@jess_coreDavid Finlay explained his choice of AEW over NXT on Talk Is Jericho, pointing to the overall package including pay and schedule as the foundation. The social landscape mattered more though: all his friends are in AEW while his brother and dad work in NXT. He admitted family being there would have been cool but drew a line. Autonomy was the real driver; he wanted to keep doing what he's doing with freedom to do what he wants. Being with friends was just a great bonus layered on that independence. A massive hurdle involved NXT's culture where he noted he would have struggled re-humbling himself to the specific level they wanted him to humble himself to. His reasoning? He has already been here before. He has already proven himself. So going back to that grind didn't sit right. It wasn't just money or time; it was about avoiding a humbling process when he felt he'd done the heavy lifting years ago.

@jess_coreDavid Finlay explained his choice of AEW over NXT on Talk Is Jericho, pointing to the overall package including pay and schedule as the foundation. The social landscape mattered more though: all his friends are in AEW while his brother and dad work in NXT. He admitted family being there would have been cool but drew a line. Autonomy was the real driver; he wanted to keep doing what he's doing with freedom to do what he wants. Being with friends was just a great bonus layered on that independence. A massive hurdle involved NXT's culture where he noted he would have struggled re-humbling himself to the specific level they wanted him to humble himself to. His reasoning? He has already been here before. He has already proven himself. So going back to that grind didn't sit right. It wasn't just money or time; it was about avoiding a humbling process when he felt he'd done the heavy lifting years ago.