Update Aug. 2, 12:20 p.m.: AEW has issued a press release confirming the new contract extensions for The Elite, as well as including comments from AEW CEO, GM and Head of Creative Tony Khan:
The Elite have been so important to the launch of AEW, with the Young Bucks going all in when I first approached them in 2018 about my dream to create an international pro wrestling promotion. Shortly after that, their partners and closest friends Kenny Omega and Hangman Adam Page joined us to formally launch All Elite Wrestling. All four of them have been instrumental to AEW’s success from the very first episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite in 2019 through the present day. Now as we celebrate tonight’s 200th episode of AEW: Dynamite, I’m excited to share that Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks and Hangman Adam Page will all be staying in AEW for years to come! Congratulations to The Elite, and we look forward to celebrating the great news with fans around the world. See you all tonight for Episode 200 of AEW: Dynamite!
Original story follows.
All four members of The Elite will be sticking around the company they helped build from the ground up.
While the expectation was always that Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks and Hangman Adam Page would remain with AEW, the departure of Cody Rhodes last year proved that even one of the founding fathers leaving wasn’t impossible.
Add in The Elite’s suspensions in the wake of the post-All Out fracas with CM Punk last fall and there was definitely a bit of “we’ll feel better when new contracts are signed” feeling among AEW fans. Fortunately, that’s now the case.
As reported by Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso, Omega, Page and the Bucks have all re-signed to “multi-year deals,” keeping them with AEW for the foreseeable future. They will also continue on as Executive Vice Presidents, roles they have fulfilled since the launch of AEW four years ago.
There’s also a possibility that these are the last big contracts The Elite will sign. While all four members of the group are under 40, Omega and Matt Jackson are headed toward that age at 39 and 38, respectively (Page is the youngster at just 32).
Perhaps as an acknowledgement of that truth, both men sounded notes of realization that they are closer to the end of the road than the beginning in their comments to SI, as well as suggesting that not working schedules where they would always be on the road was important to them — which would certainly be the case had they left and signed with WWE.
Jackson also added that The Elite made the decision to re-sign as a unit.
“The entire Elite was going to make the decision of where we were going, together,” he said to Barrasso. “And that’s what we did. We stuck together. Which isn’t typical in the wrestling business. But again, I used the word family earlier. We’re not just locker room pals. We’re more like a family. And we did what the family wanted.”