{"id":243866,"date":"2026-05-17T20:10:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T20:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/17\/former-aew-champion-sends-a-message-to-jc-mateo-following-his-wwe-departure\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T20:10:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T20:10:05","slug":"former-aew-champion-sends-a-message-to-jc-mateo-following-his-wwe-departure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/17\/former-aew-champion-sends-a-message-to-jc-mateo-following-his-wwe-departure\/","title":{"rendered":"Former AEW champion sends a message to JC Mateo following his WWE departure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5168446\" data-slug-id=\"2783246\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>JC Mateo was released by WWE a few weeks ago. Before his release, he was involved in WWE SmackDown alongside the MFT faction led by Solo Sikoa. Recently, a former AEW champion sent a heartwarming message to the former WWE star, weeks after his release from the company.<\/p>\n<p>The star is none other than former AEW World Tag Team Champion Brody King. The latter has been one of the fiercest rivals of Mateo during his independent run. They have faced each other multiple times in incredible matches in promotions like the Ring of Honor, NJPW, PWG, and WSW. Recently, King recalled one of their matches with the former WWE star from the indies.<\/p>\n<p>Taking to Instagram, Brody King shared a story where he posted a reel from one of their matches in their career. The reel featured a solid back-and-forth between the two stars, where JC went on to deliver King a body slam. In a heartfelt tone, the AEW star said that he is missing getting slammed by his good friend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/jeff-cobb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">JC Mateo<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I miss getting tossed around by my strong friend @jeffcobb,&#8221; wrote King.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong><em>Check out the Instagram post below:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"image\"><noscript><\/noscript><img class=\"lazy-img\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" data-img=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/05\/144da-17790395456010-1920.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/05\/144da-17790395456010-1920.jpg?w=190 190w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/05\/144da-17790395456010-1920.jpg?w=720 720w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/05\/144da-17790395456010-1920.jpg?w=640 640w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/05\/144da-17790395456010-1920.jpg?w=1045 1045w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/05\/144da-17790395456010-1920.jpg?w=1200 1200w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/05\/144da-17790395456010-1920.jpg?w=1460 1460w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/05\/144da-17790395456010-1920.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/05\/144da-17790395456010-1920.jpg 1920w\" alt=\"Brody King&amp;#039;s story [Image via Instagram\/@brodyxking]\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/05\/144da-17790395456010-1920.jpg?w=640\" bad-src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,&lt;svg%20xmlns=%22http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%201600%20900%22&gt;&lt;\/svg&gt;\"\/><figcaption>Brody King&#8217;s story [Image via Instagram\/@brodyxking]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>JC Mateo hinted at making his return to professional wrestling<\/h2>\n<p>JC Mateo made his debut in WWE in May 2025. He had a lackluster run with the promotion, where he did not receive any major limelight and was released in less than a year after his debut. But a while ago, JC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/news-released-wwe-star-finally-breaks-silence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">teased about making a return<\/a> to professional wrestling following his release from WWE.<\/p>\n<p>Taking to X, Mateo reshared a video from an NJPW event where he was performing an outside dive. Expressing his surprise over himself, the former WWE star wrote that it is perhaps time to revisit his former self in pro-wrestling.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I used to do fun stuff in an alternative universe\u2026.. maybe it\u2019s time to dust off the ol college degree,&#8221; wrote JC.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong><em>Check out his X post below:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Before his WWE debut, JC was a menace in the independent wrestling scene. His hard-hitting moves made him one of the fastest-rising names in many promotions outside of WWE. He used to perform outside dives and agile actions that surprised many fans during his NJPW era. <\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, there is a hope among the fans that Mateo might join AEW down the line. Well, only time will tell if <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/tony-khan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Tony Khan<\/a> will be interested in signing the former WWE star.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline bottom\" data-tab=\"bottom\">\n<p>Get all the hottest wrestling news FIRST by clicking <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=sportskeeda.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\" class=\"bottom_tagline_link\" data-tab=\"bottom\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Anugrah Tyagi<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/aew\/news-former-aew-champion-sends-message-jc-mateo-following-wwe-departure\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>JC Mateo was released by WWE a few weeks ago. Before his release, he was involved in WWE SmackDown alongside the MFT faction led by Solo Sikoa. Recently, a former AEW champion sent a heartwarming message to the former WWE star, weeks after his release from the company. The star is none other than former [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":243867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-243866","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}