Update on Frankie Kazarian Following His Impact Wrestling Return, Why He Left AEW

By
PWMania.com Staff
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(Photo Credit: Impact)

Frankie Kazarian is reportedly done with AEW.

Kazarian made a surprise appearance at Friday night’s Impact Wrestling Hard To Kill pay-per-view to announce that he has committed to the company for the long term. His promo implied that he was done with AEW and that he might not have left on the best of terms.

As PWMania.com previously reported, Kazarian “pretty much told the truth about what happened” when he discussed choosing between pushing himself and staying complacent by returning to AEW to be with “people he thought were his friends,” according to PWInsider.

It was mentioned that Kazarian requested his release from AEW and received it following his 30-minute match at Over Drive in November against Impact World Champion Josh Alexander. According to reports, this was a completely amicable situation because Kazarian wanted to push himself more as he neared the end of his career and felt that because AEW has a much larger roster than Impact, he would likely have less opportunity to do so.

PWInsider also added, Kazarian “did business the right way” and would always be welcome back in the AEW locker room, but going forward, he will be working with Impact.

As of this writing, Kazarian is still listed on the official AEW website roster, but that should change soon.

Kazarian appeared in one Impact match in 2021, but after signing a contract with AEW in May 2022, he returned and worked 10 matches for the organization, including the one at Bound For Glory in October where he defeated Mike Bailey to win the X-Division Title. After that, Kazarian used Option C to vacate the X-Division Title in order to challenge Impact World Champion Josh Alexander, but he was unsuccessful. On the first episode of December, he defeated Steve Maclin by DQ. Kazarian lost to Konosuke Takeshita in his final AEW match on the December 26 episode of Elevation, which was taped on December 21. Prior to that, on the November 15 Dark episode, which was taped back on October 28, he defeated Zack Clayton in his last AEW match.

Kazarian joined AEW at the time of launch in 2019. He reportedly signed a new contract in January 2022, according to reports.

Here are a few highlights from Friday night:

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