Fabian Aichner has opened up about the emotional roller coaster surrounding his WWE departure.
Before his release, WWE had aired a series of vignettes teasing the return of Aichner, who was then performing as Giovanni Vinci. However, those plans were abruptly dropped, and Aichner was ultimately released by the company.
During a recent appearance on Busted Open Radio (full episode below), Aichner recalled receiving the unexpected phone call informing him of his release.
“You know, that was such a surreal moment. I remember sitting by my pool. I just got done working out. I ate my cereal after and I got that call, and I was like, ‘Whoa.’ You know, I never really thought too much about it, never envisioned it. But then I was like, ‘Okay, well,” Aichner said.
Aichner admitted the timing made the situation particularly difficult, as he believed the return vignettes were finally leading to the opportunity he had been waiting for.
“I think because the last couple of months in WWE was such an emotional roller coaster ride, with things getting started, we saw the vignettes, I was like, ‘Oh, well, here we go. This is the moment I’ve been working for my whole life.’ And then, yeah, after two weeks, it kind of just ended very abruptly.
“You know, I tried to figure things out. I was constantly thinking about it, but then the decision was made for me. I wouldn’t have left myself because I was always WWE all the way when I signed. But then that decision was made for me, and I was just like, ‘Okay, let’s do something else. Let’s just completely recharge the batteries.’”
The 36-year-old wrestled his final WWE match on December 13, 2025, losing to Luke Gallows in a dark match at SmackDown. Following his departure, Aichner stepped away from professional wrestling before resurfacing with TNA in May 2026.
Elsewhere in the interview, Aichner described his release as an “avalanche of emotions” and explained why he initially wanted nothing to do with wrestling.
“It was a bit of an avalanche of emotions. I kind of expected it, but I also didn’t think it would happen. So it was like, I didn’t feel anything right after it happened, to be honest, for a couple of days. Then, as the time went on, I got a chance to process things a little bit, and really for the first time in my life, I did not want to know about wrestling one bit.
“I just wanted to detach completely because I had my first match 15 years ago, and I’ve been on it nonstop ever since. I’ve been going for 15 years, and this was really the first time where, yeah, I didn’t want to know about wrestling. I wanted to experience life, what it was like without it.
“And now looking back at that, I consider myself very lucky because I experienced life without wrestling. And, you know, maybe you heard the saying, ‘Athletes die twice,’ so once when their career ends and then when their life ends,” he further added. “Well, now I had the opportunity to see life and what it would be like if my career was over. But now it’s almost like a second coming because I had my opportunity to go back to TNA and to live it up again.“
