Alex Gracia Looks Back On Her AEW Run, Explains Why She Moved On

Alex Gracia enjoyed her time in All Elite Wrestling, but she decided to move on and leave her comfort zone.

Garcia has competed all over the wrestling world for a number of promotions, including CMLL, ROH, and NWA. She is also active on the independent scene. Previously, Gracia wrestled somewhat regularly for AEW between the fall of 2020 and the spring of 2021. She hasn’t worked for the company since the March 25 taping of AEW Dark: Elevation in 2021.

In an interview with PWMania.com, Gracia reflected on her time with the company and expressed her gratitude for the way she was able to work during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She noted that she liked facing a range of talent on the roster.

“I mean, I’m beyond thankful I was able to work there during COVID where you couldn’t work anywhere else,” Gracia said. “So I was going every other week and just being able to wrestle while so many people were stuck and not having that opportunity. It was great. I was there and I had a lot of good, great things happen to me there I got to do Dynamite and faced Shida who was the champion at the time, and I had matches consistently.

“I felt like I was always getting to wrestle someone new, which is what I love to do and what I love about working for wrestling companies, I love that there’s a roster. So you have those group of girls that you know, you’re gonna wrestle and it’s like every match you’ll have, it’s just gonna get better and better, because you have that first time you wrestle someone, but then it’s like, okay, I know you can bring it, let’s go again. I think that’s what’s really exciting about it.”

Gracia went on to describe how, while she consistently had matches, multiple companies reached out to her, and she had to make a decision because she didn’t have a contract with AEW. She stated that she chose the opportunity to explore other opportunities in an effort to make things happen. Gracia also stated that she wanted to stay, but she knew she had to tale a chance on herself and her goal to grow as a wrestler.

“Around six months went by and WWE had reached out again, Ring of Honor reached out and NWA reached out. And that’s where… I had to make the decision because I wasn’t signed to AEW,” Gracia said. “I thought I need to go explore other things if I’m not going to get offered something right now. That’s what made me go take other opportunities. Like you can’t, you can’t sit and wait for things to happen, you’ve got to go make things happen. I wanted to stay there and be there for my personal and professional self, I felt like that would have been a great place.

“Plus, I really got along with a lot of the girls there because we were all there in the little COVID group. We were always seeing each other every single week. However when the time came and I saw that I wasn’t gonna get offered anything and I was like, Okay, I need to get out of my comfort zone, which has been here, and go explore other options, or at least that or maybe it just means I need to go keep growing as a wrestler. That’s when I ended up stepping away.”