Tully Blanchard Explains Why He Had A 'Difficult Time' In AEW

Veteran manager Tully Blanchard has discussed his stint in AEW and why it was a difficult period for him.

Blanchard debuted in AEW in 2019, initially managing Shawn Spears, and was later paired with FTR. The WWE Hall of Famer stated in a recent interview on "Busted Open" that his tenure with Spears went well, but he couldn't replicate the same when he became manager of FTR.

"It was a different time. Cody Rhodes got me involved when he was at AEW and wanted me to manage Shawn Spears. And that worked really, really well," he began. "And then they put me with FTR for a while and thought things were going well. I wasn't really a good manager ... well, I take that back — I don't know that I was a bad manager, but during my career, matches were not laid out like they are now, and I had a very, very difficult time [to follow] 'Okay, when this happens, you do this,' rather than flowing with the audience and stuff like I had always done."

He emphasized how he wasn't used to having pre-planned spots and had a tough time remembering what he had to do next during his time in AEW.

"And so I was inevitably in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.

He recalled a specific spot when he was managing FTR when he had to knock the tag team's opponent's foot off the rope, which he didn't do, that resulted in some people in AEW being unhappy with him. Blanchard was ultimately fired by FTR in storyline, after which he was moved to AEW's sister brand, ROH, where he managed Tully Blanchard Enterprises, before he was let go by AEW.