Last Wednesday on Dynamite we got the AEW debut of Paul White, formally known as the Big Show in WWE. With his debut he did an interview with Tony Schiavone where he hyped up that he had an exclusive to share and that a hall of fame worthy talent would debut at AEW Revolution.
Instantly the internet went into melt down with speculation of who it may be. In this article we’ll take a look at who some options of who it could be are, but we’ll also look at the clues, which unless they cannot be trusted should go a long way to narrowing down the options compared to what a lot of people are speculating.
First of all, let’s examine the words that Paul White actually said. I’ve theorised on the @slamjamshow Twitter account that in reality Paul White may not have any clue who he is talking about. After all, he is just the messenger and the signing of someone new has everything to do with Tony Khan and nothing to do with the Big Show.
But like I said, if the words that White said here are accurate then they should reveal a lot. Let’s break down the quotes:
‘The biggest scoop’
So Big Show told Tony Schiavone that he had the biggest scoop. This would suggest that it’s a big story. Could this suggest that AEW have signed someone away from the WWE? Let’s remember that just two weeks ago the signing of Paul White to AEW was a big shocker as he was still believed to be part of the WWE. So surely this would have to be significantly big to be a big scoop said by the man who just two weeks ago was a big scoop.
‘A Hall of Fame worthy talent’
So everyone seems to think it could be Kurt Angle or Mark Henry because of this quote. It could be, but it instantly struck me that a Hall of Fame worthy talent would be odd phrasing for someone already in the WWE Hall of Fame. Yes saying ‘a Hall of Famer’ may have narrowed it too much, but surely if they were already in the Hall of Fame you’d just say it right?
Hall of Fame worthy suggests someone who is not currently in the Hall of Fame. So by process of elimination we can take out Kurt Angle, Mark Henry, Goldberg, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Booker T and the many other members of the Hall of Fame.
Hall of Fame worthy would almost certainly refer to the WWE Hall of Fame, so we can pretty much take that it doesn’t mean anyone from NJPW or Impact or the NWA who AEW already currently work with. And since they currently work with those companies it would hardly be the aforementioned big scoop would it?
So who would the options be? Some have looked to Christian and Kane as possibilities. They are both seemingly still or very recently part of WWE so their jumping ship would seem a big scoop, and it’s true that neither is in the Hall of Fame. The Undertaker isn’t in the Hall of Fame either, and he did recently retire, but just as Sting is coming out of retirement at AEW Revolution, could another star who is seemingly retired be making a comeback? Kurt Angle would seem a good option for this and is seemingly trolling the internet fans to tease that it is him…but he is in the Hall of Fame. If it were Kurt, we wouldn’t blame him for wanting to go to AEW as his final match being a loss to Baron Corbin a couple of years ago is not a good end to his career and everyone knows it.
Who else would could as a Hall of Fame worthy talent? The Rock? CM Punk? John Cena? Brock Lesnar? All of these would fit that bill, but who is most likely? CM Punk has said it’s not him, but that could be a misdirect.
John Cena has said that he will miss WrestleMania. Could this be a sign of trouble in paradise? Unlikely as it actually just that Cena is filming movies and with the pandemic can’t get away for the big event. The Rock isn’t likely to wrestle in AEW if he doesn’t in WWE, and would he really take away the good will and cross over potential with WWE especially after he bought the XFL from Vince a few months ago? Perhaps there is an element of sour grapes from Vince behind the scenes there?
Brock feels the most likely here, but again unless a ton of money has been offered to Brock why would he leave the negotiations from the WWE when they’re the biggest game in town who he has had the most ability to negotiate with compared to anyone ever.
‘A huge surprise’
So Paul White also said this person would be a huge surprise. Could it be someone who we had believed to still be under a WWE contract? What if Drew McIntyre dropped the belt a couple of weeks ago because he wasn’t staying? Unlikely as why would he leave the year after WWE put their eggs in his basket. How about Randy Orton? He certainly is a Hall of Fame worthy wrestler, but famously got into a public twitter war of words with Tony Khan after Orton used AEW to help leverage the WWE into giving him a new deal in 2019.
Could it be someone who is a future Hall of Fame worthy talent, but Big Show was just being generous to say they are at that level now? Someone like Adam Cole would be a huge surprise, and of course his girlfriend Britt Baker is in AEW, but for his success so far, it’s just a stretch to say Hall of Fame Worthy. Finn Balor? That would be a shock too, but just doesn’t seem possible.
For those saying Rob Van Dam, yes he could be Hall of Fame worthy, but it’s not like he would be the biggest scoop. And he certainly doesn’t tick the next two boxes we’ll get to.
‘A who asset to AEW’
An asset to AEW is surely someone who will either bring a lot of media attention to AEW or be around for a long time and whom they can build a lot of stories around. NWA Champion Nick Aldis would be a big get for AEW, especially after his world title feud with Cody Rhodes at All In a couple of years back, but it’s not likely to be him as the NWA has just announced it’s coming back this month and they’d be nuts to give away their world champion as an exclusive draw.
Shaq would have ticked a few boxes for what the Big Show said as he is a Hall of Fame worthy talent, but that would obviously not be for a wrestling Hall of Fame. It would also make sense in that the WWE had hoped to have a Shaq Big Show feud at some point that never really came to fruition. And Shaq would certainly help get a lot of headlines in sports and media for AEW. However…it was on the last episode of Dynamite that Shaq debuted in the ring for AEW and wrestled in a tag match against Cody. So it’s not him.
‘Its not who you think it is’
OK, so all the obvious people have pretty much been covered. Brock Lesnar is too possible for it to be him. Christian and Kane and RVD are also people who there is reasonable thought that it could be them as well. So who would we definitely not think it to be?
Triple H? Imagine if Vince’s son in law had flown the nest and gone to the competition. If NXT is leaving Wednesday night’s soon, maybe it’s not about failing ratings, but is about Triple H being out of favour in the family. But with Stephanie and Hunter having children this seems the most far fetched idea discussed.
But on a similar track what if it were Shane McMahon? I mean he is back on WWE TV, so it feels unlikely, but again he would fit the bill of someone who is not who we think it is.
Fortunately we’ll find out who it is at Revolution on Sunday. Who do you think it is? Put your thoughts in the comments and come back to the Wrestling section xstreamed.tv for the results and reaction to AEW Revolution live this Sunday night!
