AEW Teases Massive Signing For Revolution PPV

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This weekend, All Elite Wrestling, or AEW, will host their Revolution pay-pre-view event in Jacksonville, Florida. It will be a massive move for the company. Not because its a pay-per-view event, they've done those. Not because they are having massive, quality, matches, because they've done that.

There are three major things that will happen at the Revolution pay-per-view that must be noted.

First, wrestling icon Sting will return to wrestling competition. The 61-year-old (almost 62) hasn't been in a competitive match since the scary end of his WWE career during Night of Champions on September 20th, 2015. That night Sting suffered a neck injury in a match against Seth Rollins. He will compete in a "street fight" match during Revolution.

Second, there will be an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch for the AEW World Championship between champion Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley. This is the kind of match that was popularized in Japan in the late 80s and early 90s. Though many American wrestlers participated in the Japanese matches, they never really took hold in the US on a major scale. So this will be the first time the style of match has been used on a national level by a major wrestling promotion in the US.

But the third and most important part of the pay-per-view was teased during this week's AEW Dynamite TV show on TNT. Former WCW/WWE star Paul Wight (formerly known as The Big Show) teased that AEW has signed a massive "hall of fame worthy" star to a contract, and that he had the inside scoop.

That instantly sent the internet into a frenzy. Fans tried to figure out whether or not Paul Wight was being serious, if this was a rib, maybe a fake-out for his first AEW heel turn. But then AEW owner Tony Khan doubled down on the tease on the AEW Unrestricted Podcast. Khan said the star is a "major, huge, huge star in the world of wrestling”, and also mentioned "he" when describing the star, so we know it's a male wrestling. During the interview, Khan mentioned that this signing has also agreed to a multi-year deal.

So now the internet is on fire. The idea of being "hall of fame worthy" would suggest this signing is not currently in the WWE Hall of Fame, but should be. Also signing a multi-year deal would likely indicate that this person can still work matches in the ring. These qualifiers shorten the list down.

The first obvious option is CM Punk. Every wrestling fan has hoped for the day when Punk returns to a ring. After trying the UFC, and spending a lot of time relaxing, it could be time for Punk to return...with plenty of cash and creative control of course.

Other major options would be two guys that seem like they'd never leave WWE. John Cena and The Undertaker. Neither are in the WWE Hall of Fame yet, and both seem like they still have SOMETHING in the tank. Not sure exactly how much that would be in the case of The Undertaker.

Then there's two Hollywood stars, who just don't seem like they'd have time. The Rock and Batista. Though Batista shot down this idea himself almost right away. It also seems very unrealistic that he or The Rock would but their successful movies careers on hold to head back to wrestling.

He's probably too busy with his political career to commit to a "multi-year deal", but Kane is for sure "hall of fame worthy". Just don't see him giving up the slow political life for a return to the ring.

The most expensive, realistic, option would be Brock Lesnar. He's been a big part of WWE every time he's been under contract, but Brock has also brought his share of ire from fans too. I don't think Brock is emotionally attached to WWE, so it wouldn't be a shock to see him under another brand, but the cost to make that happen might be too much for AEW (or really anyone).

There are a couple of other names that could be floated. But any of these would likely fall short of fan expectations right now. Someone like Christian, Rob Van Dam, or Ken Shamrock could be argued that they fit the criteria. But with this much hype being built, those three names would bring backlash for sure.