Former AEW Star Reveals They Spoke To WWE Following Departure

WWE

Former AEW World Tag Team Champion Frankie Kazarian announced during the IMPACT Hard To Kill pay-per-view that he had signed a long term contract with IMPACT Wreslting.

It was later confirmed that the story Kazarian said in his promo, about him requesting his release from AEW to join IMPACT, was true.

Kazarian spoke to PWInsider about his decision to join IMPACT Wrestling.

He said:

“I still had two years left on my contract, two years to get rolled over. AEW management contacted me in early December, which was only a few weeks after [Josh Alexander] match. They contacted me 30 days out, which is what they’re supposed to do, and had talked about rolling me over and wanted to get the process going.

“I basically said, ‘thanks but no thanks.’ I voiced concerns and frustrations and goals and aspirations and had a really good talk with management and left it there. I was still going to TVs and the last television I was at was in San Antonio. I sat down with Megha (Parekh), head legal of AEW, and had a long in-person conversation. I basically gave her the list of reasons why I wanted to move on and bet on myself, and now was the time to do it.

“I’ve always done business the right way and been amicable about it. I wanted to get out before any feelings of resentment or bitterness. That message was relayed and they wanted to do right by me, which I respect the hell out of. As of January 1 this year, I was a free agent,”

Kazarian continued on, saying that he spoke to people in WWE prior to signing with IMPACT.

He said:

“In the spirit of transparency, I had great talks with the people at WWE. Those talks could not have been better, positive, more professional. I have nothing but great things to say about everybody in that organization, especially the people I spoke to and texted with.

“Ultimately, this was the best fit for me at this stage of my career and this point in my life. I have a great relationship with Scott D’Amore, I have history there, a lot of my legacy is there. At this stage, I was the best fit for IMPACT and IMPACT was the best fit for me.”

Kazarian’s last AEW match took place on the December 26 episode of AEW Dark: Elevation, where he lost to Konosuke Takeshita.

Kazarian was one half of the inaugural AEW World Tag Team Champions, teaming with Scorpio Sky as a part of SCU.

transcription via Fightful

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• frankie kazarian
• AEW
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