Backstage News On Which AEW Talent WWE Has Reached Out To

Among the more intriguing stories in wrestling recently has been AEW reportedly combating attempts by WWE, under new management with Stephanie McMahon, Nick Khan, and Paul "Triple H" Levesque now in charge, to reach out to contracted AEW talent in attempts to lure them away. Whether or not the situation has crossed the line into tampering or not remains a mystery, but in regards to who was contacted, that picture has become clearer.

In the latest report on the situation by Fightful Select, sources confirmed that Swerve Strickland was one of the AEW talents contacted by WWE regarding a return, with it being indicated to Fightful that it was in regards to WWE bringing back Hit Row to the "SmackDown" brand. Sources told Fightful that Strickland had no interest in returning to WWE, and referred them to his attorney instead.

Fightful also took the opportunity to kill some rumors in this report, noting that sources had told them that Keith Lee had not been contacted by WWE about a potential return, despite some online speculation. Fightful also noted that Miro, another name fans have speculated may want out, hadn't asked for his release, and couldn't confirm whether or not WWE had contacted him.

Another rumor that spread late Friday regarding Bobby Fish, who had allegedly asked both Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly to leave AEW with him in order to return to WWE. AEW sources were described as "vehemently" denying to Fightful that such a scenario took place, while WWE sources similarly stated that there had been no contact between them or Fish.

Finally, Fightful had some interesting information regarding Buddy Matthews and Malakai Black, the two House of Black members many have speculated may be on the way out of AEW following recent reports. While Fightful reaffirmed that Black had asked for his release and had told someone in WWE he would like to return to the promotion, they noted that AEW officials felt any issues between Black and the company had been smoothed over prior to All Out weekend.

Equally as interesting, another AEW source told Fightful that AEW had no intention of releasing Black a month ago, while also going on to say they believed that both Black and Matthews would be back in AEW within the next several months, suggesting reports of their departures was premature. It should be noted that, despite the reports of Black's impending departure, he has continued to be featured in AEW promotional material for AEW Full Gear in November, and is still in the opening video for "AEW Rampage."