"There was a little heat on me there" - 17-year wrestling veteran confirms real reason for AEW exitÂ
Since its inception in 2019, AEW has dealt with many issues with talent. One such wrestler was The Boy Joey Janela. He recently revealed that the backstage problems he had dealt with were the reason he left the promotion.
Joey Janela made a name for himself on the independent wrestling circuit. He began his career in 2006 and competed in promotions such as Evolve, GCW, and Progress.
In 2019, Janela made his debut for AEW in the Casino Battle Royal at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view. Following that, at the Fyter Fest special event, he competed in his first singles match on the promotion in an unsanctioned match against three-time world champion Jon Moxley.
Earlier in 2022, Janela had a match against Eddie Kingston during an episode of Dark. During that, Kingston suffered an injury. It was reported that The Bad Boy received a lot of heat for that injury.
During the recent K&S Wrestlefest Livestream, Janela addressed the issue and revealed why he refused to re-sign with AEW. He mentioned that a Superkick on Eddie Kingston resulted in an eye injury.
He received a lot of heat for it. The Bad Boy was not willing to experience that again and thus decided to leave the promotion.
"I was set to re-sign, and then I think I superkicked Eddie [Kingston] in the face a little bit too hard and broke his eye socket," Janela said. "I think he was going to feud with Chris Jericho, and then there was a little heat on me there. I was just like, 'I'm not dealing with it again.'" [H/T Wrestling Inc.]
Joey Janela's AEW contract expired last year
The Bad Boy's final match in AEW was back in January of last year when he competed against Lee Moriarty. A few months later, Janela's contract expired, and as mentioned above, he refused to re-sign with the promotion.
The Bad Boy's contract officially ended in May 2022. Since then, he has returned to wrestling on the independent circuit.
Joey Janela has been competing regularly on GCW.
Would you like to see The Bad Boy return to the Jacksonville-based promotion? Let us know in the comments section below.