Posted in: Comics, Preview | Tagged: boom, boom studios, previews, wrasslin, wrestling, wwe

Even in Their Comic Book, WWE is Worried About Talent Leaving for AEW

Published Fri, 01 Feb 2019 19:00:04 -0600

Last updated Fri, 01 Feb 2019 22:18:34 -0600

Next week sees the twenty-fifth and final issue of explosive publisher BOOM! Studios' WWE comic book, an issue focusing on the rivalry between AJ Styles and Samoa Joe. While the comic may be ending, WWE's real-life struggles continue, especially with WWE facing competition from the upstart wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling, founded by Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks and backed by billionaire money mark Tony Khan. In the wake of AEW's formation, they've signed former WWE champion Chris Jericho to a big money deal, and the company may be losing Dean Ambrose to them as well. Dirt sheet rumors claim WWE is urgently trying to sign talent to long-term deals to prevent them jumping ship to competitors like AEW, looking for ways to appease wrestlers who may feel overlooked or underutilized.

Serendipitously, this preview of WWE #25 shows WWE executive Triple H doing his best to convince WWE Champion (at the time this story takes place) AJ Styles that WWE appreciates him. Check out this page, which shows Triple H insert himself into a photo op between Styles and some fans before pulling Styles aside to tell him "we just want you to know how happy we are to have you."

Styles, whose WWE contract will need to be renewed soon, is rumored to be seeking a lighter schedule. With the threat of Styles jumping to AEW, WWE seems likely to give him whatever he wants.

But that's probably not what most of this issue is about. Instead, it details Samoa Joe's attempts to throw styles off his game by playing psychological mind games with Styles' family during their feud from a few months back, before Styles lost the title to Daniel Bryan. WWE's comic has been a great way of expanding on their storylines, though hampered by the fact that it takes place months behind what's happening on television. It's sad to see it come to an end, but at least we've got one more issue to enjoy next Wednesday.

Check out the preview below.

WWE #25
(W) Dennis Hopeless (A) Serg Acuña (CA) Marco D'Alfonso
All of the sacrifices AJ Styles has made have paid off-he's atop the mountain of WWE and retains the WWE Championship. But there's no time to rest, as perhaps his most dangerous challenge awaits-the Samoan Submission Machine, Samoa Joe.
In Shops: Feb 06, 2019
SRP: $4.99