Former Impact Wrestling Star Eli Drake (real name Shaun Ricker) announced Twitter Tuesday that he is officially a free agent.
In his post, Drake thanked Impact for the “overall great experience” and he also wished the company “nothing but continued success and growth going forward.”
We had reported back on April 7 that Impact “terminated” their contract with Drake.
According to a new report from PWInsider, the reason for termination was that Impact Wrestling management was upset with comments Drake had made about the company during interviews and had already been unhappy after he refused to work a match with Tessa Blanchard at the United We Stand PPV event during WrestleMania 35 weekend.
Also according to the same report from Johnson, Impact sources at the time of Drake’s termination believed they could enforce a one-year non-compete preventing him from signing with another company.
PWinsider is also reporting that Drake and Impact Wrestling came to a settlement regarding his termination and the non-complete clause, which is the reason Drake announced that he is a free agent. It is also being said that Impact sources have confirmed that Drake is free and clear to sign with any promotion.
Before Drake was terminated, his Impact contract was scheduled to expire on May 31.
He first signed with Impact Wrestling in 2015 as the company had made the transition to the Impact Wrestling name, along with a brief failed merger with Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling. In 2016, Drake became the GFW World Heavyweight Champion. He also held the Impact Tag Team Championships with Scott Steiner in 2018.
You can read Eli Drake’s Twitter post below:
Bookelidrake@Gmail.com #EliDrake #BreakingNews pic.twitter.com/d4UGGRrUAh
— LA Knight (@LAKnightWWE) June 4, 2019