Brock Anderson Explains Why He Turned Down AEW Contract Renewal

Brock Anderson recently revealed that he turned down a potential AEW contract extension, due in part to the amount of guaranteed dates being too low.

Anderson debuted in AEW in June 2021 and wrestled sporadically for the company. His last AEW match was on the August 12th, 2023, episode of AEW Collision. He confirmed his departure from the company in October 2023.

During a recent appearance on K & S WrestleFest, the former AEW talent revealed that about two years into his contract, he knew he wasn’t on the path that he wanted to be on in AEW. (H/t POST Wrestling for the transcription)

“About two years in probably,” said Anderson of his realization. “Hindsight’s 20/20. It was like a brand new company. They’d only done a handful of TVs before COVID, and then they went into COVID. So, in one sense, it was the best place for me to be because it’s not like I could be out on the indies. They weren’t running. So, at least I was there and when I was there, Cody (Rhodes) was there and we were in Jacksonville at the Daily’s Place right next to the Jaguars stadium. During the day, like, TV days, they would have all the young guys out there and we would roll around and… some of the boys watching and they’re like, ‘Hey, that was good. This was bad.’

“So in that respect, it was good, and like I said, it was a newish company and we’re in the middle of a global pandemic. We didn’t know if we were gonna develop a training center or any of that because it’s early so you’re just like, alright, we’re just gonna keep doing this and see what happens and surely, God, maybe getting a training center or see how they do — bring us along, and then, once we got out of the pandemic, we were rocking and rolling, hitting towns every week and it was just TVs, and that school never came.”

Brock Anderson Wanted Repetitions

Anderson went on to note that AEW wanted to extend his deal, but it was not enough, as he wanted more guaranteed dates.

“So, after just doing those five-minute Universal (Orlando) matches, you can’t really get better doing that. It’s too short of a time. You don’t learn how to wrestle,” Anderson said. “So, after about a year and a half — it’s great, I love everybody there, I appreciate the opportunity they gave me; Tony (Khan) and everybody. It’s just, where I was, I needed to be somewhere where I could actually get repetitions and learn the business.

“So, they sent me another — they wanted to redo the current deal I was on. It was not enough so I was like, ‘Maybe we just don’t do this and maybe we just go our separate ways,’ and I think it was the best decision I made, because if I just stay there and worked the five, six times a year that I was guaranteed, I would never have the mentor I got sitting to my left (C.W. Anderson), and all the knowledge I’ve soaked up in that short amount of time.”