Powerhouse Hobbs officially debuted with WWE at the 2026 Royal Rumble under the new ring name Royce Keys, but new details have emerged regarding just how hard Tony Khan and AEW worked to retain the powerhouse.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio and in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, AEW presented Hobbs with a five-year contract offer that was far more lucrative than many expected. While the exact financial terms of Hobbs’ WWE deal remain unknown, Meltzer described AEW’s proposal as one that would have placed Hobbs among the promotion’s higher earners.
“The offer was a very good offer. — It was not a top 10 offer in the company or anything like that, but a good offer. I don’t really know much more, I don’t know what the WWE offer was,” Meltzer said. “He got a great AEW offer to stay but I don’t know his WWE offer. The AEW offer was much higher than I would have expected. It would have been a number that I believe would have been higher than anyone but Chris Jericho earned in AEW’s first year in 2019.”
To put the magnitude of the offer into perspective, Meltzer compared it to deals signed by established main-event talent.
“It would be in line with what Bryan Danielson got to jump from WWE to AEW, maybe slightly less but in line,” Meltzer stated. “It would be more than guys the level Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were making four years ago (less than they are making now) and in the range of what a guy the level of Rollins were making around the same time and nearly triple of what many significantly high WWE stars were making in the first year or so of AEW after the first round of increases had taken place.”
Despite the significant financial commitment AEW was prepared to make, Meltzer noted that Hobbs appeared determined to move on. During negotiations, it reportedly became clear that the former TNT Champion was seeking a change of scenery. Within WWE, there had long been an expectation that Hobbs would join the company as soon as he was contractually free to do so.
As part of his WWE arrival, Hobbs has undergone a rebrand. WWE officially filed to trademark the name “Royce Keys” on January 20, 2026. The name is believed to carry personal meaning, as Hobbs has a son named Royce.
Hobbs departs AEW after a six-year run with the promotion, where he established himself as one of its most physically dominant homegrown stars. His résumé includes reigns as TNT Champion and AEW World Trios Champion, making his transition to WWE one of the most notable roster moves of the year.
