AEW regularly brings in talents not contracted to the company, and while typically, they won’t be victorious over signed talents, they are still allowed to impress. And now it’s been reported by PWInsiderElite.com that both Bandido and Juice Robinson, who wrestled Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley, respectively, on the 28th September episode of Dynamite, have signed contracts. Although it was noted that the length of their agreements was unknown, but considering Bandido had interest from WWE, it seems doubtful he would have agreed to a short-term AEW deal.
It’s been known since the day following his Dynamite match that AEW had offered 27-year-old Bandido, whose legal name isn’t public record, a contract. With it claimed Jericho personally pushed for him to be recruited, having shared the ring with him. However, given the amount of time that has passed, it appears the luchador wanted to weigh up his options. Ultimately though, he is now one of the few wrestlers to have turned WWE down more than once, having previously been offered a developmental contract in 2018. With it understood at the time, he felt the money offered was too low, and instead, he opted to sign with Ring of Honor as one of their highest-paid talents.
Regarding 33-year-old Robinson, his signing at this time was unforeseen as he’d previously told Sports Illustrated he was contracted to New Japan into 2023. Therefore he appears to have asked for his release, or AEW negotiated it on his behalf, given their working relationship. And for those unfamiliar with former NXT talent, he is one of the rare wrestlers that managed to overcome being used as an enhancement talent to build himself up to be a star in his own right. As while competing as CJ Parker in NXT, he would be used to put over names like Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Baron Corbin, and Sami Zayn, in New Japan, he became a three-time IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion.
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