News regarding why David Finlay signed with AEW instead of WWE

David Finlay debuted with AEW during the March 4th 2026 edition of Dynamite despite WWE reportedly having “strong interest” in him.

Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com noted that Finlay had been in talks with AEW, TNA, and WWE. While many believed he was headed to WWE, AEW was said to have given him the best deal. According to BodySlam.net, WWE made a “lower level” offer that would’ve put Finlay in NXT instead of the main roster.

Meltzer wrote the following…

“He recently had a child and that was said to be part of the reason he wanted to work in the United States, so he could be home so much more and the American groups have a better schedule. WWE wanted him to be the leader of the second generation group in NXT with Lexis King, Stacks Lorenzo, Arianna Grace and Uriah Connors (Brogan Finlay, David’s younger brother).”