Frustration Within AEW Over Trey Miguel's Release

Trey Miguel's release from All Elite Wrestling has been met with frustration within the promotion.

Miguel and the rest of The Rascalz in Zachary Wentz, Dezmond Xavier, and Myron Reed signed with AEW in early January. When The Rascalz debuted at Collision Maximum Carnage, however, Trey was nowhere to be seen and he announced one day later on Sunday, January 18 that he was taking a break from pro wrestling, with it emerging soon after that he had been released by AEW.

Reports noted the decision "came from up above," and it wasn't related to AEW or Tony Khan, with it being suggested that Warner Bros. Discovery may have blocked Miguel from appearing on AEW TV due to past comments in a similar situation to Jay Briscoe. Fightful Select has now reported that the word relayed to Trey Miguel was that his release was a decision above AEW, heavily implied to have been a WBD decision.

Fightful were told Miguel's release was due to a homophobic post he made in 2020 that Trey quickly apologised for, and no other posts were factored into the decision to release Miguel.

Following a troll comment on Facebook, Miguel responded with homophobic comments of his own in March 2020, writing:

"Obviously you're gay. Most people as unattractive as you become gay out of fear of rejection from the opposite sex. So you find comfort, ability and familiarity in the same sex and end up matching someone who's the same as you… gay. Because there's no other f*cking options. You ugly b*tch… [Yeah], truth's a b*tch."

Miguel then apologised, stating:

"I'm not anti‑LGBTQ+. I made some very mean comments to a member of the community in regards to why they were a member and it wasn't right or tasteful. Regardless of the comments made to get me to such an ugly place, I was wrong and I'm not afraid to admit it. Two of my very best friends are members of said community and I'd take a bullet [for] either of them. I won't try to justify anything I said but I will apologize like a man. If I offended you then I'm genuinely sorry. Please find it in your hearts to forgive me. If you can't forgive me, I do not blame you. But this world needs more love than hate and I'm sorry for contributing to the less desired of the two."

Fightful has reported the internal AEW reaction was frustration as Miguel and The Rascalz have positive relationships within the promotion. A number of wrestlers also believed the standards applied to AEW talent don't apply to other personalities who work on Warner Bros. Discovery shows. Fightful noted that so far they haven't found a single person in AEW that was in favour of Trey being released.

Trey himself hinted his release was due to his past comments, as he tweeted on Monday: 

"I've made a lot of mistakes in my time. I've always apologized and did my best to put a better foot forward after. I don't preach hate and I don't take any pride in being hateful. I'm a man of faith, I believe in forgiveness and only ever preach that. I'm a different man today."