Bates started with AEW in 2019.
On May 1st, Leva Bates took to her social media platforms to share the news that her contract with All Elite Wrestling expired. Bates had been with the company since April of 2019 and along the way, she transitioned to a behind the scenes role and had a double contract.
In her message concerning her exit, she expressed gratitude for her time in AEW and did so again on her Twitch stream the day after her departure was made public.
She reiterated that she put a lot of love, time and effort into AEW and has no regrets. Bates added that she has multiple independent bookings lined up. She has talked with Peter Avalon about still appearing on Being The Elite but does not know if that’s an option. Bates said she thinks she’ll miss AEW Heels the most and hopes to still be part of that community.
Yes, I am no longer with AEW but that is okay. I put a lot of love and effort and energy into that place and no regrets. I am so happy to be there from day one before we even had a show, before we even had our first pay-per-view and I have made history. I am a part of history. So I am forever grateful and forever will just be so thankful to have been a part of that. But, as you know, probably realize, I am not performing as much as I would like to perform. So I’m taking all of this energy and focusing it on trying to make things happen. Trying to wrestle as many places as I can. To go, maybe, who knows where? I’m trying to act. I have some stuff lined up to get me on my journey. I have a really cool meeting for some voiceover demo stuff. Hopefully that goes well and I can move forward with that and hopefully land a voiceover agent and all the things you’re supposed to do so, I got a lot of things in motion. I’ll be honest, I already got a couple of indie bookings kind of lined up. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say where they are yet because we literally just locked them down… I’m coming to a town near you probably so, definitely keep your eyes open. I’m going to be available to you more probably than I have before. Peter (Avalon) and I jokingly have thought, well maybe I should still do BTE. I don’t know if that’s an option, maybe. Maybe you’ll see me on B.T.E. still. I don’t know, or maybe I’ll do my own thing… I’m gonna miss it a lot. I really, really put a lot of love and work into Heels. I think that’s gonna be one of the things I miss the most because that community, they’re just so wonderful. I love them so much. If there’s any Heels in the audience right now or in the chat, please let me know. So hopefully, I’ll still be around in one capacity or another. I’m always a Heel whether I’m there or not. I’m still part of the community so, you know, sometimes you just gotta walk away from a very comfortable situation but sometimes you have to do the scary things to make the dreams happen… But yeah, it’s gonna be okay. I know a lot of people are sad. I was a little sad. I went through a gamut of emotions. Also, really excited so, I am excited to see what’s next. I think I got some good stuff coming.
Later in the stream, she recounted the realization that she was no longer employed to AEW. Bates was at the dentist and when she left there, she was planning to get on a work call.
When I got out of the dentist, I was going to do a work call, was gonna get done with the work call, call around for vets (for my pet) and then take him. I got out of the dentist and realized I didn’t have a job (she laughed). So, that changed some plans. I had to figure out a lot of things very quickly. Had to have a lot of conversations.
Bates has been wrestling for over a decade. She was featured on the Dark and Dark: Elevation shows. Bates’ last in-ring appearance on Dynamite was in March 2020.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit the original source with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
