AEW CEO Tony Khan has addressed Miro’s departure from AEW and his eventual return to WWE, speaking candidly about the split during an interview on The Ariel Helwani Show.
Miro — formerly a TNT Champion in AEW and now competing again under his WWE ring name Rusev — had not appeared on AEW television for over a year before his release earlier in 2025.
Khan confirmed that the exit stemmed from creative disagreements rather than injury or disciplinary issues. “Miro is a great wrestler. He was great in AEW. He was a TNT Champion. I think he and I just had, at times, different visions of things, but that’s okay because everyone’s entitled to different opinions and different ideas,” Khan said. “Really, that’s what this all is. It’s different ideas. We just kind of drifted into some different ideas of what we thought we should be doing, and that’s okay.”
Miro last competed for AEW on December 30, 2023, defeating Andrade El Idolo at the Worlds End Premium Live Event. Though healthy, he remained absent from TV for more than a year due to unresolved creative issues before AEW granted his release in early 2025.
Khan added that Miro’s previous success in WWE likely made the choice to return an easy one. “I think he’d worked in WWE before and that clearly was a good experience for him, so he clearly was excited to go back, and he did go back,” Khan continued. “I wish him the best. That’s what he’s doing now. That must make sense for him and that must be why he wanted to do it.”
Rusev made his dramatic WWE comeback on the Raw after WrestleMania 41 (April 21, 2025), ending a five-year absence. He immediately reasserted himself by destroying Alpha Academy’s Chad Gable and Otis, signaling that WWE is positioning him for a major singles run. He has since advanced in the “Last Time Is Now” tournament to determine John Cena’s final opponent.
