Another Saturday night AEW Dynamite means more potential surprises. Tony Khan offered up a tease early in this week's program as he showed former WWE star and the recently-pegged free agent Tony Nese in the crowd.
AEW has been signing some big names so Nese potentially joining AEW might not register for a ton of fans on the must-see scale. That said, Nese was one of WWE's most talented in-ring workers and he'll fit right in with AEW if he has, in fact, signed a contract with AEW. He was labeled "The Premiere Athlete" and that moniker was true in many ways. For some reason, Vince McMahon and 205 Live could never effectively find a way to make him a star.
The fact that AEW called him one of the hot free agents in wrestling with names like Buddy Murphy, Bray Wyatt, and Braun Strowman out there and potentially looking for work might also be a clue that AEW isn't seriously considering any of those three men. All would be considered bigger draws for fans. This doesn't technically mean any of those men are not being looked at, it just seems like an interesting choice of words.
Nese made his independent wrestling debut in 2005 and has had runs in TNA and WWE. He's a former Cruiserweight Champion and ranked No. 45 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2019.
An NXT-Like Move
His appearance on Dynamite felt a lot like how NXT used to debut new arrivals to the promotion. It's rare (if ever) that AEW has had someone sitting the crowd simply watching the show, while they tease his potential joining of the company.
If AEW was ever considering a Jr. Heavyweight Division, Nese is a perfect addition and a phenomenal name to bring in for that reason.