When news broke that Daniel Garcia was considering a move from AEW to WWE amid his first major crack at professional wrestling free agency, fans across the IWC more or less made the same joke: DG is going to be incredibly popular with the ladies of NXT.
Now, for the uninitiated, it’s become somewhat of a meme that everyone in NXT is more or less coupling up with each other, with at least a dozen confirmed romantic partnerships – give or take – across the roster, plus recently elevated main roster talents. Considering Garcia’s signature dance and his unique charisma, fans assumed that the 26-year-old would be fighting off girls left and right and, as a result, he would prioritize a chance to headline WWE developmental over AEW’s mid-card.
And yet, when Garcia found out about this connection, he shut it down, as, in an interview with The South Kongress Podcast, he let it be known that such assumptions undermine the fine work wrestlers are doing for the company.
“[Laughs] I feel like…that’s a good question. I get the allure of it, I get why people think it was funny, and it kept blowing up, and people kept sending me things. To me, it just completely undermines how great NXT is. I feel like NXT right now is hot, it’s on fire, I feel like they have such great talent, both men and women, international talent from all over the world, people with all different kinds of experience levels,” Garcia explained via WrestleZone.
“I feel like when people kept saying I’m just gonna sign there just because there’s a bunch of attractive women, I think it completely undermines the work rate, the talent of the entire roster. And I think they have a great roster on their hands. I feel like they’re doing a bunch of great things over there, and like I said, I think it just completely undermines it, kind of takes away [from] what they’re doing over there.”
Now sure, most of the comments made involving Garcia were said in jest, as very few wrestlers pick a company because of the attractiveness of the other workers – excluding pre-existing couples – but good on the “Red Death” for shutting them down nonetheless, as it helps to put more positive light on women’s wrestling, which is never a bad thing.
Daniel Garcia reveals why he chose to stay in AEW over joining WWE
So why did Garcia opt to stick around in AEW over joining WWE? Well, the pride of Buffalo touched on that, too, during his post-signing media tour, letting Renee Paquette know that it was as simple as wanting to be where the best wrestle.
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“I re-signed with AEW last week, and I couldn’t be happier with my decision. I’m 26 years old, and it’s one of the biggest decisions I’ve had to make in my life. I think I made the right one,” Garcia said via Fightful. “I wanted to let the fans know that AEW has a lot of momentum right now and the tag line, ‘Where the best wrestle.’ It’s the truth. This is where the best in the world choose to be. (Kazuchika) Okada, (Will) Ospreay, Mercedes (Mone), me. All in one year. We’re putting our flag in. This is where we want to be. We have choices to go everywhere. Obviously, these people have choices to do whatever they want to do in this business. We choose to be at AEW because we believe in it and because we think it’s something that can improve wrestling for hopefully forever.”
Would some argue with AEW’s grand statement about being where the best wrestle? Sure thing, but if Garcia wanted to be part of that movement alongside Okada, Mone, and Will Ospreay, the decision likely wasn’t too difficult if the money was right.