Report: AEW Has Interest In Signing Sheamus After WWE Exit

Sheamus officially became a free agent on Thursday, October 1, and according to a report, AEW has genuine interest in bringing the former WWE Champion into the fold, with a number of current AEW wrestlers reportedly in favor of the move as well.

The writing had been on the wall for months. Back in July, reports indicated Sheamus was on his way out of WWE after close to two decades with the company, a shift confirmed when he was quietly moved from the active roster page to the alumni section of WWE’s website. Those same reports claimed WWE had asked Sheamus to restructure his contract while he was sidelined with injury, an offer he firmly turned down. His last match came all the way back in November, teaming with John Cena and Rey Mysterio on Cena’s farewell Raw appearance, and he was reportedly cleared to return to action not long before his exit became official. With his deal running out on October 1, the Celtic Warrior is now free to sign wherever he chooses.

Sheamus joins a growing list of recently released or departed WWE talent drawing AEW’s attention. Ilja Dragunov is reportedly also on Tony Khan’s radar, while New Level and the Motor City Machine Guns have already made the jump. It’s part of a broader pattern of AEW scooping up familiar names as WWE trims its roster, and Sheamus would be one of the biggest gets yet given his championship pedigree and name recognition.

The obvious question is where he’d actually fit. AEW’s roster is already stacked, and there’s a fair argument that the company has more bodies than weekly television can reasonably showcase. But Sheamus’ hard-hitting, physical style is practically tailor-made for AEW’s product — the kind of stiff, hard-nosed wrestling that’s defined shows like Collision. Dream matches against the likes of Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, or even Dragunov himself would write themselves, and there’s clearly an appetite among the current locker room to work with him.

If singles opportunities prove hard to come by right away, Sheamus also has a built-in landing spot in AEW’s tag division, which is arguably the deepest and most competitive in wrestling today. He and Claudio Castagnoli were a formidable pairing years ago in WWE as The Bar, and reuniting them in AEW would be an easy, nostalgia-friendly way to get him on television while he finds his footing.

Nothing is official yet, and Sheamus hasn’t said where he’s headed next, but the interest from AEW’s side appears real. With his WWE run now closed after nearly twenty years, all eyes will be on whether Tony Khan makes a move to bring him into the fold — and how quickly Sheamus himself decides on his next chapter.