The “forbidden door” between WWE and AEW has largely been one way, with just Cody Rhodes, Gigi Dollin, and Blair Davenport taking their talents to Titan Towers versus about a quarter of Tony Khan's roster having wrestled for Vince McMahon's promotion at one point or another.
Fortunately, with William Regal back in place and the dynamic duo of Shawn Michaels and Paul Levesque apparently far more willing to take chances on indie talent than in the time when Mr. McMahon oversaw developmental, the day may soon come when stars who worked their way up the proverbial pecking order in developmental could soon find themselves back on the WWE radar, especially now that AEW Dark and Dark Elevation have been put on ice in favor of Ring of Honor programming and AEW Collision.
One of the performers who would be open to jumping ship from AEW to WWE is none other than Madi Wrenkowski, the former Dark stalwart who currently holds championship gold in NWA Word Women's Championship as part of M95 and the MPW Tag Team Championship as part of Bougie Reality. Discussing her wrestling future on The A2TheK Wrestling Show, Wrenkowski noted that she would be happy to work with Regal and Levesque if the opportunity presents itself.
“Yeah, of course. All of my doors are open,” Wrenkowski said via Fightful. ” I would definitely tie myself down to a company if the opportunity presented itself and it worked for me. If it was presented and worked [for me], I would definitely love to be at WWE. I think as much as people sometimes like to talk poorly of it, that is the company that ultimately made us all fall in love with this sport. I will forever hold that company very high, especially with the minds like Regal and Triple H behind the product. So yeah, I’d like to go there.”
While WWE's most recent recruiting announcement reads more like a college athletic directory than a list of the shining young stalwarts of indie wrestling, with every male and female performer a former college and/or CrossFit athlete of one form or another, one doesn't have to look far into the past to see Trips and company investing in former indie stars, with both Dragon Lee and Eddie Thorpe coming to NXT with extensive experience working in New Japan Pro Wrestling. While trying to teach professional wrestling to top-tier athletes will always be a path WWE and other promotions go down, hiring experienced workhorses like Wrenkowski will never go out of fashion.
Madi Wrenkowski discusses the value of working the field outside of WWE.
Though Wrenkowski would happily accept a call from WWE and maybe even join the brand if the opportunity presents itself, for the time being, she's enjoying a ton of success in the ring across the independent wrestling scene, from NWA to Ring of Honor and even AEW, where she most recently wrestled on December of 2022.
Asked about her independent run on The A2TheK Wrestling Show, Wrenkowski noted how she's been able to round out her abilities to become a more effective in-ring talent.
“I feel like NWA obviously has that historic, sentimental value to their promotion,” Wrenkowski said via Fightful. “This is one of the longest, if not the longest running promotions out there, so it’s definitely incredible to be on their product so consistently. I feel like getting to branch out and do promotions like AEW and ROH, it’s a different vibe. They’re doing their stuff in front of huge live crowds. It not only helps me continue to hone my craft, but like at the end of the day, when my matches are posted people are saying, ‘Oh, this is one half of the NWA Women’s Tag Champions’, so it’s like I’m promoting both brands. That’s who I am right now, I am the NWA champion and I just happen to be on ROH. It’s honestly like a win-win for everyone, I get to try my skills against more women. The women at the NWA definitely wrestle a lot rougher and tougher. AEW and ROH, it’s a little bit more of a different style.”
Will Wrennkowski ever become a full-time contracted wrestler for AEW or WWE? Maybe, maybe not, but for the time being, she's working her way through the indies and rounding out her proverbial game via matches against everyone from powerhouses like Jade Cargill and Nyla Rose, to Joshi wrestlers like Hikaru Shida and Emi Sakura. In a sport where nothing can replace reps, that should prove valuable moving forward.
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