Aussie Open Detail Contract Talks They Had With WWE

Prior to their run in NJPW, Aussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher) built an impressive resume for themselves in the United Kingdom's indie scene. It was here that they seemingly captured the attention of WWE, as the two were offered a deal to join the company's European developmental brand, "NXT UK."

"The first time we spoke to [WWE] was 2019," Fletcher told "Talk Is Jericho." "It was when we were just gearing up to do the World Tag League stuff. It was for an "NXT UK" deal that was happening at the time. We basically were just like, 'Hey, we want to do this New Japan thing, maybe we can revisit it after that if you guys are cool.' That's how it was left. It was like a 'not right now' thing. Obviously [Davis'] injury happens, COVID happens, the next time we spoke to them was this year when we talked to New Japan, they were saying 'wait.' We put feelers out everywhere and we had a little bit of a conversation. It didn't get too deep, but there was interest there. The best situation was for us here [in AEW]. The talks didn't get super deep at all [with WWE]."

As Fletcher alluded to, Aussie Open were initially aiming to officially join the NJPW roster, which led them to turn down those aforementioned offers from WWE. Despite their best efforts, though, a NJPW contract never emerged, which Fletcher believes may be partially attributed to lingering financial strains of the pandemic. As a result, the duo inked deals with AEW that would still allow them to make appearances in NJPW while they also fulfilled their commitments for AEW and ROH. Since formally coming aboard to AEW and ROH in May, Aussie Open have racked up a reign as ROH Tag Team Champions.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Talk Is Jericho" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.