Why Cody, Kenny Omega and The Elite Are Better Off Avoiding WWE for Now

With WWE having been in signing mode for several years, fans have speculated that the company is attempting to eliminate any threat to its domination of the pro wrestling world. 

Cody, Kenny Omega and the rest of The Elite are likely to be on their radar, and WWE would surely want nothing more than to snatch them up.

Now that almost all of them are free agents, the popular faction could be WWE-bound as early as January 2019 if they choose to bring their brand of entertainment to the one organization that has eluded them in recent years.

Rumors are running rampant as to what the future holds for The Elite, and regardless of whether they start up their own promotion, the bottom line is they are better off avoiding WWE for now.

Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

The Young Bucks, in particular, have been the most talked-about tag team in all of wrestling for a while. With or without The Bullet Club, they are made men for having broken boundaries everywhere they have gone and having won countless championships across the world.

The only thing left for them to conquer is WWE. They would have no problem getting over with the audience if they were to sign with Vince McMahon's promotion, but all the bad blood between the two sides via legal disputes and copyrighted catchphrases should not be overlooked.

Even if WWE put its pettiness aside to do what was best for business, there's no guarantee the Bucks would thrive in the long term. They have all the tools necessary to be top talents in WWE, but it's more a matter of how much the company would be willing to invest in them and whether it would allow the Bucks to be as big as they can be.

Credit: WWE.com

In Cody's case, it's clear the company didn't see him as a star the first time he was with them, and it's unknown how much would change about his position in the promotion if he were brought back. He recently revealed on Something to Wrestle that he turned down a deal from WWE not too long ago because he realized there was a market for non-PG wrestling following the success of September's All In event (h/t Joshua Gagnon of Wrestling Inc).

The former intercontinental champion also teased an All In 2, and he and the other members of The Elite would be fools not to give the people what they want. That is assuming, of course, they don't start up their own promotion before then.

Either way, Cody has barely scratched the surface of what he's capable of accomplishing, not only in the ring but behind the scenes as well. Thus, a WWE return shouldn't be in the cards anytime soon, if ever.

Credit: njpw1972.com

Kenny Omega's immediate future is more in question than anyone else's. He is the IWGP heavyweight champion, though there's a chance he drops the strap to Hiroshi Tanahashi in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 13 on January 4.

If so, that would clear him up to sign anywhere he pleases. Similar to AJ Styles, he would be among an elite few who would be able to bypass NXT and do just fine for himself on the main roster, but having the rest of The Elite with him would make his debut that much more monumental.

The Cleaner has never once ruled out wrestling for WWE, but given how abysmal the company's programming has been lately, it might be in his best interest to stay away for the foreseeable future to ensure he isn't associated with the issues plaguing the product.

Of everyone in The Elite, Adam "Hangman" Page probably has the highest chance of doing well for himself within McMahon's promotion. In addition to having the look WWE typically seeks in its Superstars, he can go flat out in the ring and has also developed into a terrific talker.

He has future world champion written all over him, yet while with The Elite, he has mainly been positioned as a midcard act. It's possible that will change coming off his Ring of Honor departure, but if he does fly solo in WWE, he could be in line for a major singles push.

According to Page in a conversation with Chuck Carroll of CBS Sports (h/t Andrew Ravens of SEScoops), The Elite have made a pact to stick together no matter what, and at only 27, he has the rest of his career to venture to WWE.

The Elite's stock has never been higher, and an argument can be made that they will never be as relevant as they are right now. There may not be as much of a demand for them in a few years, meaning WWE could be offering them the most amount of money they will ever make.

Then again, there's no better time for them to capitalize on the popularity of independent wrestling and build their own promotion from the ground up. It's unlikely it will ever be viewed as an equal to WWE, but it could become a viable competitor, as well as an alternative in terms of talent if they can land a significant television deal.

All Elite Wrestling remains a major question mark, but what's most important is that The Elite have options—and wherever they wind up is bound to be better than whatever they would be doing in WWE in 2019.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is an Endicott College alumnus and aspiring journalist. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.