Powerhouse Hobbs Turned Down a Massive AEW Offer to Join WWE

AEW reportedly made Powerhouse Hobbs a big offer to stay, but the former TNT Champion left Tony Khan’s company. Now, it appears that despite what was in that offer from AEW, he is WWE bound. That decision didn’t come without other choices on the table.

Dave Meltzer covered the situation in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, saying AEW’s offer was higher than he expected and putting it in the same general neighborhood as some of the bigger deals from the last few years.

“He got a great AEW offer to stay but I don’t know his WWE offer. The AEW offer was much higher than I would have expected. It would have been a number that I believe would have been higher than anyone but Chris Jericho earned in AEW’s first year in 2019.”

Dave Meltzer also compared the reported AEW number to what Bryan Danielson was paid to move from WWE to AEW, and to what certain WWE names were making several years ago. Needless to say, Powerhouse Hobbs turned down a hefty contract to take WWE’s opportunity.

“It would be in line with what Bryan Danielson got to jump from WWE to AEW, maybe slightly less but in line. It would be more than guys the level Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were making four years ago (less than they are making now) and in the range of what a guy the level of Rollins were making around the same time and nearly triple of what many significantly high WWE stars were making in the first year or so of AEW after the first round of increases had taken place.”

It was added that if WWE matched that kind of money, it could set Hobbs up for a push, while still pointing out that WWE usually sticks with whoever gets over.

“If WWE did offer him similar money, in theory it would guarantee a decent push.”

Hobbs has signed with WWE after his AEW deal expired, so this wasn’t a release situation from Tony Khan’s company. On the AEW side, the reported timeline is that Hobbs’ contract ran out in mid-January after negotiations and multiple offers, and that there was no messy split between the two.

Powerhouse Hobbs first joined AEW in 2020 and held the TNT Championship and the AEW World Trios Titles during his run. We already have a very good idea what Powerhouse Hobbs’ WWE name will be.

Now, we just have to wait for his debut. Many people, including Jim Ross, believe that Powerhouse Hobbs is destined for the Royal Rumble. Odds are, he will get a lot of momentum as soon as WWE debuts him.

What’s your take on Powerhouse Hobbs making his way to WWE? Should he have taken AEW up on their offer? Let us know what you think in the comments section!