Tony Chimel Shuts Down Rumors AEW Fired Him

Tony Chimel is clearing up a big misunderstanding about his relationship with All Elite Wrestling — because despite what some people believed, he says he was never fired.

The longtime wrestling announcer addressed the situation while appearing on the HUGE POP! podcast on March 12, 2026, where he explained that confusion surrounding his AEW status started after something he said months earlier during another interview. Chimel admitted that his wording in that earlier appearance made it sound like he was no longer associated with the company at all — something he now says simply wasn’t accurate.

“I would like to clarify something I said on some other podcast about six months ago about AEW. I made the mistake of saying I don’t work for them anymore, which is not true.”

According to Chimel, once those comments started circulating online, people quickly assumed the worst — that AEW had quietly released him. He made it clear that was never the case: “I’ve been told that people were assuming that I got fired, which I never did get fired.”

The former WWE ring announcer went on to explain that his relationship with AEW was never based on a full-time contract to begin with. Instead, he was working under a per-appearance arrangement, meaning the company would simply call him in whenever they needed him. Because of that setup, Chimel says technically nothing has changed about his relationship with the company: “Technically, I still would work for AEW if they called or wanted me to do anything.”

However, he acknowledged that it has been quite some time since he last appeared for the promotion, which likely fueled the speculation that his run had quietly ended. Chimel also revealed that someone inside AEW actually contacted him after hearing the original interview, pointing out that his comments had unintentionally created the false narrative.

“But right now, that hasn’t happened in a while so I just wanna clear that up, that I wasn’t fired from AEW. Well, it actually wasn’t the internet. It was a fellow coworker which I don’t wanna say but they were a little upset that, ‘You never got fired!’”

Chimel further explained that the nature of AEW’s current production setup may have played a role in why his services haven’t been needed recently. With the company running smaller venues and adjusting its presentation, his role simply hasn’t been as necessary: “They downsized to smaller arenas and I think that what I was doing really wasn’t that big of a deal there.”

Despite that, Chimel made it clear there’s no bad blood between him and AEW. In fact, he says he’s still in contact with several people in the company and would absolutely consider returning if the opportunity came up again.

“But I’m still in contact with some people there and I had a great time working there and would think about coming back if they ever asked.”

For now, Chimel’s AEW status appears to be less of a breakup and more of a quiet pause. He hasn’t been brought in recently, but the door clearly isn’t closed either — meaning a surprise return down the road isn’t completely off the table.

Do you think Tony Chimel should return to AEW for special appearances, or would you rather see him back in WWE? Let us know your thoughts and leave your feedback below.