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A former WWE name who left AEW last year has finally revealed the actual reason that led to his departure from the Tony Khan-led promotion. The name in question is Frankie Kazarian.
The 46-year-old is a veteran of the business, competing in top companies like ROH, TNA (IMPACT Wrestling), and WWE. After being a part of AEW for over three years, Kazarian left the organization in December 2022.
On a recent episode of Talk is Jericho, Frankie Kazarian discussed his run in All Elite Wrestling. The former champion mentioned that he couldn't compete in meaningful storylines towards the end of his tenure.
"I had some great moments (...), but the matches for me had less and less meaning to them [over time]. All I wanted was the opportunity to have meaningful matches (...) it was just matches for the sake of matches. I'm realistic, I know I have more years behind me than I do in front of me, and with the time I have in front of me, I want to maximize that and give my best version. I don't feel like I was given the opportunity to display that." [H/T WrestlingINC]
The former AEW star also reflected on his relationship with Tony Khan
During the same chat, Frankie Kazarian revealed what kind of a relationship he shared with AEW President and CEO Tony Khan.
"Early on, TK would call me and ask for ideas (...) as he got busier and busier, for me at least, he became more difficult to contact. He was not an easy guy to talk to in terms of getting a hold of him. They called me at the end of 2022 as a courtesy to say they were gonna roll me over (...) I basically said I would like to not be rolled over and to please let me out of my contract. He understood. He said he respects me as a man and respects me as a wrestler, and he wished this wasn't the case, but he wanted to [do] right by me." [H/T WrestlingINC]
Kazarian joined TNA in January 2023, returning to the company at the Hard to Kill pay-per-view. It remains to be seen what's next for the star.
