WWE's Plans For David Finlay Before AEW Signing

After rumours were circulating in increasing regularity regarding WWE’s potential interest in signing former NJPW star David Finlay, fans were surprised when he instead showed up on this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite to join allies Gabe Kidd and Clark Connors, officially being announced as All Elite. WWE’s original plans for Finlay, had he signed with the company, have now been revealed.

Despite some reports suggesting that WWE didn’t have any creative plans in store for David Finlay, it has been noted by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE did in fact have a prominent spot in store for him, had he decided to sign with them. Their plans would have seen him head to NXT to become the leader of the new second generation faction involving the likes of Lexis King, Arianna Grace, Stacks Lorenzo, and his real life brother Uriah Connors. 

It was revealed this week that WWE had offered Finlay an NXT-level deal, leading to him making the call to reject their offer and instead sign with AEW, who had a more lucrative deal to offer him.