News came out of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter today that All Elite Wrestling will be extending the contract of Rey Fenix based on injury time, close to a year.
This comes as a bit of a surprise as it seemed like the Lucha Bros. were on their way out to the WWE. Just the other day in Ghosts of AEW I talked about how it seemed official that Rey Fenix and Penta were on their way out.
We had heard reports they had already signed a multi-year deal with WWE and were heading to the main roster from PWN Reports. WrestleVotes Radio had claimed merchandise was already being produced. You’ll notice this isn’t Fightful or Wrestling Observer or any of the more reputable websites. We weren’t really hearing any denials yet until this new report.
It’s interesting that Sean Ross Sapp reported that it was plural for both to not be in WWE any time soon.
I guess I’ll get the moral stance out.
If a wrestler wants to leave a company they should be allowed to do so. They should also do business on the way out, and if they are willing to? I generally think they should be allowed to walk. Andrade El Idolo signed with AEW on a three year deal in June 2021 but his contract expired in December of 2023, which isn’t a full three years. He also missed time due to injury. Andrade lost to Miro, Eddie Kingston, and Claudio Castagnoli on his way out.
We have not seen the Lucha Bros. in AEW since July 17, 2024 on AEW Rampage when they defeated Private Party. I don’t know if they are refusing to work, but rumours were that it was supposed to be Death Triangle winning the AEW Trios Championship at All In 2024 and not PAC with Claudio and Wheeler Yuta. I don’t know how Death Triangle would have factored into the feud with Blackpool Combat Club but seeing Private Party and Komander back up Bryan Danielson makes me feel like there was a real plans change there.
Originally reports were that AEW would not extend Rey Fenix’s contract due to injury, which was reported by Ibou of WrestlePurists. I’m not sure if Ibou got bad information, or plans changed. Unlike the PWN and WrestleVotes reports, I think Ibou had good information.
The injury slide has been pretty controversial in pro wrestling, most notably when it came to Rey Mysterio Jr. and Bryan Danielson. Mysterio had an addictional year added to his deal due to injury. Bryan Danielson had his contract essentially frozen to the point where he couldn’t get out, and re-signed with WWE just to get a fresh deal with a permanent three year set which allowed him to leave in 2021.
All Elite Wrestling has actually extended contracts in the past. Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega both had their contracts extended. Omega was due to injury and Moxley was due to his rehab in late 2021. There wasn’t much made about the sliding because both men re-signed with AEW.
If AEW was originally going to let both go and changed their mind, I wonder what caused that change. Instincts say you should just let this happen clean so neither talent has a bad thing to say about AEW on the way out. Treat the talent right regardless of where they go. But with all of these reports from middling wrestling reporters claiming they were signed, merchandise already being made, Penta getting a physical in Orlando, even though he couldn’t? I wonder if something happened we don’t know that really muddied the waters of a clean getaway for the Lucha Bros.
For AEW fans this puts them in a frustration position. They want AEW to do what’s right for the talent. They don’t want people signed to AEW who don’t want to be there. But they also don’t want WWE to have carte blanche to just wreck havoc on the AEW roster. WWE can essentially do whatever they want to talent (ask EJ Nduka) and WWE fans and wrestling media will generally forgive them. Any time WWE does something to wrestlers its business as usual. AEW has to be held to a higher standard, while also trying to run a competitive business.
It’s a frustrating situation and I empathize for everyone involved. It isn’t easy to do the right thing in a carnie industry like pro wrestling, and often, the right thing is going to hurt you in the short term. It’s an unfair game when you’re dealing with an industry leader with the majority of the market share. But that’s the hand you have to play. When AEW released 10 wrestlers at the bottom of the depth chart I thought it was a really dumb move. That’s the kind of thing that hurts fan loyalty. Anthony Henry, Slim J, and Jora Johl shouldn’t be your priority in making cuts.
With this? I actually think a lot of the information we have is incomplete, changed, or intentionally fabricated. We don’t know if WWE was actually manufacturing Lucha Brothers merchandise. We know they didn’t sign WWE contracts if AEW President Tony Khan is extending Rey Fenix due to missed time. All we know is that the Lucha Bros. have not worked since July, were likely in title plans in August, and it’s almost October with them nowhere to be found.
Is Konnan at fault here? Possibly. I just don’t want him in DM’s again.
There are wrestlers I would just release now if I was in AEW President Tony Khan’s shoes. Miro asked for his release? Great here you go. Malakai Black is wanted in WWE? Have fun avoiding pinfall losses there. Danhausen provides absolutely zero in-ring value and just sells some merchandise? The AEW roster on the website would be better if I didn’t see him between Colten Gunn and Daniel Garcia. Or Colten Gunn and Dante Martin, if it’s true Daniel Garcia doesn’t know you can just date women you don’t work with. To be clear I think that narrative is dumb.
You can work hard to try to re-sign wrestlers but if they don’t want to stay there’s nothing you can do except hope you can make the process of them leaving a kind one while they understand the expectation you put people over on the way out. Taz said it best:
I wonder if he was referencing anyone.
To summarize, I think a lot of what was reported on Rey Fenix and Penta is essentially a mess. There has been real misinformation being passed around to make people upset either at the Lucha Bros. or upset at AEW. I think AEW should try to be better than WWE and allow talent to leave, but I also understand they might feel they are being messed with and want to exercise contractual right. I hope both sides come to an agreement to have them exit gracefully if they wish to leave.
It would be nice if Penta and Rey Fenix got to leave with a standing ovation from the AEW fans after a hard fought battle they lost, instead of an AEW Rampage match in July then slipping out the back door.
