Disappointing news on AEW stars [Reports]

A report has just surfaced providing some details regarding the reason behind certain AEW stars not being booked as much outside of the company. It seems that this is due to some personal convictions of theirs.

One of the Tony Khan-led promotion's biggest pitches has been its flexibility. In case an AEW star wasn't utilized as much on live TV, they were allowed to take bookings from other companies on the independent circuit. AEW has also been open to partnerships with several major promotions including the likes of NJPW, CMLL, Stardom, RevPro, and many more.

Dave Meltzer has reported that several of the young talent in AEW have been charging too much for their services, something that promoters from the independent circuit cannot afford. This is an interesting situation seeing as they are also paid by Khan whether they compete in matches or not. Meltzer says these are great opportunities with the type of environment present in the indies.

"Very few indie promoters can afford what the AEW guys want to charge," Meltzer reported. "I get why they don’t want to be out there hustling for $250 each when Tony [Khan] is paying them whether they work or not. But it’s the perfect type of show because it won’t be filmed and will be in front of a small, super hot PWG-esque crowd."

He felt that some of the talent aren't making great decisions in this area, and Tony Khan should urge them to take these bookings as it will help develop them into the company's future stars.

"The type of atmosphere these guys NEED to be performing in front of. But instead, they’ll either sit home or work a three-minute ROH match in a random city in front of a comatose crowd - maybe their only match of the month. This is where Tony is at fault because Tony needs to be the one telling these guys they need to work. It’s part of their job because it’s AEW’s future here," Meltzer said. [H/T - RSN]

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AEW talent were reportedly barred from working in the indies due to WrestleMania 41 weekend

Dave Meltzer recently reported that the Jacksonville-based promotion's younger talent has not been allowed to take up bookings on the independent circuit during WrestleMania weekend.

A follow-up report coming from Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net has mentioned that this was not the full story, as there was no memorandum from the promotion saying as such, but they still hold the power to pull out stars from shows during that week. They could allow talent to take bookings from indie shows, but they are still able to pull them out if needed.

It is unclear what reason they'll have for pulling out names during that week, but should the promotion do this, it may not sit well with the fans.