Latest Backstage Update On AEW Contract Situations Of Rush And Dralistico

It has been a month of speculation regarding the AEW status of brothers Rush and Dralistico, both of whom have been absent from TV for months. While Rush has remarked cryptically that he wasn't out with injury and perhaps wouldn't wrestle till 2027, Dralistico has been less subtle, posting an AI photo of himself in prison earlier in the week, suggesting he wanted out of AEW. That part may be true and may be happening sooner than later, as Bryan Alvarez of F4Wonline reported Tuesday that Dralistico's AEW contract expires in December, with Alvarez believing he's looking to leave AEW based on Dralistico's tweet.

When it comes to Rush, however, the situation appears to be a bit different. Despite the appearance of Rush's previous tweets, Alvarez says they are entirely visa related, as Rush's visa has expired some time in the recent past. Furthermore, Rush's new visa isn't expected to come in until the start of 2027, all but confirming that the new year would be the soonest that AEW fans would see Rush again. It was further noted that, despite the speculation, Rush "is happy in AEW" by all familiar with the situation.

If that is the case, it would be yet another occurrence of visa issues affecting AEW plans, as Alvarez' "Wrestling Observer Radio" co-host Dave Meltzer had previously reported that Ilja Dragunov's arrival in the promotion had been delayed due to him waiting for a new visa. Rush himself has dealt with this problem in the past, revealing in early 2024 that his absence from TV during the first part of the year had been due to a combination of recovering from an injury and visa issues.

Having watched and followed the careers of Rush and Dralistico dating back to when I started following CMLL in 2015, I find this whole situation annoying, exhausting, and probably just the first part of a situation that's going to get even more annoying. But assuming there are no twists and turns coming, it does appear that Dralistico is going to be departing AEW sooner rather than later, while Rush will be sticking around. If that is the case then all I can do is sit here and say praise be! Dralistico leaving AEW is not only the best move for him, but it's the best move for AEW and it's quite frankly the best move for his older brother if he has any hope of becoming a more consistent presence on AEW TV.

Now to be clear; I am not a big fan of Dralistico, and haven't been going back to his days where he was the replacement Mistico in CMLL. There's some talent there, but he's always been wildly inconsistent, even at his best, he's doing stuff at a level that other luchadors do far better, and I think he's been an anchor of sorts to Rush, because Dralistico without being paired with Rush doesn't work. So him leaving doesn't hurt AEW, and Dralistico going to AAA or the Mexican indies could be what breathes him new life. It also frees Rush to go off and be Rush, which, when motivated, is one of the most dynamic and exciting luchadors in the world. Of course, there's no guarantee Rush doesn't combust anyway (he's volatile in his own right), nor no guarantee that he gets the sustained AEW push he's looking for. But ultimately, if the idea is Dralistico leaves and Rush stays, it strikes me as a positive for both, and for AEW, who now no longer has to worry about keeping Rush paired with a guy they've seemingly never had much interest in.