When Alan Angels joined AEW, it was a very different time in the promotion's history. The pandemic was in full swing, shows had been relegated to either Daily's Place or, for a time, The Nightmare Factory in Georgia, and many of the promotion's top wrestlers, from Riho to PAC, were stuck in their home countries without a set date from which they could return.

In need of auxiliary talent who could fill out Dark and sometimes television matches, Tony Khan, QT Marshall, and eventually Shawn Dean began to seek out performers willing to make their way to ‘AEW Country' in the hopes of entertaining the fans at home and proving their mettle in the ring versus performers like Kenny Omega, who would typically be a few rungs higher on the booking pecking order.

This is how Angels joined AEW, first as an enhancement talent who lost to Lance Archer in just over 90 seconds on Dark before taking part in a now-notorious Dynamite match with Omega, where he lasted all of 6:19 before he was KO'd by a fittingly named One-Winged Angel. From there, Angels worked more matches on Dark, all of which were longer than his “too long” match with Omega before he was added to the Dark Order at the end of May, officially taking on the moniker “5” before eventually compromising on the moniker Alan “5” Angels, which he would use for the remainder of his time in AEW.

Wait, you may be asking, why use the phrase “remainder of his time” instead of something like “continue to use until this day?” Why talk about Angels in the past tense? Well, because for now at least, Angels is a former AEW wrestler, as, after his contract expired and he opted against signing a per-appearance deal to instead take a proper run at the independent scene as a solo performer only loosely connected to The Dark Order as a faction. He wants to test his mettle against main of the best performers on the scene today, potentially tag with Stu Grason once more, and, if his recent appearance at another promotion's taping is of any indication, may be back on your weekly television screen before you even knew he was gone, only this time, it'll be on Thursday nights instead of Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Fridays.

Look out for Alan “5” Angels to make an Impact away from AEW.

After wrestling one final match in AEW on June 5th, a Pure Rules match on Dark versus Daniel Garcia which was actually taped in advance, Alan Angels has made good on his desire to take a tour of the indies, taking on Hellman Rosecorwn in Pandemonium Wrestlenova, PPRay (Peter Avalon and Ray Rosas) in Prestige, and Aussie Open in the NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Title Tournament First Round, with the latter two occurring as part of a tag team with Evil Uno.

With matches already booked at Uncharted Territory versus Anthony Henry, at West Coach Pro versus Vinnie Massaro, at Prestige versus Frankie Kazarian, and at Garden State Pro Wrestling versus Kevin Blackwood, Angels summer is already looking pretty slammed with fun opportunities to showcase his skills against a variety of different opponents, but before any of that could take place, the 24-year-old, from Atlanta, Georgia had to first cross one name off of his Rhodesian bucket list in the form of “Speedball” Mike Bailey, whom he wrestled in a (presumably) losing effort at an Impact taping for their AXS television show that will air at a future date.

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Eli Drake on the left, an arrow pointing left to right in the middle and LA knight on the right with the NXT logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

AEW, Jade Cargill, Taya Valkyrie, Impact, Dynamite,

Matty Breisch ·

Matty Breisch ·

Wearing new grey attire with blue accents and sporting a video name screen with white letters over a blue, black, and white background, Angels took the ring against one of the best workers the independent wrestling world has to offer, and though we won't know how he fared in the match – though we can assume the outcome – when it does eventually drop, it's safe to say fans will be eagerly seeking out a chance to see what the former Dark Order member can do outside of the confines of his typical AEW bookings.

Will Alan Angels' decision to leave AEW prove to be the correct one? Will he traverse the indies like Drew McIntyre from 2014-17 or like Cody Rhodes from 2016-18 before helping to start his own promotion alongside Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, and Tony Khan? Or will his hype die down and the prospects of returning to the Dark Order on AEW television on a per-appearance basis may prove his best option to pay his bills from wrestling? The next few months will tell us a lot, especially with his forthcoming appearance on Impact.