All Elite Wrestling Has Signed A Former NJPW, TNA, And WWE Wrestler To A Multi-Year Deal

Lance Archer was reported to be in talks with All Elite Wrestling last month, and today the company announced he is Dynamite-bound; first with a tweet, then with a press release announcing Archer has signed, “a multi-year deal.”

Archer, who is 42-years-old and billed as 6-foot-8, has been wrestling for twenty years on promotions like TNA, WWE, and across the independent circuit. For the past nine years, he’s has been affiliated with New Japan Pro Wrestling (with a period of working for Pro Wrestling NOAH as part of an NJPW angle.) All of his work in New Japan was as a member of the Suzukigun faction, and most of it as part of a monster heel tag team with Davey Boy Smith Jr., Killer Elite Squad. K.E.S.’s catchphrase, “Everbody dies,” has recently been used in Dark Order-related content.

After K.E.S. dissolved, Archer found success in New Japan as a singles wrestler with exciting matches in last year’s G1 Climax tournament, a run with the IWGP United States Championship, and a Texas Deathmatch with AEW’s Jon Moxley at this year’s Wrestle Kingdom.

The AEW press release about makes it seem like Archer might show up on TNT with the version of his persona he’s developed over the past eight or so months, calling him the “Muderhawk Monster” (a nickname he gave himself after he changed his hair to a mohawk last summer) and mentioning the EBD Claw (Everybody Dies Claw, Archer’s take on The Iron Claw he started using before the most recent G1) as one of his finishing moves. There’s also a quote from Archer about the beginning of this phase of his career:

“I’ve been in the business for almost half of my life, but with AEW, I’m setting my sights on the best chapter of my career so far. This company champions the creative, competitive and electrifying environment that I’ve been waiting for my whole career. No matter where I go—no matter who steps in front of me—I’m the one you should be afraid of at AEW.”