Ex-WWE Star Defends Tony Khan As Contract Controversy Continues

Tony Khan has gained a supporter online.

On January 13th, Penta finally made his WWE debut with a victory over Chad Gable. Prior to joining WWE, Penta spent five years with AEW, winning tag team and world trios gold alongside his brother Rey Fenix.

While many expect Fenix to eventually join Penta he remains under contract after injury time was added to his deal. However, Fenix hasn’t wrestled for AEW in several months and the company has shown little interest in using him moving forward.

Following Penta’s WWE debut, fans were quick to notice that Rey Fenix’s AEW merchandise page no longer existed — another apparent insight into the fractured relationship between the star and the company.

For his part, Fenix has done little to hide his frustration with his current situation, and on January 19th, he appeared to take another shot at his employer. The former AEW World Tag Team Champion shared a photo of himself in a straight jacket and later shared a fan montage using the song “Locked Up” by Akon. The video is captioned “They won’t let me out,” a line from the song.

As the controversy rumbles on, former WWE Superstar Tom Pestock, better known as Baron Corbin, has given his take on the situation. In response to a social media user saying AEW should let Fenix leave, he said the star should honour his contract.

If you sign a contract you honor it. Would it have been okay if Tony didn’t pay him while he was hurt or out of action? The answer is no bc Tony signed the contract as well. You can’t switch teams after getting what you want and signing the contract.

While replying to another fan in the same thread, Pestock suggested that maybe Fenix doesn’t want to work.

Everyone who gets hurt gets injury time. Doesn’t matter if it’s WWE AEW or TNA That’s part of it. And maybe fénix doesn’t want to work. Only him and Tony know that.

Tony Khan Could Lose Several Talents To WWE

Meanwhile, it’s been reported that Fenix is one of several AEW stars expected to sign with WWE when their current deals expire. According to the report, Malakai Black, Miro, and Ricky Starks will all be on their way to the sports entertainment giant as soon as they’re able.

It was reported elsewhere that AEW stars are now more open than ever to signing with WWE in large part due to Penta’s impressive debut on Raw. The report claimed that people in AEW previously believed they’d get lost in the shuffle in WWE but now feel they could featured prominently.

Two particular stars were cited who said they were looking to speak to WWE upon becoming free agents.