Conflicting Report On How Much WWE Offered Members Of The Elite

Did WWE really offer members of The Elite plus-seven figure deals?

In case you missed it yesterday, a new report by The Wrestling Observer Newsletter stated that in their pursuit of top free agents from The Elite the WWE offered contracts that were in excess of seven-figures, which was declined (see the story here).

Now while it wasn’t specified which members of The Elite turned down such big money deals, it’s been widely believed that Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks were the talents in question as Kenny Omega is still currently under contract to New Japan Pro Wrestling. On top of that, Hangman Page is speculated to have turned WWE down back in October.

However, there’s another interesting report regarding WWE’s offers to members of The Elite. According to Brad Shepard of Oh You Didn’t Know podcast, he spoke to a source that claims “Nobody is offering Rhodes millions of dollars”:

How ironic this comes out after my recent report. As I was told, Dave is either doing him a favor by boosting the number or is being given bad information. “Nobody is offering Rhodes millions of dollars.” https://t.co/hfegoQkXD6

— Brad Shepard (@TheBradShepard) December 20, 2018

EA’s Take: Here’s the thing for me…both of these guys have huge egos. I’m sure a lot of people will agree with me on that about Meltzer, but if you’re not familiar with Shepard, he’s just as guilty (as a lot of us are). As for the reports, couldn’t they both be true? Couldn’t it be a case where neither one of them is getting the full story? I think it’s certainly plausible that Meltzer is trying to help his buddy Cody out or is getting bad info, but who’s to say Shepard isn’t either? Without actually knowing these guys’ sources, it’s really a crap shoot. Personally, I can’t rule out that WWE wouldn’t offer that much to Rhodes, especially if it means there would be no All Elite Wrestling. Does that mean I think WWE is worried about AEW? Not necessarily, but if you can secure a talent like Cody AND prevent him from starting his own deal, why wouldn’t you? I feel like we likely will never get the real story with regards to this.

Where do you stand on this? Let us know on social media @theCHAIRSHOTcom and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!