After being one of the first wrestlers to sign with AEW, Joey Janela departed from the promotion in May 2022, opting to return to the independent wrestling scene.
During his tenure with AEW, Janela had an inconsistent presence on television, appearing on and off over the course of his career. His most noteworthy storyline was a program with Sonny Kiss, which was predominantly featured on AEW Dark.
While speaking on Keepin It 100 with Konnan & Disco Inferno, Janela discussed AEW having far too many talent to properly utilize. Janelia stated that he thinks everyone in AEW gets paid a six figure salary.
“Some people are just happy to be there and part of something. My thought on it was always, Tony Khan, he’s trying every week to do a little mini-pay-per-view. Back in the day with Nitro, they had it right. You’d have great matches in under six minutes. He has two hours to pull off a TV show and he has a lot of people, a lot of pieces to that puzzle and a lot of guys that he has to try to satisfy and he’s booking 30 minute matches every week. You do a 30 minute match and a 20 minute talk segment, what else is left? Other people have to go to Dark and they’re wrestling twice a month in Universal Studios in front of a lukewarm crowd and they have some Florida jabroni for three minutes. That’s why wrestlers are regressing in ability because they don’t care, they’re getting paid, they don’t want to go hustle. A lot of guys don’t want to go back to the Indies. You have that choice in AEW to go wrestle on the Indies. All those guys are getting paid six figures. Bottom card to top of the card. Top of the card, seven figures. The whole company is getting paid six figures. Unless the pay scale has changed. Of course, there was some kind of tiered deal where you’re paid by appearance when they’re just kind of feeling someone or testing them out. Some people, they don’t want to go back on the Indies. You make more on the Indies,”
Janela continued, “I saw it myself during COVID because there weren’t Indies running. I would get in the ring, wrestle a couple of times a month in these four minute matches, and I saw my talent regress. I needed that oil. That’s why I was botching left and right. That whole 2020 year wasn’t good for me because these guys have to wrestle. It’s not like WWE. If you’re not on TV, you don’t have to come. You can sit home and jerk your cock to whatever.”
Joey Janela
Joey Janela is currently having a great time working in GCW, but a future run in AEW once again is certainly something that could happen. We’ll have to wait and see if Janela will return to AEW.
H/T to Ringside News
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