On a recent edition of the “Busted Open Radio” podcast, Mickie James reacted to Tuesday’s super-sized episode of WWE NXT and why she believes WWE should reserve such stacked match cards for special occasions to prevent outrage among fans. She said,
“Honestly, I hope it’s something that doesn’t happen all the time. Because I think it was awesome for the “NXT” brand and everything, but when I think about it from a business perspective, people go to that show for free [at the WWE Performance Center]. So, to throw in all these people on a show … do fans from “Raw,” “SmackDown,” or the pay-per-view start to feel slighted “NXT” is getting all these stars for free? I just hope it’s not something we end up doing all the time. I’m glad it was just a one-off thing because AEW had to switch programming [to Tuesday night] and stuff like that.”
Fuego del Sol signed with AEW in 2021 but left the company just two years later.
Since AEW contracts are usually for 3-5 years, Fuego’s exit raised questions regarding the actual length of his contract.
In a new YouTube video, Fuego revealed that his AEW contract could have easily kept him in the company for a total of four years. He said,
“When I initially signed my contract in 2021, it was to a four-year deal, potentially. It was a one-year deal with three optional years. AEW had the option to renew me each year around July or August and let me know if I was going to be with the company another year. If they did, I would get a raise in my salary. The first year started well, I was appearing alongside Sammy Guevara a bunch, I got to introduce my son Fuego 2 and we got to takeoff as a tag team, and Malakai Black pitched to work with me and we had a small feud on Rampage. The second year is where things got a little rough. At the start of my second year, my series of matches with House of Black had just finished. Sammy went a different direction creatively and due to the mysterious disappearance of my son, Fuego 2, I wasn’t being brought to TV or on Dark that often. That’s a dangerous place to be. I feel like my value was being in Dark match or TV matches getting squashed quickly, but as long as I was wrestling every week, I would be able to get over without going over. As long as I was backstage, I would be able to film more stuff with Sammy Guevara’s vlog and build my online following. The fact that I wasn’t being brought to TV often means I slowly got stuck in the scary cycle of ‘creative has nothing for you.'”
