Daniel Garcia: A lot of AEW criticism comes from ‘people who retired their jerseys’

Image: AEW

Daniel Garcia continued his recent round of media following his new contract with AEW, taking aim at those who criticize the company, confirming past and current locker room issues, and the decision process he went through for nearly a year to re-sign.

Garcia spoke with Uproxx and while he says there are positive outlets out there, he takes umbrage with certain podcasters who “are clearly just looking for clicks.”

“Hating on AEW is a very popular thing and it gets people a lot of attention, and I feel like a lot of these things come from people who retired their jerseys. We never hung it in the rafters and we don’t even remember what their number was on their jerseys. A lot of those people are trying to get a new career off hating on AEW and hating on people who are trying to be successful. And it’s just…it’s sad to see. I hope I never have to go through that when I’m older,” he said.

While there has yet to be a formal announcement on Garcia signing a new deal, the article stated he recently renewed a contract, saying he was “agonizing” over the decision to do so for nearly a year without directly quoting him. The wrestler said he felt like most of the time, he knew AEW was the right place for him — at least for now.

“I think AEW right now is just a place that I really believe in. You look around the locker room, there are people that I want to go to war with. We have a roster that motivates me to get better, to be a better wrestler, and a better performer,” he said.

He did confirm past reports about locker room strife without specifically mentioning incidents or people. He did credit people like Chris Jericho and FTR for helping guide him in his young career and seemed to indicate there are still issues currently.

“AEW’s obviously been through ups and downs over the past couple years of. Like you hear the rumors about the locker room and a lot of them are true. Like a lot of the times the locker room is going through trouble and turmoil and people are mad at each other. But, for the past year or so, I would say that we’ve been going through a really good upswing of positivity and everyone’s helping each other and it’s just a really good environment to be a part of,” he said.

Garcia is expected to challenge TNT Champion Jack Perry at next month’s Full Gear. He is currently aligned with Private Party against The Elite as well as fending off the new-look Blackpool Combat Club.