As noted on Saturday, several AEW contracts are due to expire soon and it’s expected that several wrestlers will be leaving the company. Lio Rush, Brian Cage, Peter Avalon and Joey Janela are four names that have been reported on but there are others that have deals coming up and some may be finishing up soon.
Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed upcoming AEW departures on Wrestling Observer Radio.
A lot of contracts are coming due between now and the middle of the year and they’ve been adding people without subtracting and the roster is bloated and we’ve said it over and over again. They are going to be subtracting. There’s going to be a lot of people not renewed and Lio Rush and Peter Avalon are the first two this week. Lio Rush, his deal us up on February 14th, I believe.”
Meltzer said that Rush is pretty much done on AEW TV, which is why he hasn’t been seen with Dante Martin in recent weeks.
Meltzer continued, “The rule of thumb is that [if Tony Khan] signs you for 3 years then you are there for 3 years because there’s guys that he’s not using at all that he could cut. There might be discipline reasons [for cutting someone].”
Meltzer also said, “if it’s a guy whose contract is up and he’s not on TV anymore or not being used, they will probably be let go. As far as Joey Janela, he’s on the streaming shows and he had a feud with Sonny Kiss. I don’t know what his situation is. It depends on how significantly they want to cut people…there will be other people cut going forward.”
Cage reportedly signed with AEW in January of 2020 so his deal may be up as soon as this month. Janela has stated publicly that his deal is up in May of 2020 and Avalon’s deal has already expired.
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