According to a report by Bodyslam.net and then F4WOnline, the reason David Finlay chose to sign with AEW over WWE was WWE offered him a “lower level contract” that would have seen him start with NXT and not the main roster.
Fightful Select reported on Wednesday evening Finlay’s deal with AEW came together within the last week. There had also been rumors WWE was ‘heavily interested’ in Finlay. However a new report emerged that he was not factored into WWE’s creative plans.
Finlay made his AEW debut on Wednesday’s Dynamite, attacking Orange Cassidy and Darby Allin and aligning with Gabe Kidd and Clark Connors. The three were known as Bullet Club War Dogs in NJPW. Finlay is the son of WWE Performance Center Trainer and Coach Fit Finlay.