The five top free agents to watch across wrestling in 2024
These are five names to watch in 2024 as they enter into important contract negotiations that will shake up the professional wrestling industry.
2024 is shaping up to be a big year in professional wrestling. WWE and AEW continue to jockey for momentum in North American wrestling, while other organizations like IMPACT and New Japan carve out their own spaces and passionate fan bases. Free agency is one of the topics that the entire agency is watching closely. With so many options, there’s no telling where some of the biggest names in the game will show up. 2023 saw Will Ospreay and Jay White sign with AEW, while CM Punk and Jade Cargill made their moves to WWE. Multiple outlets have reported on the contract statuses of some of the top stars heading into the new year. Of the known names, these five are the top free agents of 2024.
Alex Hammerstone
Alex Hammerstone is one of those names that casual viewers won’t know, but the minute they get their eyes on him they will know he’s a big deal. Standing at 6’2” and weighing 251 pounds, Hammerstone looks the part. And he’s played the part as well. Hammerstone has performed for several top organizations in the industry such as GCW, DEFY, and AAA. Major League Wrestling tied their cart to him and built him up as a huge star. The match he had with Jacob Fatu felt like a super fight years in the making, and much of that was thanks to the pause that hit wrestling during the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Hammerstone was able to capture the MLW National Openweight Championship and hold the MLW World Heavyweight Championship. The latter title he held for an impressive 644 days. Along the way, he would have exceptional matches against the likes of Alex Kane, Bandido, Davey Richards, and plenty of others. According to multiple reports, Hammerstone’s relationship with MLW soured, leading to his request for a release. That request wasn’t honored, and he’s recently returned to MLW programming, but there are continued stories that his contract is up in 2024 and he will work out the rest of his deal. Hammerstone would be a great fit in either AEW or WWE, with both having several big matches that fans would be interested in seeing.