Former AEW Star Convinced Crowbar To Come Out Of Retirement

In 2014, Crowbar was ready to wrap up his wrestling career – but an up-and-coming young wrestler named Joey Janela convinced him to stay in the game.

In an interview with Wrestling Inc.'s Dominic DeAngelo, Crowbar recalled how Janela changed his life.

"I had started a physical therapy business that was booming, had a wife, two kids, and my rational side of the brain (along with friends and other family members) had convinced me that I should hang up the boots and grow up," he said. "A local wrestling promoter was running an event literally five minutes from my home. I had been off for about a year, or possibly more than a year, I think. Anyway, he asked me if I wanted to do one more match with some new kid, Joey Janela."

Crowbar researched Janela's work and voiced his appreciation over "how much talent he had, and I knew I could have a great last match with this guy." He figured that if he was going to exit the wrestling world, he wanted to "work really hard one last time and leave it all in the ring."

However, Crowbar's match against Janela did not turn out to be his swan song. Instead, Crowbar said that Janela "re-lit, reignited my passion for wrestling yet again, and made me remember what I love so much about performing."

The two men have since met in the ring on multiple occasions, including an AEW bout in October 2021, and became close friends outside of the ring, with Crowbar coordinating Janela's rehabilitation following a knee injury.

"He'll always be a special person to me because of what he gave back to me – he gave me back the passion for something I loved doing and stopped me from walking away from it," he said. "And as a result, I've had many great experiences I would have otherwise not enjoyed: ROH, AEW, Flair's Last Match weekend, NJPW. I'll always be grateful to Joey."