Joey Janela has commented on his AEW contractual status, which remains up in the air as his contract expiration looms.
When All Elite Wrestling first launched in early 2019, Joey Janela was one of the first names snapped up the company, being part of the second match in AEW history as he entered the inaugural Casino Battle Royale. Despite his lengthy tenure with the company, “The Bad Boy” has made some quite surprising comments on his current contractual status.
When asked on Barstool’s Rasslin’ podcast, Janela revealed that he has no clue what’s going on behind-the-scenes in AEW right now (h/t Fightful):
“You tell me, I don’t know. I don’t even talk to them. Yeah, I get a check, but I don’t know what’s going on.”
Janela is, however, hopeful that his contract extends past its expected end date, which he mentioned was rumoured to be 30 April:
“Some rumor says my contract is up on April 30, so I don’t know what the fuck is going on. I think it will [continue]. If it doesn’t, I look like a f*cking idiot right now… I just said it, and this is going online.”
Over the past few weeks, other AEW stars have begun taking more independent bookings, most notably Marko Stunt. Stunt returned to Game Changer Wrestling at their Hammerstein Ballroom card in January, ironically coming to Joey Janela’s aid in his match with Matt Cardona. Similarly to Janela, Stunt’s contract status remains unknown.
With more and more signings being made by AEW, Tony Khan has confirmed he can’t renew every contract. Already, Big Swole and Lio Rush have confirmed their AEW departures over the past few weeks.