10 Wrestlers Who No Longer Work For AEW

Australian Cinephile

Those wrestlers doing their bit to help solves AEW’s roster bloat problems…

Transcript

00:00To kick this thing off, let's just acknowledge that yes, Cody and Brandy Rhodes do exist,

00:05they just aren't on this particular list. They obviously qualify as wrestlers who have left

00:10AEW, but after going through their departures in great detail over and over and over again,

00:17I'm kind of tired of it to be honest, and I'm going to leave it at that. Instead,

00:22today we're going to talk about the AEW departures that are a little bit further removed from the

00:28Zeitgeist. Each of them are notable because, with a few exceptions, AEW don't release people

00:33before the end of their contracts. We'll cover a couple of those exceptions on the list,

00:39but Tony Khan isn't just cutting people willy-nilly. So with that in mind, I'm Andy from WhatCulture,

00:45and here are 10 wrestlers who no longer work for AEW.

00:49Number 10, Bea Priestley. This one is particularly interesting as the former Bea Priestley now works

00:56for WWE, where she can be found working on NXT UK as Blair Davenport. Debuting for AEW in July 2019,

01:04Priestley is best known for her brief feud with an early babyface Britt Baker, but was appearing on

01:10and off for the company until March 2020, balancing it with her commitments in Japan. But then the

01:16global bastard happened, and with Priestley unable to travel from her home in Japan to AEW shows in

01:21the United States, she was let go. That happened in August 2020, and 10 months later, she was signed

01:28by WWE. So after all of that, it's safe to say that things worked out pretty well for her in the end.

01:35Number 9, Mel. The former Melanie Cruz was used as part of everybody's favourite AEW stable,

01:42The Nightmare Collective, and showed her commitment to the cause by having her head shaved bald for the

01:47role in 2020. But in the end, she only wrestled in five matches for AEW, the last of which took place

01:54in August 2020. Absent without announcement for a lengthy period of time, Mel was the subject of a

02:01report from Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp in July 2021, stating that Mel had found success in her day job

02:08away from wrestling and wasn't being factored into any AEW plans. On top of this, she was semi-active

02:14on the indies last year, so she hasn't left wrestling entirely, just AEW.

02:20Number 8, Awesome Kong. Another member of the loved Nightmare Collective, Awesome Kong ended up

02:26leaving AEW for entirely different reasons to Mel, having formally retired from wrestling in 2021 after

02:33taking time off the previous year to film the final season of GLOW. A legend of women's wrestling,

02:39Kong has found considerable success elsewhere. Her AEW run was a little brief, starting at the first

02:46double or nothing in May 2019 and effectively lasting just eight months, but such is life. In her prime,

02:53she could have easily been set up for a long, incredible run at the very top of the card.

02:59Number 7, Shima. Another AEW career crushed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Shima and his stronghearts

03:06lads have been restricted primarily to their home base in Japan since the world started falling

03:12apart in March 2020. Shima had originally been pinpointed as the go-between for a potential

03:17partnership between AEW and the upstart Chinese promotion OWE, but then, well, you know, the

03:24pandemic happened, and here we are. It would have been cool to see the former Dragon Gate

03:29cornerstone do more in AEW, particularly as his Kenny Omega singles match was pretty great,

03:34but maybe we'll get more once international travel isn't such a pain in the arse,

03:39because I personally would love to see stronghearts back in AEW.

03:44Number 6, Jimmy Havoc. Horrific allegations made against Jimmy Havoc during the speaking

03:49out movement of spring 2020, including domestic abuse, physical assault, and worse, led to the

03:55former Superbad Squad member being released by the company that August. Initially set for

04:00counseling and rehabilitation while suspended by AEW, Havoc is no longer active in pro wrestling.

04:06The punishment dealt to this alleged abuser was one that should have been reflected elsewhere

04:11in the wrestling business as a consequence of speaking out.

04:14Number 5, Leo Rush. Becoming a free agent on the 14th of February this year, Leo Rush's

04:20run as a contracted AEW wrestler barely lasted six months. Signed the previous September after

04:27debuting at Double or Nothing where he was injured in the Casino Battle Royale that he

04:31entered as the Joker, Leo had actually been off TV for a little while prior to his official

04:37departure, having last wrestled for AEW on the 8th of December episode of Dynamite. An unfortunate

04:43turn of events, really, and one that has continued since then, with Leo recently suffering another

04:48injury while working PWG's Battle of Los Angeles in January, shelving his career for an undisclosed

04:55period of time. Here's to a speedy recovery because the guy's far too talented to be sidelined

05:02for too long.

05:04Number 4, Ivelisse. While she debuted for AEW in 2019, Ivelisse didn't start picking up

05:10more regular bookings there until 2020, when she won the Deadly Draw Tag Tournament alongside

05:15partner Diamante. Unfortunately, that September, she and Thunder Rosa had a match that, being polite,

05:22didn't quite go to plan. An apparent backstage disagreement spilled into the ring, and watching

05:28it, there were clearly periods of one side not cooperating with the other, and it wasn't

05:34Bunda Rosa. Let go by AEW due to reported issues with coaches in April 2021, Ivelisse put out

05:41a statement alleging mistreatment. Given her questionable reliability as a narrator, it's probably best to take

05:48that one with a giant handful of salt.

05:51Number 3, Kylie Rae. While it initially looked like Kylie Rae was being set up to play a big

05:56role as an early face of AEW's women's division, she formally departed the company early in its

06:02run, with Tony Khan describing the split as very amicable. Details were few on the ground.

06:08Kylie later stated that nobody made her leave, however, and it soon became clear that the dumb

06:13conspiracy theories that emerged online following her departure were just that. Dumb. Kylie has

06:20since worked for such promotions as Impact Wrestling and the NWA, taking several breaks

06:25from the sport for health reasons. This, of course, is far more important than anything

06:30that has ever gone on in a wrestling ring, and in January, she celebrated 90 days sober.

06:36Number 2, Ben Carter. A bit of a cheat entry here, as Ben Carter was never truly employed by

06:43AEW, but he did catch the eye when wrestling for the promotion in September 2020, particularly

06:49for his awesome match with Scorpio Sky on Late Night Dynamite. Visa issues unfortunately

06:55prevented AEW from being legally allowed to pay Carter. Later, he ended up signing for WWE,

07:01which had always been a dream of his. And while there was all this talk of him being poached

07:06away, Vince McMahon's company actually made their approach to Carter before he turned up in

07:11AEW. Today, you can catch him on NXT UK as Nathan Fraser. Bad name, good wrestler.

07:19And at number 1, Big Swole. Easily the most publicized AEW departure to date, Big Swole confirmed

07:25in November 2021 that, after much consideration, she and AEW had come to the mutual agreement that

07:31her expiring contract wasn't going to be renewed, effectively making her a free agent. A few weeks

07:38later, the incident caught fire. Citing her perceived lack of diversity in AEW as one of the driving

07:44factors behind the decision, as well as some structural issues, Swole's reasonable, fair

07:49and well-explained criticisms were met by Tony Khan claiming that he let Swole go because,

07:55in his words, he felt her wrestling wasn't good enough. Khan responding to Swole's comments

08:00on such an important matter, like a Got in 2 message board poster, is probably something

08:06he regrets in private. And at the end of the day, all he really had to do was not tweet.

08:13But anyway guys, that's our list, so tell us what you think down in the comments section

08:17below. After that, don't forget to like, share, subscribe and ring the bell for notifications.

08:21Then, you can follow us on Twitter at WhatCultureWWE and myself at AndyHMurray where you can tell

08:28me how wrong I am. Goodbye!

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