5 times WWE superstars had to be convinced to extend their contract

#1. AJ Styles - A well-leveraged way to re-sign with WWE

Did AJ Styles ever intend to leave WWE?

AJ Styles has made it clear on multiple occasions that he wants WWE to be his final destination. In the first half of 2019, AJ Styles told Newsweek that the WWE contract he had recently signed at the time would be his last:

"I can tell you that this contract that I've signed is my last. This is the perfect place for me to be. It's family-oriented, I have no problem taking my family to the shows. It's a PG product, which I enjoy. I'm in the best place I can be for my career."

However, we're jumping a bit ahead of ourselves. There were definite talks about AJ Styles moving to AEW and it had started well before Dynamite premiered in October 2019. AJ Styles confirmed that there were talks, but it was all business:

"Yeah, there were talks. Look, it's a business. My contract in WWE was going to expire, and there were talks happening. The Bucks are my buddies. We never discussed money or anything, but there were talks about coming in. Again, it's all business."

The Young Bucks' Matt Jackson even revealed on the Talk N' Shop podcast that the original plans for the Dynamite debut episode was to have Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, and AJ Styles appear and reunite as The Bullet Club.

Ultimately, AJ Styles was convinced by WWE to re-sign, although we imagine that he didn't need much convincing. Matt Jackson stated that AJ Styles messaged him later, thanking him for the offer. AJ Styles said that had it not been for the offer from AEW, he wouldn't have gotten the incredible deal he did from WWE.