It was previously reported that the contracts of several AEW stars including Lio Rush, Brian Cage, and Joey Janela are set to expire soon.
During Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com discussed the situation in more detail:
“A lot of contracts are coming due between now and the middle of the year and they’ve been adding people without subtracting and the roster is bloated and we’ve said it over and over again. They are going to be subtracting. There’s going to be a lot of people not renewed and Lio Rush and Peter Avalon are the first two this week. Lio Rush, his deal us up on February 14th, I believe.”
“The rule of thumb is that [if Tony Khan] signs you for 3 years then you are there for 3 years because there’s guys that he’s not using at all that he could cut. There might be discipline reasons [for cutting someone]. If it’s a guy whose contract is up and he’s not on TV anymore or not being used, they will probably be let go. As far as Joey Janela, he’s on the streaming shows and he had a feud with Sonny Kiss. I don’t know what his situation is. It depends on how significantly they want to cut people…there will be other people cut going forward.”
