AEW Star Joey Janela, who is one of pro wrestling’s most controversial, unorthodox and unique talents and who has also been working with several other Indie wrestling promotions such as GCW (Game Changer Wrestling), recently spoke with Denise Salcedo and said that he will not be re-signing with All Elite Wrestling once his contract with them expires and even though Janela previously expressed interest in staying with the company, he has apparently changed his mind.
During his interview with Denise Salcedo, Janela confirmed that he has no interest in re-signing with AEW and that he was a little scared at first to return to Indie wrestling, which is his roots, but he is no longer scared and he also had no idea at first if the wrestling promoters were going to welcome him back with open arms, though they now realize his situation and they want him back.
This is what Joey Janela said:
“I am gonna have to say ‘No’ now.” “I am not interested in signing with AEW – re-signing with them.”
“I was a little scared, getting back into the independent wrestling world and making money.” “You take those things for granted, you’re getting a paycheck every two weeks. A pretty good paycheck. In your head you’re like ‘Sh-t, when this is over, this is gonna disappear.’ But I was born a hustler in this business. I was scared to get back into that world but now I am no longer scared.”
“Back in the day before AEW, I was going out to wrestle for basically nothing.” “I was just doing it because I love it, I would do 3-4 shows a week. I would rack up small paydays from the promoters, plus my merchandise and I’d be satisfied and I’d be making a lot of money. But now my price has gone significantly up so I didn’t know if the promoters were gonna welcome me back with open arms.”
“But recently I’ve realized that the promoters know the situation, they realize what the situation is gonna be and they’ve been hitting me up big time. They say ‘We want you to come back here. We want you to wrestle some of the newer guys we have. We want you to wrestle some of the older guys. We want Joey Janela back.’”
Joey Janela also talked about how his three years in AEW was a learning experience for him and how he can now share that knowledge and experience with younger talent in other promotions as well as how he is not sad because he was able to do all he wanted to do in AEW. Janela also said he was disappointed with how AEW has been radio silent, but that is what they do to people they are letting the contracts expire and that he never agreed to a per appearance deal, except on the Indie scene because he is his own boss and that is how he got his name out there.
This is what Joey Janela said:
“It was a learning experience, and I am gonna say this in the most positive way possible without looking negative.” “Those three years with AEW was developmental for the rest of my career. I am so much sharper now, not only in-ring but business-wise, I’ve learned so much in those three years. Now not only am I sharper myself, in all facets of the wrestling business, but also I can go to a young guy, I could go to a Nick Wayne and teach him stuff, of the stuff that I’ve learned in those three years.”
“Or I can go to GCW or I can go to another promotion and teach them what I’ve learned on the other side of the curtain. I am not sad at all. I did everything I wanted to do there. Within the 6 months I started there, my goal was to wrestle Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, main event TV, main event pay-per-view. Did it all. The only thing I didn’t get was an action figure. So be it.”
“It’s over now and we’re just moving forward. I have no complaints, I thank Tony (Khan). They’ve been doing this to people, they’ve been radio silent on the people they are letting the contracts expire, that’s why you have talent relations to talk to your talent and tell them what the situation is. If they are gonna have a paycheck coming in or if they are gonna be signed to a per appearance deal, which some of the guys have agreed to.”
“I would never agree on a per appearance deal anywhere. My per appearance deal is gonna be when I am booking myself all over the world, I am booked in 6 different countries coming up. Per appearance on the independent scene, I wanna be my own boss. That’s how I got my name out there, I was my own boss, and I had the most buzz outside of The Elite and that’s why I had this opportunity at AEW, that’s why I had this opportunity at All In.”
Joey Janela then talked about how his departure from AEW was the company’s decision due to a match he had against Eddie Kingston on an episode of AEW Dark back in January as he superkicked Eddie Kingston in the face a little bit too hard that he broke Eddie’s orbital bone and Eddie was set to go on a big feud with Chris Jericho then, but the injury pushed it back and he feels that was the last straw.
This is what Joey Janela said:
“I think a lot of it has to do with a situation where I worked with Eddie Kingston in Charlotte, and I superkicked him in the face a little bit too hard, came in a little bit too hot.” “I had been squatting probably 50 more pounds than I am used to be squatting, and doing a hundred pounds more on the leg press and I don’t know, I didn’t realize I had that type of power in my legs and I gave him a superkick and I broke his orbital bone.”
“He was going into a feud with Chris Jericho, and I feel that may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. A lot of guys, maybe some older heads that believed my hype and believed that I was some kind of dangerous professional wrestler. I’ve had times where I’ve injured people, of course, everyone has. But once you get that reputation, it’s hard to break that. I’ve had a string of bad luck throughout my AEW career and that may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back but I don’t know because they don’t communicate with me.”
PWInsider.com reports that what Janela said was actually true and he did have a lot of heat backstage due to the incident he had with Eddie Kingston as that resulted in several weeks worth of plans being changed and that also resulted in the Eddie Kingston – Chris Jericho feud to be pushed back. It would also be mentioned on the report that there is an internal belief that several talents were hurt while working with Joey Janela in the ring. Despite Janela saying he had no interest in re-signing with All Elite Wrestling, the reality of the situation is that AEW did not want to keep him.
“The Bad Boy” Joey Janela signed with AEW in January 2019 as one of the company’s first signees, when the promotion was still starting out. He would then make his AEW debut at the company’s inaugural PPV known as Double or Nothing on May 25, 2019, where he competed in the Casino Battle Royale in the Buy-In Pre-Show. Janela has since been competing on Dark and Dark: Elevation and he has also been working for a number of Indie wrestling promotions while he remains under contract to AEW. Joey Janela’s deal with AEW is set to expire in May of this year, shortly after the company’s Double Or Nothing PPV. The Bad Boy has not been used since the Charlotte taping and it’s expected that the company will just let his contract expire.
You can check out Joey Janela’s comments in the video below:
