There are two major professional wrestling companies in America – the WWE and All Elite Wrestling (there’s also TNA, but they’re a distant fourth in a three-horse race).
When a professional wrestler’s performance contract is not renewed, or if the company cuts the performer off the roster due to budget cuts, the wrestler has to wait 90 days before appearing in another company, unless there are exigent circumstances. This isn’t a situation where someone at WWE says to someone at AEW, “Hey, can we have wrestler X and we’ll give you wrestler Y and a wrestler to be named later.” These wrestlers are labeled as “independent contractors,” rather than full employees of the company (and as such, entitled to things like health care and unionization).
You could “fantasy-book” moving your favorite wrestlers from one company to another, but that’s all it is – fantasy booking. Someone might be mired in the midcard in AEW and deserve a chance to shine in WWE. Someone might be in the doghouse in WWE and looking for a new start in AEW.
Recently, two talents took their boots and trunks from one company to the next. And although the timing suggests they could have been swapped for each other, the truth is that it was a case of contracts ending and new contracts signed.
Take the case of Tomasso Ciampa. Ciampa wrestled for several other companies prior to joining WWE, and spent time in WWE’s developmental brand NXT, where he and Johnny Gargano excelled as a championship tag team.
Ciampa brought an incredible intensity to his ring work, and the NXT crowd loved him. But he could never get a solid footing in WWE, and eventually his contract expired.
So what to do? See if All Elite Wrestling wants him.
And on his first day in the company … he challened Mark Briscoe for championship gold. Just by his entrance, Briscoe should have just handed him the gold, shook his hand, and went back to the chicken farm.
And a few days later … on AEW’s Saturday evening program Collision – Tomasso Ciampa became the first man in All Elite Wrestling to win a championship belt in his first-ever match with the company, and only the second wrestler to do it (after Mercedes Mone snagged the TBS title in her first AEW match).
Right now Ciampa is positioned as a rising star in the company, a babyface with an intensity that could snap a tree trunk. And I’m here for it.
On the other hand, there have been talents that left All Elite Wrestling and have moved to WWE. Sometimes it’s because their contract is up (Mariah May only signed a two-year deal, then joined WWE as Blake Monroe). Sometimes they’ve done all they could in AEW and want to try new adventures (Powerhouse Hobbs was a major champion in AEW, now he’s Royce Keys in WWE).
And then there’s Danhausen.
This guy.
Danhausen worked his way up from the independent wrestling scene, where a memorable gimmick can take you far. He also developed a series of side projects – his own coffee, his own action figures, all of that – and eventually snagged a gig with AEW.
And initially, he was beloved. Everybody played along with his “very nice, very evil” gimmick. Even if it meant getting “cursed” by whatever mystical powers this little Eastern European vampire-gremlin possesses.
But here’s the thing. Despite Danhausen’s initial hot run in AEW, it cooled off faster than an ice bucket challenge. An initial attempt to form a tag team with wrestler Hook lasted a couple of matches and then fizzled. Attempts to associate him with other talents on the roster also fell flat.
And by 2024, Danhausen wrestled maybe a couple of matches for AEW in the entire year. Part of this was because of injuries – he tore a pectoral muscle in one match, which sidelined him for almost a year. He also had several leg injuries, which kept him sidelined for a time.
But there were also reports that Danhausen only wanted to work on Wednesday nights on AEW’s flagship show Dynamite, rather than on AEW’s Saturday show Collision, because Saturday shows would interfere with his convention circuit and comic book tours. And there were also rumors that AEW was unhappy with Danhausen selling copies of AEW-Danhausen-branded merchandise without the AEW logo, so that Danhausen would claim all the profits.
Danhausen’s contract ended a few weeks ago, and on Saturday his name and likeness were removed form the AEW roster webpage.
Meanwhile, WWE were hyping the contents of a large on-stage crate, which would be opened on February 28 to reveal its contents. Oh, Lord, if this is another guy in a goofy turkey costume like the last time …
Nope. It’s this guy.
Yep. Danhausen came out of the crate. He’s rocking a music track that seems cribbed from a 1970’s grindhouse double feature film. And he’s got all his catchphrases. Very nice, very evil. You are cursed.
Well, at least they didn’t give him some goofy rebrand and call him Dan House or something.
I mean … let’s compare. Tomasso Ciampa joined a company whose motto is “Where the best wrestle.” And he’s had three matches so far and knocked it out of the park each time.
Danhausen … he’s had one entrance. And I STILL don’t know what his finishing move is. Maybe he just talks to his opponents until they get tired of him and leave the ring.
Ah, the fun of watching professional wrestling.
Hey, I just realized something. In one of the Danhausen clips, he curses William Regal to hand over a pair of shoes.
You know who’s in WWE right now?
Yep. William Regal. Who’s probably making an inventory of all his shoes and footwear, lest he be cursed again.
And on the other side of the wrestling ring … Tomasso Ciampa is preparing for his next opponent.
Chuck The Writer 