A former AEW star seems to have confirmed his recent exit from the Tony Khan-led promotion. The talent in question, The Blade, also spoke about what is going on currently with his career.
The Butcher and The Blade had signed on with AEW on the year of the promotion’s foundation, and was one of its most prominently featured tag teams early on. The duo performed on the company’s weekly TV shows, Dynamite, Rampage and Collision, as well as on its now-scrapped YouTube streaming programs, Dark and Dark: Elevation, facing off against teams like The Young Bucks, FTR, Private Party, The Acclaimed, The Outrunners and The Infantry, and groups like Best Friends, The Dark Order and The BCC.
Some time following their trios match against The Hardys and Mark Briscoe in January of 2024, The Blade was sidelined for well over a year due to spinal issues, while The Butcher continued to wrestle in AEW sporadically as a singles competitor. The duo finally competed together again this past March, sparking rumors of their All Elite Wrestling comeback, but these hopes were dashed earlier this month, when it was reported that they had parted ways with the company.
Appearing on an interview recently with Talk ‘n’ Shop, The Blade stated that he was currently working on the independent scene again, seemingly confirming his and his tag partner’s AEW exits. He proceeded to discuss how he was enjoying performing on familiar as well as on new events on the indies, and wrestling talent he has known for a long time as well as up-and-comers of the industry.
“Right now, you know, what’s next-next? I’m not sure. But I just know that right now, that it’s really exciting doing indies again. I was an independent wrestler for 20 years. It feels good to be doing old shows that I did for a long time. It feels good to be doing new shows again. Feels good to be working with guys I worked with 10 years ago. It feels good to be working and wrestling with new guys. Right now, it’s all very exciting. It feels good.” [H/T- F4Wonline.com]
The Blade on some of his notable AEW matches
During the same interview, The Blade spoke about some of his and Butcher’s most memorable matches from their stint in AEW. He brought up their 2020 Falls Count Anywhere match against The Young Bucks, their bout against FTR for the Top Guys’ debut in the promotion, and reminisced fondly on working with “The Icon” String.
“It’s hard for me to pick one but just to rattle some off the top of my head. During the pandemic, we had a really good Falls Count Anywhere match with The Young Bucks. Daily’s Place in Jacksonville. That was really big. We were FTR’s first match when they showed up, and we were the opener of the show. That was a really good one. Just getting to work with Sting, period. I got to wrestle Sting a couple times. There was a month-long period where basically my job was I would show up to work and have to catch Sting jumping off a balcony, for like four weeks straight.”
Blade also alluded to him and Butcher battling The BCC’s Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli on Rampage, and facing off against The Hardys in a tables match on Dynamite.
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Edited by Anurag Mukherjee
