There was trouble in paradise between Leyla Hirsch and Tony Khan.
Last month, it was confirmed that Hirsch didn’t re-sign with AEW when her picture from the website was removed from the roster. At the time, it wasn’t clear if Hirsch opted to not re-sign with AEW or if she was let go from the promotion.
The former AEW star spoke on Soul Sessions, and confirms that it was AEW’s decision to let her go, but it appears that Hirsch detailed her frustrations before the company made that decision. The 28-year-old detailed her final months starting with her feud with Red Velvet.
"When we found out we were going to wrestle at Final Battle, it was a huge thing. We wanted to come up with a story to make it mean more. I feel with Ring of Honor stories, there was never thought put into it with a lot of us. Me and Red came up with a storyline that we thought would be great. We pitched it to Tony [Khan] and two other people that were in the ring and they absolutely loved it. I got my excitement back. On my part, I made sure every week it was going to happen. 'Is it going to happen? We're going to do this?' 'Yup.' Long story short, I think the pay-per-view was Full Gear, it was going to be in New Jersey, my hometown, and one of the ideas was that we would wrestle. I was supposed to wrestle with her on that show. It was a go and I was going to have so many people come.
One week before, I found out it wasn't happening. That broke me. The story we had; we had so many great ideas of what we wanted to do. Just to know it was taken away from us and wasn't going to happen and the setup wasn't going to be anything I would have liked it to be, that broke me. I was like, 'Man, nothing I do here is going to matter. It just doesn't matter. I can pitch, I can have great matches, it just doesn't matter.' I think we had a really good match at Final Battle, but the build-up, to me, was very disappointing.
Hirsch further digs into her issues she had with AEW and she felt that she was losing the performer that she was.
"What hurt the most is the ideas that I had and pitched, the guys were able to do it. Full Gear, we could've had a great match to build to Final Battle. Instead, it was a random match. To me, it's frustrating because the females don't really have a lot of storylines. It's such a fight. It broke me and I feel like I couldn't do anything. It didn't matter. I tried. I want the fans to know that I tried in Ring of Honor to make it mean something. At a point where you try, try, and try and you invest and you're not getting that back, that's when I have to take the step back and be like, 'If they're not going to invest in me, it's going to be detrimental to my career.' I felt like I was losing the performer that I was."
Leyla discussed the final weeks before her release and highlighted that she only had one discussion about her re-signing. What ends up happening is that she talked to Tony Khan’s lawyers and the decision to release Hirsch was made without her getting a chance to talk to the AEW President.
"When my contract was coming up, it actually ended on my wedding day. There was a lot going on. I went six weeks prior to my contract ending to have a talk with Tony. I didn't even want to talk about the contract. I just wanted to talk, 'Hey, if I stay, what would be the plan?' I had been so patient and had done everything that was asked of me, but I felt that I needed and wanted more. I wanted to show them the value that they haven't had in me there. I want to prove my worth.
When I asked to talk to Tony, I guess somebody told him what I wanted to talk to him about. I never ended up talking to him. I ended up talking to one of the lawyers and somebody else about my contract. This was the only conversation I had, and it was a really good talk. It was very professional. I let them know my frustrations, which were very valid, and they understand and know. I just told them, 'I want to be here, but I want to grow as a performer. I need to grow as a performer being here.' We had a good talk and I felt good about it. They told me I would hear from them in the first week of February. Ultimately, I didn't hear anything from them.
"The frustrating part is they waited until less than two weeks to tell me they weren't going to re-sign me. I went six weeks early just so I could have a plan, especially since I was getting married. The part that is frustrating is I'm never going to know what was said to Tony. I don't think they would say anything bad to him because I said everything you would want to hear a talent say. It was just frustrating.
I can guess as to why they didn't sign me, and if it is the reason, I don't have any regrets. If I was complacent with AEW, I would still be with them. I don't have any regrets on anything. I think it sucks because it was one conversation and then nothing until less the two weeks when I got the call that they weren't going to re-sign me. It sucks, but I don't have any regrets. I did everything on my part and was very professional, even when there were definitely times when I would've had every right not to be.\
I'm always willing to bet on myself. I met such great people, but as far as my career, if I would have stayed there, I don't know what it would have done for my career. If the investment is not there right now, there is not much that I can do. At the end of the day, I'm just another number and it sucks. To me, it's a respect thing. Just let me know ahead of time so I can prepare. It is what it is."