WWE Reportedly Puzzled By AEW’s Booking Of Persephone

Persephone’s losing streak in AEW is reportedly drawing attention beyond the promotion’s own fanbase — with word now surfacing that people inside WWE are scratching their heads over how Tony Khan has chosen to use her.

The reigning CMLL Women’s World Champion arrived in AEW carrying real prestige, but that title hasn’t translated into meaningful momentum on Dynamite. She suffered another setback on the July 29 episode of the show, taped at Detroit’s Masonic Temple, falling short in a challenge for Maya World’s TBS Championship. It was yet another defeat for a wrestler who came in with championship gold already around her waist.

Bryan Alvarez addressed the situation on the July 30 edition of Wrestling Observer Live, saying he’s heard from multiple WWE sources who don’t understand the creative direction. “I have heard from many people in WWE who are just baffled at Tony’s usage of Persephone. They’re just like, ‘What’s this guy doing?’” Alvarez said. He added that WWE still sees enormous long-term upside in her, regardless of how AEW has booked her to this point. “She’s got so much potential. If her deal comes due, WWE’s gonna want her instantly. Meanwhile, all she does is show up on TV and do jobs as the CMLL Women’s Champion.”

The backdrop here is worth remembering. Earlier this year, reports suggested Persephone chose AEW over WWE, though WWE later clarified there were never any formal negotiations — she was still under contract to CMLL at the time, which legally kept WWE from engaging in talks despite having interest in her. According to Alvarez, the conversation inside WWE has since evolved. It’s no longer about who won the signing battle; it’s about whether AEW is doing anything productive with the asset it landed.

That distinction matters. A promotion losing out on a free-agent chase is one thing, but if rival executives believe that talent is being mismanaged after the fact, it changes the calculus entirely. Champions who cross over from other territories are typically presented as needle-movers, at least initially, precisely because their outside credibility is a selling point. Repeated losses on national television tend to erode that credibility fast, and it’s not hard to see why a title that means something in CMLL might start to feel like empty signage if the person wearing it can’t get over the hump in her new home.

For now, Persephone remains part of both AEW and CMLL, so any WWE pursuit is purely theoretical unless her situation changes. But if this report holds up, it suggests WWE’s interest in her never actually cooled — it simply shifted from where she signed to how she’s being booked. That’s a storyline worth tracking regardless of one’s rooting interest, because it speaks to a broader question AEW has faced before: how the promotion integrates outside champions into its existing hierarchy without diminishing what made them valuable in the first place.

Whether Persephone’s fortunes change on Dynamite in the coming weeks may end up being the more interesting subplot than the rumor itself.