One of AEW’s earliest tag teams reportedly gone from the company
After barely being used over the past 18 months, The Butcher and The Blade — one of AEW’s earliest tag teams — are reportedly no longer with the company.
Fightful Select reported Thursday that the two men were not offered a contract extension after their deals recently came up, making them free agents.
Along with The Bunny, the 46-year-old Blade and the 48-year-old Butcher had been with AEW since the November 27, 2019, episode of Dynamite when they appeared from under the ring to attack Cody Rhodes. The duo feuded with the top teams at the time which included the Young Bucks, Lucha Bros., Jurassic Express and others, but never held the AEW World Tag Team titles.
With The Blade undergoing fusion back surgery that kept him out of action for two years, The Butcher then was moved to the singles ranks for the duration of his run which included some random tag team matches. He last appeared in AEW in February 2025 in a Collision loss to Gabe Kidd with The Blade’s last AEW match coming in January 2024.
The Blade returned to action this past December and has teamed with The Butcher once since coming back. They are set to compete for GCW in June.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.