Tony Khan’s AEW Signs NJPW Legend Despite Bad News of Multiple Departures

Outstripping all the brickbats, AEW head honcho Tony Khan garnered one more member on his board at the end of a pretty happening year. When it comes to signing new talents, Khan has garnered a reputation as a provocateur who doesn’t let any chance slip to lure talents into his promotion with big paychecks, rewarding facilities, and whatnot.

This time, he was successful in taking the NPJW star, Katsuyori Shibata, in his favor and made him All Elite.

Tony Khan welcomed the NPJW star Katsuyori Shibata into the roster ahead of Collison

AEW is finally happening for the 44-year-old. He has penned a deal with Khan under permission from NPJW. Tony Khan himself spilled the news, sharing a note from Shibata where he voiced his move and articulated what AEW means to him.

The star had a fruitful time with the Jacksonville promotion earlier this year. He has performed at several shows. Most importantly, AEW allowed him creative leeway and let him not stop his mojo despite being off due to a brain injury for a long period.

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Now, we need to see how Khan’s company treats him forward in his journey.

AEW lost a host of talents over the past few months due to a problematic creative strategy

However, there was also a rather opposite narrative regarding AEW’s talents as many talents left the promotion for good in the last couple of months.

There have been a series of departures in the past few months in AEW. Besides Sonny Kiss, Zack Clayton, VSK, Jade Crsgil, and a few more, stars like Brian Pillnan Jr. have also put their skates on and left. But what was the mindset working behind it?

According to Dave Meltzer, Khan failed to provide his talents with enough creative exposure and freedom. They were completely in the dark about what exactly they would be performing on the screen until the last minute.

It could still work for some of them but Meltzer further noted, that they lacked the long-term ideas and direction which made it more difficult to be satisfied with what they bring to the table at the end of the day.

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However, amidst this backlog, having a renowned NPJW talent on his board will work as a confidence booster for the AEW Boss ahead of tonight’s Collison.