>>9319474He literally says that AEW was being weird about it
"We had a deal worked out. And then we didn't And then we did again. And then we didn't. We just couldn't come to terms with everything," said Eli. "Then, I spoke with Joey Mercury at Ring of Honor and that happened just before talking to [Dave] Lagana and Billy [Corgan] at NWA. At that point, I was just weighing my options and seeing what was what. I had been contacted by friends of mine who are in WWE and they said, 'You should let them know you're available.' I was like, 'For the last three years, I've kinda jerked their chain. I'm gonna ease off of that for right now.' Because for three years I was like, 'I'd love to come over there.' They were like, 'Great, we'd love to have you.' And I was like, 'Ah, I'm gonna stay where I am.' I don't wanna keep being the boy who cried wolf. So I didn't even bother reaching out to them."
