Alan Angels On Why He Didn’t Accept New AEW Deal, Wanting To Do His Own Thing

Alan Angels is a free agent after his AEW contract expired, and he recently weighed in on why he left the company. Angels spoke with The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling and talked about how he turned down a pay-per-appearance deal in order to go in his own direction and have a better chance to grow. You can check out some highlights below, per Wrestling Inc:

On turning down a PPA deal with the company: “They didn’t renew it, they offered me a per appearance deal. I just felt there wasn’t really enough room for me to grow in AEW, at the moment at least. You never know where the wrestling business is going to take you next, but I just felt that it, yeah, maybe it was time for me to do my own thing.”

On not expecting to have signed with AEW: “As a wrestling fan, that’s what I really wanted to do [make his name on the indies]. I tell my buddy AC Mack, who is also a wrestler. He’s currently the Independent Wrestling Champion, and I told him, ‘Man, your career is kind of the career I pictured myself having, just because he’s worked up from these smaller independent companies and now he’s like one of the bigger names in independent wrestling just because [he’s] built up from his independent shows and stuff. He’s never been signed to a major company or anything like that, and he’s now killing it on the indies, like doing all these cool-ass shows. Just like traveling the country defending the title and all that stuff. I just wanted to spread my wings and see what else I can do. I felt like it’s kind of hard to have an independent career while still signed to AEW.”

On AEW’s big roster being a reason for his exit: “That’s part of it for sure, and nothing against those guys. I think all those guys are very deserving of the spot they’re in, and I’m not at all angry or anything about any of this … It’s definitely harder to get TV time and stuff like that, and they are getting their young guys, they’re giving them their flowers, so to speak.” Angels cites names such as the Gunn Club and the Acclaimed getting those well-deserved opportunities. I just felt like the right move for me was to try and do it on my own. That’s all.”