AR Fox Reveals His Reaction To Getting An AEW Contract

At 35 years old, AR Fox thought the sun was setting on his professional wrestling career. That is, until he got the chance to work as an enhancement talent for AEW last year and worked his way up to earning a contract with the promotion.

During a recent appearance on the "AEW Unrestricted" podcast, the longtime independent wrestler opened up about the moment last November when backstage interviewer Lexy Nair surprised him mid-interview with a contract offer from owner Tony Khan.

"It just took me off guard," Fox said. "I'm super humble, but I almost had a gut feeling, only because right before we were about to do it [AEW producer Sonjay Dutt] called Lexy back over real quick and whispered something in her ear and my gut just sank. I don't know, because I've just been doing it for so long, I thought it was done and past me getting a shot. So, I was just kind of happy to be there. But yeah, it was crazy. I'm still kind of speechless about it."

Fox said he'll "never forget" the moment Nair delivered the news. " I just thought it would never happen and it was unbelievable to me," he said.

Since 2007, Fox worked on the independent scene for promotions such as Combat Zone Wrestling, Dragon Gate, and Lucha Underground, but never caught on with a major promotion. Fox said he called former student Shawn Dean, who is a key figure in booking "AEW Dark," to ask if they needed any new enhancement talent on the weekly show.

Fox landed a six-man tag match with two of his students — in which they only had five minutes — before working his way up to more bookings, and ultimately, an AEW contract.