Backstage News On Tetsuya Naito's Potential AEW Status Following NJPW Departure

Long-time NJPW star Tetsuya Naito has left the promotion, bringing to an end his 20-year run with the Japanese company, with rumors floating of him potentially joining AEW. 

"Fightful Select" has shed some light on those rumors, revealing that Tony Khan's promotion may not be interested in signing him. The report noted that it would be a surprise if the 42-year-old ended up there, adding that top executives in the company preferred for him to appear only occasionally and emphasized that their lack of interest in signing him was "nothing on a personal level."

NJPW has lost a few stars to free agency in recent months, including the likes of Kevin Knight, Gabe Kidd, as well as Naito's Los Ingobernables de Japon partner, Bushi. AEW, meanwhile, has signed a few stars who have featured in NJPW in recent years, two of whom are Mike Bailey and Kevin Knight, both of whom joined the promotion this year. 

Naito has wrestled thrice on an AEW-NJPW co-branded event, with his first match coming in 2023 at Forbidden Door, followed by another match at last year's edition of the pay-per-view, where he defeated Jon Moxley to become the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. He also competed at the Wrestle Dynasty pay-per-view at the start of the year, featuring in a three-way tag team match for the IWGP Tag Team titles. 

Naito's departure from NJPW was reportedly a mutual decision, with sources revealing he had been wrestling without a contract and that he and the promotion appear to have parted on good terms. The three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion was a stalwart of the promotion, who even took a pay cut to help the company out following the COVID-19 pandemic, when low attendances put many pro wrestling promotions in a tricky situation financially. Naito wrestled in NJPW for the majority of his career, aside from featuring sparingly in CMLL and ROH.