Eli Drake was abruptly fired by Impact Wrestling, and now we know why.
The outspoken Eli Drake's release from the company has been linked to his refusal to wrestle Tessa Blanchard, a situation in which many figured to be a work. As it turns out, it wasn't, and Impact fired Drake via e-mail as a result -- along with a couple of other reasons.
According to a source, there was also a situation cited where Impact's writers felt Drake had disparaged them on the Wrestling Perspective Podcast, when he said that they "booked him into oblivion" after not being figured in to many plans. That, added to the Tessa Blanchard situation, and Drake mentioning in a tweet that Killer Kross would destroy Jordynne Grace in a real fight, led to Impact Wrestling severing ties with Drake.
Originally Moose was actually set to take on Tessa Blanchard, but balked at the offer and the Blanchard vs. Drake match was advertised before the participants were made aware. Drake then supposedly made it clear to Impact that he had no desire competing in the intergender match, which set forth the chain of events. This didn't help Drake, who was said to have had heat with management -- specifically Scott D'Amore -- since the new regime took over.
We're told that Drake had actually informed the company that he wouldn't be re-signing with them back in January, and his contract status became well known in the weeks that followed. Drake publicly spoke about his deal with Impact coming to a close at the end of May, but we're told that Impact is attempting to lock him down in a one-year non-compete.
Fightful will keep you updated on the situation as we gain more information.