Joey Janela: I Have To Step It Up Before My AEW Contract Expires

Joey Janela has revealed he was unmotivated during the COVID-19 pandemic and The Bad Boy thinks he has to step it up ahead of his AEW contract expiring.

"The pandemic happened and that was it, I was unmotivated. I'm not an athlete like these guys. I can't go out there without a crowd. I have to have a crowd. I have to have that adrenaline. I hate to say it. I kind of half-assed it the whole year. I was unmotivated. I was depressed. I started to eat a lot. I got fatter and progressively worse. I looked worse and worse," Janela revealed on My Mom's Basement with Robbie Fox.

"I've had some good matches during the pandemic but it wasn't like pre-pandemic. The crowds are coming back. I'm under a three-year deal. My contract is up in May. I really have to step it up. I feel like I have in the last couple months had killer matches on Dark. The arenas coming back have really helped me," he continued.

"I feel like we have something in AEW, so I'm crossing my fingers and I hope that things are going in an upward trajectory because the whole pandemic was brutal, but for me, it was the worst."

Janela was one of All Elite Wrestling's first signings back in 2019. He has largely been consigned to matches on Dark in 2021, though, and he hasn't wrestled on Dynamite since May.

H/T to WrestlingNews.co