Mariah May appears to be WWE bound - how accurate were we in seeing that coming? Thekla debuted in AEW too! Plus we'll take a look at AJ Styles, Bayley, Bea Priestley, Bishop Dyer, Deonna Purrazzo, and Zozay. And we have discussions on Ace Austin, Athena, and Masha Slamovich based on viewer suggestions! Welcome to WrestleWatch: Pro Wrestling Free Agency Podcast Episode 56!
WrestleWatch is a project focused on analysis and discussion of free agency in the world of professional wrestling. Each week, Doug & Ryan explore the potential jumps and the implications that they can have on the industry, as well as adjacent topics in wrestling such as business developments, statistics, and other factors and news in the landscape.
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As always, here is the updated Tracker:
Mariah May was the hot topic of the week as her will-she-won’t-she seems to be solved, with AEW removing her from their roster website and reports from Fightful and PWInsider saying she’s expected at WWE once her contract is up. May moves up from Toss-up to Certain.
Back in AEW we see someone taking a similar course as May did two years ago: Thekla. The Toxic Spider made her debut with AEW after years in Stardom. We had her as a Certain Jump previously, so we were right on the mark.
Two folks moving down the Tracker are AJ Styles and Bishop Dyer (the former Baron Corbin). Both now occupy the Remote tier as rumors and reports of them signing to somewhere new long-term seem to be drying up (despite Will Ospreay’s wishes for Styles…).
In contrast is Zozaya, moving up from Toss-up to Likely. Fightful reported this week that the Spanish star of the British indies is expected to sign with WWE in September. Due to how far of a window that is, we’re only putting Zozaya up to Likely and not Certain.
A cavalcade of folks have replaced Thekla on the Tracker: former TNA star Ace Austin is added as Possible; current ROH Forever Champ Athena (whose contract is up this year is added as Remote; and Bayley, Masha Slamovich, and Deonna Purrazzo are added as Unlikely.
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