Former Impact World Champion Reveals Contract Expiration Date

Published: Mar 27, 2019 by Liam | Last Updated: Mar 27, 2019 by Liam

Liam has been reporting & analyzing wrestling news for over eight years, and is currently the Managing Editor at WrestleTalk.com. Immersed in wrestling for 18 years, he has over 11,000 published articles in addition to leading and overseeing WrestleTalk.com's coverage.

It was reported earlier this week that former World Champion Eli Drake could have been on his way out of Impact as his contract was due to expire at the end of April.

Drake has since confirmed that his contract does in fact come up soon, specifically, May 31.

In a recent interview with the Wrestling Perspective podcast, Eli addressed the reports surrounding his future:

“I wondered that too because I saw that the other day, I got tagged with that on Instagram. I looked at that—I think it said something to the effect of ‘WWE Interested In Eli Drake’—and I’m like ‘well, nobody has contacted me… so what’s the source?’ I’ve talked to people there that I’m friendly with—coaches that I’m friendly with, stuff like that—people have said ‘I think you’d do well here’ but nothing like overtly making me an offer. There was nothing like that. It was more just like friendly conversations along with ‘by the way… you could probably think about it.’ There was nothing outright, nobody’s contacted me. I know AEW is out there, the fact is there’s a lot of options out there at this point.

This is the time where, truth be told, I run up on May 31st here with IMPACT. So if that’s the case, then it’s time to start thinking about what options I have, things like that. Look at me being open! There’s a couple months left on this; should I stay or should I go? We will find out, but the deal is, there are so many options out there now and it’s just a matter of how can I best boost my brand awareness, and how can I also put more money in my pocket? I’m also looking at longevity; I’m 36. I feel like I’m 19 but sometimes my body doesn’t agree with me. It’s just a matter of figuring out what’s going to work best for me long-term.”

Drake made headlines recently for refusing to participate in an intergender match against Tessa Blanchard at Impact Wrestling United We Stand on April 4. He has since been replaced in that match by Joey Ryan.

Thanks to WrestleZone for the transcription.