Miro Finally Released By AEW, Former TNT Champion Departs After Long Dispute (AEW News)
Ex-WWE star Rusev/Miro still had time on his AEW contract, but he's agreed a mutual split.
Fightful Select and PW Insider are reporting that Miro has come to terms on his exit from AEW. The promotion pulled the Bulgarian's profile from their official website yesterday, but news has filtered in that his contract with Tony Khan's group has also been cut short.
Miro signed a long-term extension to then-current terms in early 2022, so it's believed his contract ran until at least 2026. A decent chunk of time has been shaved from that following meetings with Khan and AEW management. Everyone agreed that the best way forward was letting the former WWE star go as soon as possible.
Fightful noted that Miro is "healthy and has been cleared for quite some time", but the wrestler was seemingly unhappy with how things were going creatively in AEW - he personally asked for his release "quite a while back". The website then said that Miro's name hadn't really come up behind the scenes as an ongoing concern for TV booking "in about six months".
Most of Fightful's All Elite sources said they "had not expected to see him again". That has proven to be the case. Miro's stuttering near five year run with the company has come to an end. He last wrestled for AEW way back at Worlds End 2023 on 30 December that year.
For reference, and rather ironically given rumours that are already circulating about his future, Miro defeated current WWE man Andrade El Idolo on that pay-per-view.
Will 'Rusev Day' Return To WWE?
Rather predictably, there's already a lot of chatter on social media about Miro returning to WWE himself. Fans have been posting a lot of "Rusev Day" photos and memes since news broke that he'd left AEW. It's unclear whether or not there would be significant interest in a Rusev return from Triple H's side, but PW Insider did say they "think there will be a lot of interest in him now that he's on the free market".
It's hard to argue with that.
Miro has options here. It'd be worth talking to WWE, of course, but he might fancy checking out what's available elsewhere. TNA and even a few dates over in Japan are all possible. Returning to his roots as the popular Rusev on Raw or SmackDown would get the biggest reaction though, obviously.
The "Rusev Day" stuff was over. A little too over, according to Vince McMahon at the time. Having another stab at that without McMahon's involvement might appeal to the Bulgarian, but he'll surely be in no real rush to make a decision. However, it is worth saying that Miro was the one who initially requested his AEW release, so it's clear he's been ready to move on for a while.