Kyle O'Reilly, Mark Davis, Matt Taven, Orange Cassidy, Roderick Strong, Shane Taylor, Tony Nese, Anna Jay, Athena, Deonna Purrazzo, Julia Hart,

AAA: AR Fox, The Beast Mortos, Dralístico, Hologram, Komander, Luchasaurus, PAC, Tommy Billington, Wheeler Yuta, Queen Aminata, Thunder Rosa

NJPW: Hangman Adam Page, The Butcher and the Blade, Claudio Castagnoli, Jay White, Juice Robinson, Kazuchika Okada (It's best for him. He floped big in AEW), Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, The Young Bucks, Powerhouse Hobbs, Samoa Joe, Swerve Strickland, Trent Beretta, Hikaru Shida, Thekla, Yuka Sakazaki (womens are in NJPW as part of Stardom)

CMLL: Andrade, Angelico, Dante Martin, Hechicero, Lio Rush, Matt Sydal, Ricochet, Sammy Guevara, Wardlow, Ruby Soho, Skye Blue, Tay Melo,

Indies (MLW, GCW, PROGRESS, BJW, WXW, NWA and others): Aaron Solo, Action Andretti, Alex Reynolds and John Silver, Angelo Parker and Matt Menard, Big Bill, Brian Cage, Bryan Keith, Darby Allin, Evil Uno, Jay Lethal, Katsuyori Shibata, Mansoor and Mace, Mark Briscoe, The Von Erichs, Max Caster, Mike Bennett, Ortiz, Peter Avalon, Rocky Romero, Scorpio Sky, Alex Windsor, Kamille, Penelope Ford, Taya Valkyrie, Willow Nightingale,

Retirement: Adam Cole (He's not that old, but these injuries have left him physically wrecked), Edge, Billy Gunn, Christian Cage, Keith Lee (I don't think he'll be back in the ring. He's been dealing with an injury for two years now), Lance Archer, MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Emi Sakura, Nyla Rose, Serena Deeb,

 

[bjork]

It would almost be easier to just start a new company with that many people available. I honestly would only see WWE taking Jericho since that's already supposedly happening, MJF, and Sasha. They don't seem to care about using half the people they already have, let alone adding more. Though, as people rotate out over time, who knows?

Also, Serena Deeb should've been a bigger deal everywhere she was. I thought she was really solid.

 

[marky]

Also, Serena Deeb should've been a bigger deal everywhere she was. I thought she was really solid.

Yes, but she's more a coach than wrestler now.

 

[Yousef Yousef]

As it’s been said already a lot of this depends on how soon it happens. Naturally, a lot of the lower card would get hit the hardest, as even fairly known wwe midcarders struggled to keep their head above water after leaving wwe (some even turned to entirely different business models, like Ryback who basically quit wrestling to do streaming and YouTube).

The hotshots like MJF are naturally gonna keep doing great, non-AEW indie darlings like Matt Cardona gonna get more attention (rightfully so) and I think *some* smaller guys will benefit greatly from having AEW on their resume, like being able to head into nxt sooner to keep building their name.

 

[bjork]

Yes, but she's more a coach than wrestler now.

Hence the usage of past tense.

 

[NotReallyHere]

Also, Serena Deeb should've been a bigger deal everywhere she was. I thought she was really solid.

I went to college with her! One of my several minuscule, drop-in-the-bucket brushes with fame

We had a Spanish class together. Didn't get to know her too well, but she was nice as a classmate. A few years later, I was channel surfing and caught an episode of Smackdown with the Straight Edge Society. And I thought to myself, "That gal with the buzzed head sure looks familiar..."

I never would have guessed! Not in a million years. I wonder what some of my other classmates are up to now...