Evizda

To kick off 2019, four remaining members of The Elite — Hangman Page, Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks — all officially announced that they had signed contracts with All Elite Wrestling, where three of the four will serve as Executive Vice Presidents going forward.

According to Dave Meltzer via the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE very aggressively pursued all four members of The Elite heading into the New Year. Paul Levesque (aka Triple H) personally led the negotiations resulting in Hangman Page being offered “main roster money” for a high profile spot on the NXT brand.

The Young Bucks were reportedly offered contracts in the same neighborhood as AJ Styles is currently making, so there was definitely serious money on the table. Apparently a part of the offer would have included turning their hit series Being The Elite into a weekly WWE Network special, and were even offered a “six month window” where they could have broken their three-year contracts if they were unhappy with how things were going.

The Observer is also reporting that sources within WWE were absolutely certain that the group would sign, to the point where there were plans to debut the group at the Royal Rumble as a part of a “significant storyline” building towards WrestleMania 35. The goal, of course, was to take at least Cody and the Young Bucks off the market, knowing that All Elite Wrestling likely wouldn’t exist without them.