AEW: David Finlay on His Decision to Join AEW Over WWE Was “Easy Choice”, Renee Paquette on Her Praise of Lexy Nair & Arkady Aura’s AEW Careers Growth, Thekla on Working with Skye Blue and Julia Hart & Her AEW Dream Match Opponents

Mar 12, 2026

David Finlay Comments on His Decision to Join AEW Over WWE Was “Easy Choice”

As noted before, former NJPW talent David Finlay made a surprise appearance at last week’s AEW Dynamite show in El Paso, Texas and reunited with Gabe Kidd and Clark Connors as the new The Dogs group. Finlay, Kidd, and Connors also recently signed new official contracts with AEW.

WrestleZone held a recent interview with Finlay. One of the topics discussed included Finlay’s thoughts about his decision to join AEW over WWE despite his father Fit Finlay and brother Uriah Connors working there was an “easy choice.”

“Let’s see, I was in New Japan for 11 years, and every single year there were rumblings that I was going to leave. Every single year, they kept growing louder and louder. Finally, I got over doing a 14-hour flight four times a month and decided I wanted to leave Japan behind.
Obviously, I’ve got family ties in another company, and I sat and thought about it. I was like, well, you know, I’ve never made a dime with my brother. I’ve never made a dime with my father. And I’ve made fat stacks of cash with these boys here. So the choice was easy.”

Renee Paquette Comments on Her Praise of Lexy Nair & Arkady Aura’s Careers Growth in AEW

TV Insider held a recent interview with AEW interviewer and personality Renee Paquette. One of the topics discussed included Paquette’s thoughts about how she has been giving back and helping out some of the other women in AEW. Paquette also gave her thoughts about her praise of AEW and ROH backstage interviewer Lexy Nair’s growth of her career in AEW.

“I love to be able to help the other girls. That’s something I didn’t have as much time to do when I was in WWE. With the time I spent there, and the things I learned there and the experience I have for the duration of my career, I love being able to help these other girls out. Someone like Lexy [Nair] I think has grown so much. She is so great and awesome to work with. She always has a good attitude. She always wants to learn more. She will be doing Ring of Honor tapings till whatever time in the morning. She wants to be there and get better.”

Paquette also gave her thoughts about her praise of AEW ring announcer Arkady Aura’s work and career growth in AEW as well.

“It’s the same for Arkady Aura. I’m not a ring announcer, so I can’t contribute with that, but with all the prep she does wanting to get all the names right and pronunciations right, especially when you have all these wrestlers coming in. You have guys from CMLL and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, so you want to make sure you’re on your game with that stuff. To see these girls grow and develop, I love that. Even with the WWE side, to see what Jackie Redmond has been able to do over there. Her and I go way back, so it’s really fun for me to see her in that role at WWE.”

Thekla Comments on Working with Skye Blue and Julia Hart & Her Dream Match Opponents in AEW

The Sportster held a recent interview with AEW Women’s World Champion Thekla. One of the topics discussed included Thekla’s thoughts about her work with Skye Blue and Julia Hart as the Triangle of Madness group in AEW.

“In German, we say, ‘Wissen ist Macht’. It means wisdom is power. If you get that inside knowledge, that’s how I [was able to win the AEW Women’s Championship] in eight months.
I see a lot of myself in them, and I see a lot of talent they have that I try to incorporate into what I’m doing. I also hope that I can give them a little bit of inspiration or knowledge about how to make it and navigate yourself in this business.”

Thekla also gave her thoughts about Mercedes Mone and “Timeless” Toni Storm being dream match opponents for her career in AEW and the potential of her getting to face off against both of them in matches in the future.

“Mercedes [Moné] is obviously somebody who probably thinks of herself as some icon or idol here. I have a lot to say about that. Toni Storm, being the Timeless One. She’s built a platform for herself that is so far away from everything that we’re doing. It’s almost been untouchable for a long time and [she] has held [the AEW Women’s Championship] more times than I can count on this hand. She’s one of the big ones in our company, and I’d love to see who’s got it in the end.”