Marko Stunt Reveals How Tony Khan Handled His AEW Release
Marko Stunt's contract with AEW expired back in May and the company opted to not renew it, and he admitted that in the lead up to that, the "communication actually lacked a lot."
AEW's President Tony Khan has often been praised for his relationship with talents, and Stunt did tell "NBC Sports Boston" that they had been close, but "there was a time where [they] weren't either." Towards the end of Stunt's AEW career, he wasn't used regularly on television, which did lead to speculation surrounding his future with fans, but it wasn't just the audience that was confused.
"I never really had any communication at the end, so I didn't know if I was getting let go or renewed or anything," he revealed. "I sent out an email and didn't get a response, I texted him and didn't get a response."
It was previously reported that Stunt was officially told of his situation by Christopher Daniels, and he did confirm that Khan was not the one to drop the news. Despite the lack of communication that they had during that time, Stunt admitted that he "did text him" when he knew his time was finished with AEW.
"I was like, 'Hey man, I just want to thank you for all the opportunities,' because it was a fantastic opportunity ... I lived my dream, so, I wanted to thank him for that, and he did text me back and was like, 'Hey man, thank you for everything. Sorry we couldn't get a spot for you moving forward'" he said.
Stunt may not have been kept on by AEW, but he did get name-dropped recently by Christian Cage during his storyline with Jungle Boy, and the former Jurassic Express member is open to a possible return one day.
"I did tell him, I was like, 'Maybe we will work together one day in the future,' and he did say something to that," Stunt said. "He was like, 'There's a possibility to that.' That doesn't mean at all that it is going to happen, I am not holding onto that."
Stunt is not the only wrestler to not have had his contract renewed recently with Joey Janela being another example of a talent that was recently let go. In WWE, it is often financial reasoning that is given to the talent, and that just so happened to be the case when it came to Stunt as well.
"I was told budget reasoning and that plans had just changed for what they wanted to do. Yeah, so, that was really the only thing they told me," he said. "It was kind of a general let go like, 'Oh hey, we're not able to do this.'"
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "NBC Sports Boston" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.