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>Meij offered the Bucks what they thought were lowball deals because of the dollar amount. The Bucks were being divas and wanted full time money but for part time work. Management didn't care about re-signing Bucks/Cody/Page because they weren't draws in Japan, but they did care about signing Omega. Omega turned down their offer, so he was booked to lose against Tanahashi at WK that year. The Elite then pissed off Meij by announcing the creation of AEW the day before WK, which all but spoiled the results of their matches. As a result, they were all pulled from NYD and not given any send-off.
>In the weeks after WK, Tony Khan and the EVPs wanted to meet with Meij to establish a working relationship. While this was going on, Khan poached Baretta and signed him to a deal, fully knowing that he had already had a handshake agreement with New Japan to re-sign with them (and was likely Jay's Chaos mole). Khan and the EVPs also contacted other New Japan talent and asked them to jump ship, one of which we know was Jay because he lied to them and said he had just signed a seven year deal. Khan did eventually meet with Meij, who declined to establish a working agreement with AEW. I believe Meij stated publicly he didn't feel a working agreement was appropriate at the moment and wanted to see what direction AEW would take with its product. Personally, I think he didn't trust Khan and (correctly) guessed he was a liar and only in it for himself and his company.
>Following these events in early 2019, some western Elite fans/new AEW fans began to trash Meij and blame him for perceived problems with New Japan. It also came out that Meij was not popular with the Japanese wrestlers, who didn't feel he understood the business, and had angered some legends like Chono. I feel Meij was scapegoated by some western fans for New Japan's struggles during the covid years, which
Meij was right
