New AEW Signee Says They Wanted Stability, Another Promotion Said, ‘Yes, But Not Now’

A new AEW signee says they wanted stability, but another promotion said, “yes, but not now.”

In May, All Elite Wrestling announced that Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis of Aussie Open had signed with the company.

This came as a surprise to many fans of the duo because they had become one of the top tag teams in New Japan Pro Wrestling, recently holding the IWGP and NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championships.

However, Aussie Open were forced to relinquish both sets of titles after Davis suffered a meniscus injury.

Speaking on AEW Unrestricted, Kyle Fletcher explained the duo’s decision to sign with AEW. He said:

“The beginning of this year was very much like a ‘let’s assess where we are with everything, let’s look at what is happening, and let’s weigh our options.’ We were pretty happy in Japan, but not to say too much, we wanted a contract. We wanted stability.”

“We had been independent wrestlers for…I’ve been wrestling ten years, Davis has been wrestling longer than that, we’ve been independent wrestlers for that whole time. We’ve never had stability and that’s what we wanted.”

“We told New Japan this and it was very much a ‘yes, but not now’ type thing. Okay, whatever. We were doing the New Japan stuff, and that was a big goal of mine, to get there, and I love the style of wrestling there, I love the culture, I love immersing myself in the culture and exploring the country.”

“It got to a point where it was like, if they’re not going to give us that stability that we want and have asked for, let’s see what else is going on.”

“We work with Tony quite a lot, we worked with AEW, we really enjoyed the environment, the backstage environment, we really enjoyed the people and there are a lot of people on the roster that I would love to wrestle. That was a big thing.”

Fletcher continued on to explain why the relationship between AEW and NJPW was a big factor in the duo’s decision, saying:

“There is also the fact that there is still a New Japan relationship, that was also a big deal.”

“The fact that AEW guys have been able to do New Japan stuff and because we already have that connection, it was very much, when we were in discussion, ‘how do you feel about still doing New Japan stuff?'”

“We spoke to both sides and they’re like, ‘of course, that’s not an issue. That’s still something you can do.’ That was a big part of the decision.”

“We love the environment in AEW, there is a lot of exciting matchups there and the nationwide TV exposure is a big deal as well. A lot of different thinking went into it, but very happy with the decision.”

Mark Davis will make his in-ring return to team with Kyle Fletcher to challenge the Lucha Brothers in a four-way match also featuring The Kingdom and Best Friends at ROH Death Before Dishonor on Friday, July 21.

Transcription via Fightful

If you want to stay fully updated on all the latest wrestling news, click the red bell in the bottom right of your screen to receive notifications from WrestleTalk.com straight to your device!