Aussie Open Reveal Why They Signed With AEW

Aussie Open becoming ‘All Elite’ with AEW in May 2023 was both shocking and not-shocking at the same time.

The duo of Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis are hailed as one of the best tag teams on the planet, and enjoyed a great first half of the year operating in New Japan Pro Wrestling. As to why they left New Japan to join AEW, Fletcher explained on a recent episode of the AEW Unrestricted podcast:

“So, the beginning of this year was very much like a ‘okay, let’s assess where we are with everything, let’s look at what’s happening and let’s weigh our options’, right? So we were pretty happy in Japan but, not to say too much but, we wanted a contract, we wanted stability. We’d been independent wrestlers for — I’ve been wrestling for 10 years, (Mark) Davis has been wrestling for longer than that. We’ve been independent wrestlers for that whole time. So I think we never really had the stability and that’s something we really wanted and we told New Japan this and it’s very much like a ‘yes but not now’ type thing so it was like, ‘okay, yeah, right, whatever’. 

“So we were doing the New Japan stuff and like I said, that was a big goal of mine to get there and I love the style of wrestling there, I love the culture, I love immersing myself there and exploring the country. But it got to a point where it was like, if they’re not going to give us that stability we want, we’ve asked for then let’s see what else is going on and we’d worked for Tony (Khan) quite a lot, we worked at AEW and we really enjoyed the environment there, the backstage environment, we really enjoyed the people there. There’s a lot of people on the roster that I would love to wrestle and that was a big thing and then also, the fact that there is a New Japan relationship was also a big deal. The fact that AEW guys have been able to do New Japan stuff and because we already have that connection, it was very much like a, when we’re in discussions, ‘How do you feel about us still doing New Japan stuff?’ And then we spoke to both sides and they were both like, ‘Yeah, of course. That’s not an issue. It’s still something you can do’ and that was a big part of the decision but then also, we love the environment at AEW and there’s a lot of exciting matchups there and the nationwide TV exposure was a big deal as well so… a lot of different thinking, thought process went into it but, yeah, very happy with the decision,” revealed Fletcher.

The duo’s momentum was halted due to Davis picking up an injury shortly into their run, but the pair are set to reunite and will challenge for the ROH World Tag Team Championships at Death Before Dishonor 2023.

H/T: POST Wrestling

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