An AEW star took the opportunity to fire shots at WWE’s parent company, TKO, on live television.
He is none other than former WWE superstar Christian Cage. He and his tag team partner, Adam Copeland, came out to confront FTR and The Young Bucks on the September 2 episode of AEW Dynamite. During his fiery promo, Cage took a shot at TKO by saying that he was surprised that FTR was not so embarrassed that they wouldn’t consider taking a ‘50% pay cut.’
I’m surprised you’re not so embarrassed that you wouldn’t consider willingly taking a 50% pay cut.
This was a subtle jab at TKO, asking multiple WWE superstars to take a restructured deal, including major pay cuts. It specifically referred to Kofi Kingston and Austin Creed, who left WWE in May 2026 and debuted for AEW at All In 2026.
After their AEW debut, Kofi said in an interview that TKO asked him and Austin to take more than a 50% pay cut, which led to their departure from WWE. However, multiple WWE stars did agree to the new deals offered by TKO and stayed with the company.
With AEW taking a huge shot at WWE’s parent company on live television, we will have to wait and see whether they retaliate.
