Kyle Fletcher talks Aussie Open's decision to sign with AEW

[Chris]

Kyle Fletcher has commented on why Aussie Open signed with AEW.

Fletcher appeared on the AEW Unrestricted podcast recently and said he and Mark Davis asked NJPW for "some stability" but was told it was not something that could happen at the moment.

Fletcher said:

"We were pretty happy in Japan but, not to say too much, but we wanted a contract, we wanted that stability. We'd been independent wrestlers for... I've been wrestling for ten years, Davis has been wrestling longer than that, we've been independent wrestlers for that whole time. So, I think we'd never really had that stability and that was something we really wanted and we told New Japan this and it was very much like a, 'Yes, but not now' type thing."
"It got to a point where it was like if they're not going to give us that stability that we want, we've asked for then let's see what else is going on. And we've worked for Tony quite a lot, we worked at AEW and we really enjoyed the environment there, the backstage environment, we really enjoyed the people there. There's a lot of people on the roster that I would love to wrestle, and that was a big thing and then also the fact that there is still a New Japan relationship was also a big deal."

Fletcher also mentioned that he and Davis spoke with both NJPW and AEW about Aussie Open continuing to perform for NJPW while signed to AEW.

"The fact that AEW guys have been able to do New Japan stuff and because we already had that connection, it was very much, like, when we were in discussions, 'How do you feel about us still doing New Japan stuff?' And then we spoke to both sides and they were both like, 'Yeah, of course, that's not an issue. It's still something you can do' and that was a big part of the decision."

Later in the conversation, Fletcher noted that one of the teams in AEW he'd like to face is FTR. The two teams headlined NJPW Royal Quest II against each other on October 1, 2022, in a match our own Dave Meltzer rated five stars.

"I think FTR is a team that we have a lot of history with. We wrestled them in the UK last year, and that was crazy, that went off, we got five stars, thanks Big Meltz. I think a lot of people loved that match, a lot of people want to see us get back int he ring with them and currently they are holding some pretty little belts so I think that's obviously the biggest goal for us."

It was the second five-star match of Aussie Open's career. Their match with Will Ospreay against Death Triangle on the August 24, 2022 edition of Dynamite also received a five-star rating.

Fletcher teamed with TJP and Jeff Cobb against BUSHI, Shingo Takagi, and Hiromu Takahashi at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II but Aussie Open hasn't wrestled since May. They announced they were vacating the IWGP and NJPW Strong tag team titles later that month at NJPW Resurgence due to Davis being sidelined with an injury. Tony Khan would confirmed just three days later that both Davis and Fletcher had signed with his company.

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/aew/njpw-told-aussie-open-yes-but-not-now-when-they-asked-for-contracts

 

[Comrade Khan]

it's unfortunate for New Japan, it sounds like the pandemic really hurt their finances and they are only now starting to recover. It's understandable they could not offer them stability, since I don't think it was a case of not believe in the talent

 

[Roy Mustang]

NJPW's loss is AEW's gain. MY FUCKING BOIS AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OI OI OI

 

[Hoss]

Forgot they actually signed tbh