Miro on Knowing He Would Always Go to AEW, How He Asked for His Release Three Years Ago and the News Being Leaked

– AEW wrestler Miro, aka former WWE Superstar Rusev, appeared on Talk Is Jericho this week, and he discussed leaving WWE, getting fired, and signing with AEW. According to Miro, he said he knew he was going to come to AEW when he heard about the promotion. Also, Miro revealed that when he previously asked for his release from WWE when he was unhappy three years ago, the news got leaked to the dirt sheets, and Miro was unhappy that he felt he had no one he could trust or turn to in the company. Below are some highlights and a clip from the show.

Miro on knowing he would go to AEW: “The journey was — boy — I kind of knew I was going to come here [AEW] honestly. When AEW first started, I was very unhappy. I wasn’t happy because I knew I could give a lot more than the way they [WWE] were using me. And that’s all I wanted. I never pushed myself to be any kind of champion. I just wanted the opportunity to excel. And the most disheartening was, I feel like I excelled in most every opportunity they gave me, but somehow, that was still not enough. And I’m a very competitive person. I grew up playing sports, and in my mind, if you do better, you should get on top, right? But it got to the point where, ‘Why am I doing all this?’ I’m doing all these — killing myself to a degree to go nowhere, and it was frustrating. And I knew that I needed a new challenge, and when the whole pandemic thing happened, when they let me go, I was not discouraged at all. I knew it was meant to be. I knew when the time was right. I’m going to come to AEW, and I believed I talked to you [Chris Jericho], and you said, I mean later on, you said, ‘Let’s bring you in.’ But you said, ‘Let’s have something for you. Let’s not have you here for the sake of being here,’ which made a lot of sense. And I was so happy, the timing, the Best Man, everything worked to such a perfection because it was just meant to be.”

Miro on asking for his WWE about three years ago: “So, I did ask [for my release]. About three years ago, I did ask because it was another situation where I was just unhappy. And I talked to one person, the next day, that conversation was in the dirt sheets. Yeah, yeah. It was very like — and this was the problem: Who do you go to? Who do you turn to when you’re down? When you need advice? When you need somebody to be like, ‘Hey man, it will be OK.’ You have nobody because they’re all stooges. Somehow, it always leaks out, and you don’t feel safe. And if you don’t feel safe, you have nowhere to turn to, you’re naked out there. And thank god I have my wife, and she has me. And we always kind of like, when I’m distressed, it’s back and forth. But at the end of the day man, you need somebody where you can be like, ‘Hey man, this is not OK.’ Who do I talk to?”

If using the above quotes, please credit Talk Is Jericho, with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.