WWE/AEW Rumors: Randy Orton 'willing to talk to All Elite Wrestling'

What's the story?

Following reports that AEW has made an outstanding offer to a WWE Superstar to join the company, it has now been revealed by Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp that the name involved is Randy Orton.

Sapp, however, claims that all is not as it seems and that Orton is merely willing to speak with AEW, and may very well be using the existence of AEW to leverage negotiations with WWE.

In case you didn't know...

Randy Orton is a 13-time WWE Champion, and still a staple of SmackDown Live at the age of 38, having wrestled for WWE since 2002 - and developmental OVW in 2001. Orton made a name for himself as the youngest ever WWE World Champion and as The Legend Killer, and even became a viral meme with his "RKO outta nowhere" - undoubtedly one of the most effective finishers in WWE.

Orton took on Mustafa Ali on last night's WWE SmackDown Live.

The heart of the matter

Following reports that AEW has made an outstanding offer to a WWE Superstar to join the company, Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp has taken to YouTube to clear up the situation - stating that his source, who has come good in the past on several occasions, has spoken about Randy Orton being "willing to talk to AEW", but that it could obviously be him leveraging for a better deal from AEW.

Sapp also said that he spoke with AEW and cannot categorically say they were offered a deal or were not, but that AEW told him they "were not tampering" and that their approach was "fresh and independent" - claiming that an agent may be using the company to leverage in negotiations.

Sean Ross Sapp himself said he had taken for granted that Orton was going nowhere, guessing that the name was Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles or Shinsuke Nakamura before he was told about Randy Orton. You can watch the entire clip below.

What's next?

Well, AEW's Double or Nothing Press conference takes place tomorrow - February 7th. Between tomorrow and the Double or Nothing event in May, you can bet more big names will be added to the roster. Exciting times!

What do you think of the Randy Orton potentially moving to AEW? Let us know in the comments.