3 AEW wrestlers who could jump ship to WWE next

Following the emergence of AEW in 2019, many unused WWE stars decided to jump ship to the new company to be booked better. However, in recent years, there has been a pendulum shift in which top names from All Elite Wrestling have chosen to leave the company and sign for WWE.

Notable names who have made this move are Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Jade Cargill, and Lexis King (a.k.a Brian Pillman Jr.) Andrade also returned to WWE this past Saturday after a relatively flat spell in AEW

Now, we will look at 3 All Elite Wrestling performers who may be next in line to move to the Sports Entertainment juggernaut.

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#3 - The House of Black finds a new home

One star who has worked for both WWE and All Elite Wrestling is Malakai Black (a.k.a. Aleister Black). The Dutchman signed for AEW in 2021, where he was immediately thrust into the main event scene against Cody Rhodes.

Since then, however, his run in the company has fallen somewhat flat, with his faction, The House of Black, consisting of himself, Brody King, Buddy Matthews, and Julia Hart all being booked in ways many feel are beneath them. Black's recent time in AEW was also shockingly put into perspective when it was revealed that he did not wrestle a televised singles match for the company in 2023.

Having thrived under Triple H's leadership in NXT in the past and with The Game now in charge of all creative decisions, now may be the most suitable time to return. Another reason he may consider returning to the WWE is that his wife, Zelina Vega, works there, meaning they would get to spend more time with one another.

During a recent interview with Seconds Out, Zelina Vega was asked if she'd like to see her husband back in the company:

"Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. I mean any extra time that I can spend with my husband is the better."

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#2 - Mami's man joins her in WWE

Another member of The House of Black that fans believe could be on his way back to World Wrestling Entertainment is Buddy Matthews (a.k.a Buddy Murphy).

Before signing for AEW in 2022, Buddy worked for WWE for eight years. During that time, he found a fair amount of success both as a singles star and as part of a tag team. While he has not necessarily failed in AEW, many feel that his personal ties to WWE could see him make a return, considering that his real-life fiance, Rhea Ripley, is one of the biggest stars in the industry today.

Speaking to Gery Roif, the matriarch of The Judgment Day shared a similar sentiment to Zelina Vega when asked if she'd like to see her partner make his return to the company:

"Ohh maybe. I don’t know. So, I’m very convincing. I’m a very convincing girl. I normally get what I want,” Ripley stated. “So, it might happen, you never know, but right now I’m happy with my DomDom. I’m happy going out there with him and Finn [Balor] and Damian [Priest] and I mean, you never know what the future holds. It might happen."

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#1 - AEW's powerhouse jumps ship to WWE

When AEW began in 2019, one of its biggest goals was to make original stars. While they have done this with names like MJF, Darby Allin, and Hook, one performer whose time on the top has constantly flip-flopped is Wardlow.

The powerful star has gone on to become a three-time TNT Champion. But despite many fans feeling he can move up to the world title picture, he has never been given his shot.

One person who feels that Wardlow should get out of AEW and their booking of him is Jim Cornette. He gave his thoughts on the young star potentially leaving for WWE while speaking on his Jim Cornette Experience podcast:

"I was embarrassed for him and ashamed for the company that they would present this. With one of the only two guys, MJF being the other one, who have apparently fu*ked this up royally now. MJF and Wardlow are the only two guys that had never been on any major television before that AEW got over on their own. Actually, they got over on their own on the AEW program despite the best efforts from AEW to keep them from getting over."

While AEW can undoubtedly return to form, its oversized roster means many performers are underused. This can only be good for WWE, which has plenty of room for more stars on its roster.