AEW Fan Favorite's Disappearance From TV Has Curious Explanation

Miro (Rusev in WWE) was one of the biggest names that came from WWE to take a chance on All Elite Wrestling (AEW) when it was established and became one of its biggest stars early on.

However, Miro has rarely been seen on AEW programming and fans have been extremely frustrated with him not being utilized.

Fightful Select reported behind its paywall that AEW creative is practically the one that should shoulder the blame for his absence–despite being fully healthy to compete.

"After inquiring with All Elite Wrestling sources, it was reiterated to us that Miro is and has been completely healthy, and wanting to actively compete. However, we're told that creative simply hasn't been presented for him," Fightful Select's report read.

"We're told there were plans to have creative conversations, but that those haven't happened as of yet."

In December of 2021, it was reported that Miro had been dealing with a hamstring issue and would be sidelined for a few months while also having his own projects outside of the pro wrestling industry.

He made his return to AEW programming in the summer and won his match over Johnny Elite (John Morrison in WWE) on the June 1 edition of AEW Dynamite.

Since then though, he has only had four matches to his name including his June 1 match–a win against Ethan Page on June 15, competing in a four-way matchup at AEW/NJPW cross-over Forbidden Door pay-per-view event and at AEW All Out in September.

Fightful Select additionally noted that Miro wants to have more matches soon, but no date has been given.

This has been one of the biggest gripes that AEW fans have had in recent months after stacking their roster with talent since WWE made their budget cut releases throughout the global pandemic and in 2021.

Because of the sudden depth in performers, both homegrown stars and new signings have been fighting for screentime.

It also does not help AEW's case that they seemingly had an emphasis on signing big-name stars like Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Keith Lee and Samoa Joe to name a few.

They also brought in a ton of names to round out their mid-card, where Miro and most homegrown AEW names reside, by signing Claudio Castagnoli, Swerve Strickland and Parker Bodreaux among others.

AEW could have opted to sign fewer names in order to focus on the talent that they already have because in many pro wrestling fans and observers' eyes, they need not compete with WWE instantly.

However, AEW president Tony Khan may have booked his promotion into a corner with the over-signings and now the struggle of giving everyone TV time is starting to burden their creative team.