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All Elite Wrestling bid farewell to one of its original roster members earlier this week, and it seems that a number of AEW stars are sad to see them go.
On May 1st, Leva Bates announced that her time with All Elite Wrestling had come to an end after her contract expired and wouldn't be getting renewed.
Bates had been with the promotion since 2019, where she initially portrayed a librarian alongside Peter Avalon. Once that alliance ended, Bates moved into more of a backstage role and only wrestled occasionally.
It seems as if Leva Bates was well liked in the AEW locker room, as Dave Meltzer noted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that a number of stars were sad to see Bates leave.
“Leva Bates’ contract expired and wasn’t renewed. She had not been wrestling much, but had worked in a lot of capacities including community relations, the AEW Heels group, did a lot of things backstage and worked in media and communications as a liaison. She had been one of the first female signings of the promotion doing the love interest librarian deal with Peter Avalon. There were a number of people sad with this news as she was very well liked.” (H/T WrestleTalk)
Leva Bates isn't the only AEW original who is no longer with the company
As All Elite Wrestling has grown over the years, a number of high-profile names have joined the company and become main event players. However, that means that a number of the names who were there at the first show have been moved to the background, with some having already left the company.
Leva Bates joins the likes of Joey Janela, Jack Evans and Marko Stunt as names who appeared on All Elite Wrestling's first set of shows who have since departed the company.
The biggest departure from All Elite Wrestling out of all of the people who were a part of the company's formative years is Cody Rhodes, who left the company in February 2022 to go back to WWE.
Do you think anymore AEW originals will leave the company? Let us know in the comments section down below!
