Tag-Team Departs AEW; Tony Khan Didn't Offer Contract Extensions (AEW News)
One of AEW's longstanding tag-teams just became free agents after leaving the promotion.
The Butcher and The Blade have been quietly released by AEW.
Fightful Select reports that All Elite chief Tony Khan elected not to offer the pair fresh terms and extend their contracts. It's worth noting that The Blade had been on the sidelines since February 2024 - he needed back fusion surgery and had been doing some stand up comedy in between physical rehab sessions to keep himself busy.
Meanwhile, his partner The Butcher hadn't worked a match on main AEW programming since losing to Gabe Kidd on the 22 February 2025 episode of Collision. It seems that Khan and other members of the creative nucleus just didn't have much left for the duo to do whether one party was injured or not.
The team, alongside their then manager The Bunny, joined All Elite back in 2019 and initially made a splash as a powerhouse tag. They'd quickly fade, then Bunny left the company in November 2023. Away from the ring, she got married to The Blade, but more recent reports online suggest that the couple have since separated.
Fightful pointed out that The Butcher and Blade are effectively now free agents who can show up anywhere they please on the pro wrestling map. So, it'll be fun to find out what's coming next for the pair. Of course, the latter still has some physical stuff to work through before he can even think about wrestling matches again.
The team's near 7 year run in AEW has ended though. It's official.