Jay White is set to join WWE or AEW as his run with NJPW seems to be coming to an end. White’s 206-day reign as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion finished when Kazuchika Okada defeated him at WrestleKingdom 17.
White has blamed this loss on Hikuleo leaving his Bullet Club stable and will fight him in a Loser Leaves Japan match next month. White is expected to lose this match and head to the US full-time. This would end his seven-year run with NJPW.
Jay White is set to join WWE or AEW. Here, we look at which of the two promotions is more likely to secure the Switchblade’s signature.
Jay White Set To Join WWE or AEW
Jay White Joins WWE
Why Would He?
White said he was inspired to start wrestling when he attended WrestleMania 27 as a fan in 2011. It would make sense for White to want to join the WWE and perform on the show that inspired him to get into wrestling.
Then, there’s the salivating prospect of the traditional new-signing appearance on MizTV for White. Being slightly more serious, a shock debut in the 2023 Royal Rumble would be a great way to introduce White with a bang. But White’s match with Hikuleo is set for February 11. So a Rumble appearance would involve him appearing in the match while still contracted to NJPW.
WWE Booking
Moving forward, there’s a storyline that’s practically written itself for White. As a former leader of The Bullet Club, White could go head-to-head with AJ Styles to prove he’s the better past leader of the faction. White could also have a gripe with Styles’s fellow The O.C members Gallows and Anderson for leaving his NJPW Bullet Club faction to rejoin WWE.
Perhaps he could have a program and lose to Roman Reigns. There’s also the prospect of matches with Cody Rhodes, Edge, Seth Rollins and Gunther to keep White busy for the rest of the year.
Why Not WWE?
A week ago, there would have been a lot fewer reasons. White seems the sort of talent that would thrive on a main roster overseen by Paul “Triple H” Levesque. But now that Vince McMahon has forced his way back into the running of WWE there’s a fear it could return to his questionable booking.
Booking aside, the uncertainty surrounding the WWE and its potential sale could turn White off.
White Is All Elite
White has already made a few appearances for AEW to promote his appearance at the Forbidden Door PPV in June 2022. Only White knows whether this short stint in AEW was enough to win his signature.
The in-ring style and time committed to matches in AEW are more similar to NJPW so that could be a big appeal for White.
As with WWE, there are also some former Bullet Club members for him to feud with. Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks made derogatory comments about White when they formally left the Bullet Club and formed The Elite.
White took shots at Hangman Adam Page in the summer whilst IWGP Champion.
Why Not AEW?
There are 111 active competitors on the AEW men’s roster. On top of this former Ring of Honor performers and indie wrestlers are constantly getting opportunities to win AEW contracts by appearing on AEW Dark.
Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson both joined AEW over a year ago and are yet to have an AEW World Championship run. If White is looking to get to the top of a roster soon AEW’s bloated roster might not be the right one for him to join.
If you belive anything you read on Twitter, AEW might be looking to merge or acquire WWE. So whether Jay White joins WWE or AEW might be much of a muchness.
WWE's smaller rival AEW interested in merger, sources say https://t.co/yKx3XBHRlS
— CNBC (@CNBC) January 13, 2023
