Former AEW star Bear Bronson has officially entered free agency following the expiration of his AEW contract on June 1. Appearing on the Wrestling Junkies podcast, Bronson opened up about his departure from the company, voicing dissatisfaction with how he was utilized and reflecting on his future in the industry.
Bronson, best known as part of the Iron Savages tag team, revealed that he became disillusioned with his role in AEW, saying he often felt stuck and undervalued.
“I’m not going to say I ever fell out of love with wrestling,” Bronson admitted, “but I do believe I hit a point in AEW where I felt complacent, just with the role that we were given. And when you’re surrounded by a lot of people that pressure you to just be grateful, be grateful you’re getting used for that minute and 30 seconds, you kind of put yourself in this mode of forcing yourself to be happy with what you’re doing when I’m looking at my best friends on top of the world becoming world champions and even my peers in the locker room chasing the things they want. But I have a lot of people looking down on me saying, ‘Just be happy you’re used,’ that kind of gets to you over time.”
One key influence during this period, Bronson says, was former AEW star Mike Santana, who walked away from the promotion after becoming dissatisfied with his position.
“Another person who was a huge inspiration along the way was Mike Santana,” he said. “We watched Mike Santana leave AEW, even though this guy was in the Inner Circle at one point, he was doing great but as time went on things just… I’m sure many people were in his ear, ‘Dude, just be grateful, be grateful for where you are’ and he had the balls to be like, ‘No, this isn’t what I want, I want more than this.’”
Santana’s words also left a lasting impression on Bronson. “You’re not starting from square one, you’re starting from experience,” he recalled Santana telling him. “That stuck with me like crazy.”
Bronson also detailed a candid conversation he had with AEW management regarding the Iron Savages’ future within the company. After asking whether the team could expect to rise through the ranks, the answer he received made his decision clear.
“I asked them, ‘Is this something that can grow bigger? Over the next year, can we rise up the card?’ They were very honest with us. Somebody got back to me and said, ‘No, they just see this as an enhancement thing.’ And that’s where I was like, ‘Oh man, I gotta get the f**k out of here.’”
He elaborated further: “When I got into wrestling, when I started as a wrestler, your dream isn’t to be the guy that is already in the ring and loses in 30 seconds. Your dream is to main event WrestleMania. Your dream is to be a star, be a top guy, be the best performer you can possibly be. So when they told me that, it was like sirens went off in my head.”
Still, Bronson made it clear that he doesn’t harbor ill will toward AEW or Tony Khan.
“Again, that’s no knock on them either,” he said. “They have a lot of signed people, they have a lot of people they need to cater to. Tony Khan and AEW aren’t sitting at home thinking about Bear Bronson. So I don’t blame them. That’s not their fault.”
In the wake of his departure, Bronson has been actively competing on the independent circuit, working for promotions such as Beyond Wrestling, Limitless Wrestling, C4, and Wrestling Open.
His former tag team partner, Bear Boulder, was released from AEW earlier this year following a legal issue stemming from an arrest on charges of battery by strangulation.
(H/T to Ian Carey of F4WOnline.com for transcribing the above quotes.)
