Steve Maclin Comments on His TNA Departure, Expresses Interest in Joining AEW

Former Impact World Champion Steve Maclin recently opened up about his TNA exit earlier this year and the possibility of him joining All Elite Wrestling in the future. As noted, Maclin exited TNA Wrestling in June 2026 and has since been a free agent. He is set to battle AEW’s Adam Copeland at MLP Northern Rising on October 3.

Speaking to TSN, Maclin revealed creative frustrations as the major reason behind leaving TNA. On whether he’d be interested in joining AEW in the future, Steve said he’d love to do that, since his wife, Deonna Purrazzo, and several other friends like Josh Alexander and The Rascalz are already there. Here’s what Steve Maclin said:

On Why He Exited TNA

“I kind of felt that towards the end of my fifth year, I was just spinning the wheels where I was throwing ideas to creative, and they were taking them, and then nothing would come of it. Even when I became International Champion [in April of 2025], it was like, ‘All right, cool, where are we going to? Am I going to Mexico or Japan? How are we going to make this title mean something?’ Every pitch that I threw just never came to fruition like I imagined. It just felt like I was always fighting an uphill battle where I just folded every time, like, ‘Okay, cool, whatever you guys want, then.’ For me, that’s not something I like to do, especially when I try to put every bit of me into a story to better the product, to better the company, and to better the person I’m in the ring with.”

Steve Maclin on Possibly Joining AEW

“Yeah, I’m always interested in that end of the world with AEW,” Maclin said, “especially with my wife there, but then a lot of my friends are also there – my best friend, Josh Alexander, you got the Rascalz [Myron Reed, Zachary Wentz and Dezmond Xavier] there now, too—a lot of TNA alumni, but there’s also a lot of the talent on the AEW roster I’ve been around a long time. There’s dream matchups for me as well, and if that were to come to fruition and I ended up there, that would be awesome. I would love the opportunity to go out there on AEW Dynamite, Collision, and Ring of Honor.

“To be able to work is all I’ve ever wanted to do. Even with my time in NXT, RAW, and SmackDown when we were the Forgotten Sons, all [Wesley] Blake and I ever wanted to do was just wrestle. We didn’t care what it was; just give us something to sink our teeth into, and we’ll try to take the ball and run with it.”