The Rascalz made their AEW debuts on Collision Saturday night (Jan. 17), but only Myron Reed, Zachary Wentz, and Dezmond Xavier emerged from their usual smoke-filled room. We soon learned that the fourth Rascal, Trey Miguel had been quietly released from the contract he just signed along with his teammates days earlier.
On Wrestling Observer Radio today (Jan. 19), Bryan Alvarez said that his sources tell him the decision came from someone “above” AEW president Tony Khan:
“No one’s really saying much.
Well, some people are saying certain things, but my understanding is whatever it is, it came from up above. I know there’s a lot of rumors but it had nothing to do with anybody in AEW talent, anything like that, or Tony [Khan]. Something happened from way up and he was released.”
Over the course of the day, a few past instances of Miguel displaying bigoted behavior while arguing with others on social media resurfaced. Those included homophobic comments to a troll on Facebook in 2020 that Miguel apologized for the same day, and anti-semitic ones in a Twitter exchange with a Jewish now-former-wrestler the year before.
A short time ago, Miguel posted another apology, but didn’t specify what “mistakes” he was apologizing for:
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.
At a glance, the situation seems similar to how Khan’s said he couldn’t feature current TNT champion Mark Briscoe and his late brother Jay on Warner Bros. Discovery-owned TBS or TNT until after Jay’s death as the Briscoes were banned from the network due to homophobic statements they made in the past, and apologized multiple times for before Jay died in a 2023 auto accident.
Miguel is also the second member of The Rascalz group to have his social media past impact his pro wrestling present. Wentz’s run in WWE as Nash Carter ended when a past photo of Wentz in a Hitler costume spread online. After multiple apologies and a controversy-free run in TNA, no one above Khan apparently took exception to Wentz’s contract.
More to come, most likely.
