As previously reported, former WWE Star and current AEW Star Lio Rush took to his Twitter account and revealed that his contract with All Elite Wrestling will expire on Monday, February 14th, 2022 and he will become a free agent by then. Lio Rush also said he is now available to accept booking inquiries. PWInsider.com reports that Lio Rush will not be the only AEW wrestler who’s contract will be expiring soon as several other AEW wrestlers also have their contracts coming up and they will not be renewed.
“The Machine” Brian Cage is one of those wrestlers who’s AEW contract is set to expire soon as he has not been seen on AEW TV since the October 8th episode of AEW Rampage, when he challenged FTW Champion Ricky Starks for Starks’ FTW Title in a Street Fight and came up short. The wrestling world has since been wondering what Cage’s status with AEW is, which he talked about when he posted a cryptic message on his Instagram page and said, “I’m looking for the answer……” “#whobetta #needthemachine #swolverine #mrgmsi #whereyoubeen.” It was speculated that due to the comments made by Brian’s wife former IMPACT Wrestling and Lucha Underground announcer Melissa Santos in regards to how he was used in AEW, he was no longer brought back to the storylines, but that has yet to be confirmed.
Another AEW wrestler who’s contract is set to expire soon is “The Bad Boy” Joey Janela and if he ends up not signing a new contract with All Elite Wrestling in the next few weeks, then his time with them will come to an end prior to the Double Or Nothing Event in May. Marko Stunt’s AEW contract is set to expire soon as well and he hasn’t made an appearance for the promotion since the October 4 episode of Dark: Elevation, when he teamed with Fuego del Sol in a losing effort to Shawn Spears and Wardlow. He is reportedly still under contract to AEW and he is still being paid by them, but All Elite Wrestling will reportedly not renew contracts of talents who’s deals are coming up if they aren’t being used.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that AEW will not be renewing Marko Stunt’s contract with the promotion once it expires, but it was pointed out that Marko Stunt not being there when Jurassic Express became the new AEW World Tag Team Champions was extremely significant and that could be a major contributing factor to whether or not they re-sign him.
There’s still a huge possibility that AEW re-signs these talents, but with the company’s roster being so stacked right now and AEW continuing to sign new stars to the promotion, it is believed that there will be several departures in the next coming months. AEW reportedly doesn’t intend to announce their departures, but will instead let the talents’ contracts quietly expire. It is possible that AEW would bring these wrestlers in sometime in the future to work with the promotion for a one-off only type of deal or something to that degree, but that remains to be seen.
