WWE News: Massive Wrestling Free Agent Reportedly Set To Join Rival Promotion

WWE will not be signing this huge free agent.

One massive free agent will not be making the walk at WrestleMania 40 this year.

Any time a big name hits free agency in the wrestling industry, it gets people buzzing. Who can forget WrestleMania 38 when Cody Rhodes returned to WWE on the heels of a split from AEW? Or how about when Adam Copeland, known as Edge in WWE, jumped ship to sign with AEW?

Free agency is an exciting time, but it looks like one elite performer will not be joining the WWE roster.

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Fightful is reporting that former NJPW golden boy Kazuchika Okada has opted to sign with AEW instead of WWE. While Okada hasn't inked the deal yet, the report notes that he's expected to put pen to paper soon.

(via AEW)

It had been reported by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer that during negotiations, WWE wasn't concerned with matching AEW's offer for "The Rainmaker." Meltzer claimed that WWE's stance was that if Okada truly wanted to sign with them, then he would.

It appears Okada went with the more lucrative offer.

A member of the NJPW roster for well over a decade, Kazuchika Okada had his final singles match with the promotion at New Beginning in Osaka, defeating his longtime rival Hiroshi Tanahashi with the famous Rainmaker finisher for the three-count.

Now that Okada is AEW-bound, it'll be interesting to see what the promotion's founder and President has planned for the Japanese star. It's already been reported that AEW has scooped up Mercedes Moné, who was known as Sasha Banks in WWE.

Moné is expected to make her AEW debut at Big Business on March 13. Could Kazuchika Okada be joining her? 

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