Impact Wrestling’s Frankie Kazarian has opened up about his decision to leave AEW, stating that much of what he enjoys in wrestling wasn’t there.
The SCU alum requested his release from AEW in November 2022 and his final match for the promotion was on the December 26, 2022 edition of AEW Dark: Elevation.
Speaking on a recent edition of “The Kurt Angle Show,” Kazarian reflected on his decision to leave AEW, a promotion he had been with since the start. He said,
“When I left last year, I still had two years left on my contract when I left. I made the decision to leave. I still had two years left. I probably could have been there much longer. I re-signed at the end of 2021 and hindsight being what it is, I probably shouldn’t have, but again, AEW, I was there since before day one.
“It just became apparent to me that what I like and what I appreciate about pro wrestling and the way I like it presented was not happening at AEW, and that’s not an indictment of them. It’s just what they perceive as good television wrestling and what I do are different things, and just the business model, everything.
“I was there when this was a germ of an idea. I was there discussing this company when they didn’t even have initials attached to them in these rooms with Cody and The Bucks and Page and Sky and C.D. So again, I was committed. I was like I want to try to, you know, ride this thing out.”
Since returning to Impact Wrestling, Kazarian has held the X-Division Championship and has challenged for the Impact Wrestling World Championship.