At the end of April, Stu Grayson left AEW following his contract expiring and the two sides being unable to come to an agreement.
Grayson debuted at AEW Double or Nothing 2019 alongside his long-time tag team partner Evil Uno. They would find a regular spot in AEW as the Dark Order, going from a tag team to a full group. Dark Order would remain a staple in AEW, though their usage on AEW Dynamite and Rampage would fluctuate.
Grayson cut a promo on a March episode of Being The Elite, expressing his frustration with his lack of in-ring time on television after Hangman Page opted to team with Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy over anyone in the Dark Order.
“Kenny Omega has tried to work with me since forever. In 13 years I had like 13 matches—something like that—it’s very hard to show the world how good you are in such a limited amount of time,” Grayson said, noting that he didn’t have one singles match in AEW in an interview with SLAM. “I would trade in a hundred dark matches for 15 minutes on television."
Grayson wrestled 18 matches on AEW Dynamite and competed against Omega multiple times in multi-man bouts.
“I never wanted to get paid to do nothing. I’d rather make less money and be useful than being useless and make a ton of money. That’s not how I am. I need to be challenged. I would go to the gym and hit a massive leg day so that way I’d feel challenged,” he said claiming his AEW check seemed like charity at times.
Grayson has returned to the Canadian Independent scene since leaving AEW and will face Eddie Kingston at Fighting Back 11 on August 19. Grayson noted in the interview that he didn't want to abandon the Canadian scene when he signed with AEW and wouldn't have signed if they didn't allow him to work Indies.
Fans can find Evil Uno's comments on Grayson's departure from AEW by clicking here.
