Ex-AEW Star “Wasn’t Happy Just Sitting Around Collecting A Paycheck”
Former AEW and current IMPACT Wrestling star Frankie Kazarian has spelled out exactly why he left AEW and says he wasn’t happy sitting on the sidelines.
Frankie Kazarian was one of the original members of the AEW roster when the company was formed in early 2019 as he joined up with his SCU partners Christopher Daniels and Scorpio Sky. Kazarian and Sky became the first AEW Tag Team Champions when they defeated the Lucha Bros in a tournament final for the gold in October 2019.
While Sky would also go on to hold the TNT Title and Daniels is the company’s Head of Talent Relations, the tag title win proved to be the high point of Kazarian’s time in AEW and his presence diminished as time went on.
Speaking on Refin’ It Up with Brian Hebner Frankie Kazarian explained why he decided to leave AEW and says he believes he was not “being utilized” as he should have been:
“Plain and simple, I wasn’t happy just sitting around collecting a paycheck. I’m not wired to sit on the sidelines. especially when I know that I should and could be in the starting lineup. That’s just not how I’m wired. I believe in myself as a wrestler that I think, and I’m positive, that I can help any company that I’m a part of from an in-ring perspective, in my opinion, was not being utilized like I should, and looking at the writing on the wall, it didn’t look like that was going to change, and that’s fine. That’s 100% fine.
“That’s no indictment on AEW at all. Not at all. If anything, that’s an indictment on me. Maybe for once in my life, for once in my career, I got selfish. I was never selfish. I’ve always been very giving, but you know what? It’s time for me to think about me and my legacy of what I’m doing and what I want to do.
“I had the opportunity to say, ‘Hey, I’m ready to go elsewhere if this is the way things are going here’ I’m so thankful I was able to because I am having so much fun and I love being in the Impact Wrestling locker room. I’m so happy I had the balls to bet on myself.”
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