4 reasons why AEW have allowed their Superstars to perform outside the company

During a recent Northeast Wrestling event, Jox Moxley faced and defeated Nzo (Enzo Amore) & Cass XL (Big Cass) in the main event.

On the other hand, he and Chris Jericho are also scheduled to work on New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) too. It surprised some fans that All Elite Wrestling (AEW) allowed Superstars like Moxley and Jericho to work outside the company. Moxley's next NJPW appearance would happen when G1 Climax 29 tournament would begin. Meanwhile, other AEW talents are also making appearances outside the company.

If we look at WWE, something like this seldom happens. Vince McMahon doesn't allow his Superstars to perform outside WWE, which is understandable. But why is AEW doing this? They haven't partnered with any of these promotions, which means they won't earn a single penny from them. Here are 4 reasons why AEW allowed it's employees to wrestle on non-AEW events.

#4 These appearances are bound to benefit AEW in the long run

A great business strategy?

AEW wrestlers are making headlines for working outside the company. It isn't benefiting AEW at the moment but in the future, it will.

Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho are one of the few biggest names in wrestling today. They are in demand and by signing them, AEW has gotten advantage among other wrestling companies. So even though Moxley and Jericho are working in other promotions, AEW is getting the exposure. NJPW fans know that these Superstars are contracted with AEW and if they like their work, they would probably give AEW a try. From a business perspective, it is what AEW needs right now - fans from all around the world.

#3 Their television deal is yet to come into effect

AEW would air on TNT later this year

So far, AEW has only held Double or Nothing and they have already become the biggest competition to WWE. They have also partnered with WarnerMedia Entertainment who will broadcast AEW events on TNT later this year. No specific dates have been revealed yet but we can expect their television deal to begin after All Out pay-per-view, which will happen on August 31.

As long as AEW isn't airing on TNT, they wouldn't have any problems with their wrestlers working outside the company. After all, they are committed to hosting just one show per month. It means that their Superstars will have a ton of free time to work.

It's a possible reason why Tony Khan may have allowed his wrestlers to work wherever they want. And when AEW will begin airing on TNT, he could restrict his wrestlers to work with other promotions or just allow them to work on only a few dates.

#2 Future partnerships with these wrestling promotions

How amazing would it be?

Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks promoted All In by working on countless independent wrestling shows. They did the same to promote Double or Nothing and it proved to be a great strategy.

One could now argue that AEW doesn't need to promote their brand anymore because they are already making headlines and TNT will help to promote their content, which is true. But as of now, despite the TNT deal, WWE remains to be the biggest wrestling promotion. They haven't had any serious competition since WCW died and it would be wrong to say that AEW is a 'legit' competition to WWE, at least now.

Vince McMahon has made WWE a billion-dollar company and to topple it, AEW would need support from wherever possible. We have already seen many ROH and NJPW crossover events and since AEW wrestlers are already working for the Japanese promotion, could we see a partnership between the two? It may not happen now but it could happen at some time in the future as per Dave Meltzer.

#1 Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley may have demanded it

Is this the case?

AEW signed Chris Jericho in January. Soon after the signing announcement, Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio revealed that he has put a clause in his contract.

“Chris Jericho signed a contract that allows him to work New Japan any time he wants free of AEW and other guys’ contracts don’t allow that.”

Well, it was true until Cody Rhodes and Co. signed Jon Moxley, who may have demanded a similar contract as Y2J which would allow him to work in NJPW and some independent wrestling shows. And it seems like Tony Khan has no problems with this.

So, he is in a multi-year contract and he will be on a full-time deal. He's gonna... when we will go weekly, he's gonna be there full-time. When the schedule is light, I'm gonna be open for him to do international and indie dates. He's definitely a full-time wrestler. (H/T Sportskeeda for the quotes)