Leva Bates discusses her AEW departure and what’s next for her wrestling career.
Lera Bates recently left AEW after her contract with the promotion expired. Bates was one of the AEW originals in the women’s division, signing with the promotion in 2019.
Speaking on her Twitch stream, Bates discussed her departure from AEW and made it clear that she has no regrets.
“Yes, I am no longer with AEW, and that is okay. I put a lot of love, effort, and energy into that place. No regrets. I am so happy to be there from day one, before we had a show or our first pay-per-view. I have made history. I am a part of history. I am forever grateful and will forever be so thankful to have been part of that. As you know, probably realized, I have not been performing as much as I would like to perform. I am taking all this energy and focusing it on trying to make things happen, trying to wrestle as many places as I can, to go, maybe, who knows where. I’m trying acting. I have some stuff lined up to get me on my journey,”
“I have a really cool meeting for voice-over demo stuff. Hopefully, that goes well and I can move forward with that. Hopefully, land a voice-over agent and all the things you’re supposed to do. I have a lot of things in motion. I’ll be honest, I already got a couple of indie bookings lined up. I’m not sure I’m allowed to say where they are yet, we literally just locked them down. I’m going to be available more than I was before. Peter and I jokingly thought, ‘Maybe I should still do BTE.’ I don’t know if that’s an option, maybe. Maybe you’ll see me on BTE still. Maybe I’ll do my own thing. A lot of people that aren’t signed have shown up on BTE. I could show up again,”
“I really put a lot of love and work into (AEW) Heels. I think that’s going to be one of the things I miss the most. That community, I love so much. I’ll still be around, in one capacity or another. I’m always a Heel, whether I’m there or not. I’m still part of the community. Sometimes, you just have to walk away from a comfortable situation and sometimes you have to do scary things to make your dreams happen. I’m a free agent. A full free agent. Let them know. If you want to see me somewhere, let them know loud and clear. I know a lot of people are sad. I was sad. I went through a gambit of emotions. Also, really excited. I’m excited to see what’s next. I think I have some good stuff coming,”
“I found out about Dark: Elevation being canceled by dirt sheets. That’s how much I knew about it. Probably, to make room because they have Ring of Honor. There is only so much time to devote. I honestly have no idea,”
Leva Bates
We will have to wait and see what comes next for Bates in her long term career but for now she remains a free agent in professional wrestling.
H/T to Fightful
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