AEW made headlines recently by releasing several wrestlers, including Ricky Starks, Malakai Black, Miro, and Bear Boulder, for various reasons.

Boulder's release followed his arrest for domestic battery, while Black's contract expired. Miro and Starks requested to leave. Although Rey Fenix expressed interest in leaving AEW, the company decided to extend his deal due to time missed from injury.

Reports suggest that Fenix's contract extension could add close to a year to his tenure, after which he might reunite with Penta El Zero M as part of the Lucha Bros in WWE. On the NXT post-show Tuesday night, Sean Ross Sapp shared details about the situation, noting that while Fenix had been considered for release, AEW ultimately chose not to part ways with him.

“I had heard Friday that AEW releases were either happening or coming. At that moment, I thought it was just the Bear Boulder situation, which they fortunately very quickly took care of. I had heard for a while that within AEW, they had at least considered releasing or letting contracts lapse on a few talent that were not happy and wanted to go elsewhere. At one point, they considered Rey Fenix. They didn’t end up doing that.”