Evil Uno On Stu Grayson’s Shock AEW Departure
In an exclusive interview with TJR Wrestling, All Elite Wrestling star Evil Uno has spoken candidly about the departure of longtime tag team partner Stu Grayson from the company.
Having entered AEW prior to the launch of Dynamite, Uno and Grayson had been regular roster members since the company’s inception, and are each founding fathers of the popular Dark Order table.
However, it was reported earlier this year that Grayson’s original AEW contract had expired and that he had elected not to re-sign with Tony Khan’s fledgling company.
Now, several months later, Grayson’s longtime tag team partner and friend, Evil Uno, has disclosed what may have led to this decision:
Stu wanted to step away and start focusing his energies on stuff back home. You know, we spent all of our years wanting to become TV wrestling stars and become huge wrestling stars, and you never take into account how much travel and how much it wears on your personal life. So, Stu wanted to take some leave from that and focus on himself a little bit, and I can’t stop him from doing that. We’re great friends, we’ve been friends for..wow, holy crap, 17 years now! And we’ve been a team for 17 years, so it was a huge change for me.
Having opted to re-sign the company, Uno also revealed his motivations in doing so:
You know, he decided to step away and I renewed my contract because I love what we’re doing in AEW, I loved Dark Order, and I’ve been extremely happy with what I’ve done there on a personal level. But I also didn’t want to force my friend to go through stuff that he, at the time, just couldn’t handle. So, I was sad to see him go, but it’s not like we don’t see each other – we still run a wrestling school together, we still take independent wrestling shows together every now and then – it’s just I don’t see him every single week at work.
Highlighting the amicable nature of his departure, Grayson did briefly reunite with the Dark Order later in the year, when AEW Rampage emanated from his native Canada.