Tony Chimel is setting the record straight about his status with All Elite Wrestling after rumors spread that he had been fired from the company.

While appearing on the HUGE POP! podcast on March 12, 2026, the longtime ring announcer explained that the confusion began after comments he made months earlier during another interview. Chimel said his wording at the time made it sound like he no longer worked with AEW, which was not accurate.

“I would like to clarify something I said on some other podcast about six months ago about AEW. I made the mistake of saying I don’t work for them anymore, which is not true.”

Those comments quickly led some fans to believe he had quietly been released. Chimel made it clear that was never the case.

“I’ve been told that people were assuming that I got fired, which I never did get fired.”

Chimel explained that he was never under a full time contract with AEW. Instead, his role was based on appearances whenever the company needed him, meaning the arrangement technically still stands today.

“Technically, I still would work for AEW if they called or wanted me to do anything.”

However, he admitted it has been quite a while since AEW last brought him in, which likely fueled speculation about his status. He also revealed that someone within the company contacted him after the original interview to point out how his comments had unintentionally created the narrative that he had been fired.

“But right now, that hasn’t happened in a while so I just wanna clear that up, that I wasn’t fired from AEW. Well, it actually wasn’t the internet. It was a fellow coworker which I don’t wanna say but they were a little upset that, ‘You never got fired!’”

Chimel also suggested AEW’s move toward running smaller arenas may have contributed to why his role has not been needed recently.

“They downsized to smaller arenas and I think that what I was doing really wasn’t that big of a deal there.”

Despite the speculation, Chimel said there is no bad blood and he remains in contact with people in the company. If AEW ever calls again, he would be open to returning.

“But I’m still in contact with some people there and I had a great time working there and would think about coming back if they ever asked.”