The Real Reason THIS Star Rejected WWE & AEW
America's big leagues aren't the only shops in town in 2019.
Joey Ryan's decision to turn both AEW and WWE down and stay an independent wrestler sparked surprise last month, with SoCalUncensored.com breaking the story on 28 May, before Ryan himself confirmed it at a Bar Wrestling show two days later. Now, the 39-year-old has finally spoken on the matter.
Interviewed on the latest episode of Sam Roberts' NotSam Wrestling podcast, Ryan said that the reason he said "no" to AEW was that he'd be "taking a pay cut" to "essentially start over."
Extrapolating on this, Ryan said that he and AEW "had discussions about it and it just didn't make sense. It just felt like I'd be irresponsible to myself and where I'm at with my life, finances, my geography, and creativity. It would be a gamble that I don't really necessarily need to take."
Joey added that the guys in AEW are his "best friends, and that doesn't change," and that he's "making better money than these contracts can offer."
His role as a regular Being the Elite cast member made the AEW decision a shock, but WWE? Not so much. Though Dave Meltzer originally reported that the market leaders had reached out to Ryan, imagine what Vince McMahon & co. would have done to his character...