The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) have been prominent figures in AEW’s tag team division since the company was established in 2019, and recent speculation indicated they might be moving to WWE.
However, that prospect seems unlikely as AEW President Tony Khan extended Fenix’s contract by adding time for his injury, which postponed any potential transfer and increased the chance of Fenix returning to AEW programming.
There had been rumors of Penta engaging in discussions with WWE, hinting that he and Fenix would only consider a move if they received contracts.
Nonetheless, it was later confirmed that The Lucha Brothers are still under contract with AEW, ruling out any immediate move to WWE.
As we’ve been reporting here on eWn, Khan extended Fenix’s contract by incorporating injury time, which extended his tenure with AEW by almost a year.
While Khan has made substantial efforts to keep Fenix with generous offers, a new contract has yet to be reached. This ongoing situation has effectively halted the Lucha Brothers’ potential move to WWE for the time being.
On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reported that only Fenix’s contract had been extended, not Penta’s, meaning Penta is approaching free agency.
Regarding Fenix, Meltzer noted that while it’s improbable, it’s not entirely out of the question for AEW to utilize him during this contract extension period.
He explained that since Khan generally avoids featuring talent planning to depart for WWE, Fenix could be “frozen” for a while. However, if AEW requires someone for entertaining matches where the wrestler loses, Fenix could be an option, though he wouldn’t be a victor in those matches.
Meltzer mentioned that AEW might focus more on other talents like Bandido or even Hologram, who is currently a priority for Khan, to fulfill the “masked Mexican wrestler” role.
Meltzer said, “Penta’s deal was not extended. They didn’t have the right to do that, so he’s going to be a free agent. As far as Fenix, my impression is if guys are going to go to WWE Tony’s not going to use them, so they’re just gonna be frozen for a while. I mean, yeah, it’d be great to use Fenix. But you know what? I guess for jobs, to have entertaining matches where a guy loses Fenix would be a good guy to have, it would make sense for him, [but] not to win. If you’re gonna put somebody to win, bring Bandido back and go with him. And even so, they’re really going with Hologram. I mean, that’s Tony’s guy. So they got plenty of people to put in that masked Mexican wrestler position if they want to put somebody over. But as far as if they want somebody to lose a really entertaining match, I don’t see any reason not to use Ray Fenix, but he doesn’t like to use guys that he thinks are leaving.”
Fenix last competed on July 26 for CMLL, and his most recent AEW match occurred six days prior on Collision, where he defeated Tony Nese.
Only time will tell if Khan will find a role for Fenix, as it appears he may remain inactive until his contract expires next year.
