It was an eventful Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning for one Willie Mack, as the often absent AEW star unloaded some of his grievances with the promotion in a series of tweets. While the tweets illustrated Mack’s unhappiness with his current placement in AEW, it also led to renewed questions regarding his contractual status with the promotion, something that has surrounded Mack ever since he first began wrestling matches for AEW and Ring of Honor in 2023.

Now some clarity has been added to the situation. Fightful Select reports that Mack is still under AEW contract with what is described as a “tier zero” deal. This means that Mack is not under salary with AEW, but is instead paid per appearance. With Mack hardly making any appearances for AEW/ROH in 2025, and none so far in 2026, this would suggest he’s yet to earn an AEW paycheck this year under this tier zero agreement.

It was further clarified that Mack first joined AEW under a tier zero deal three years ago, but was later signed to a full-time contract within the last two years. No reason was given for why AEW made the decision to switch Mack to a tier zero deal. As for communication between the two sides, AEW sources have said that the promotion has been in touch with Mack, but no context was given regarding whether this was before or after his tweets.

Mack’s AEW status doesn’t prevent Mack from working independent dates; as noted previously, he remains a mainstay in Juggalo Championship Wrestling as one-half of the JCW Tag Team Champions with 2 Tuff Tony. Mack has also picked up bookings for WrestleMania weekend, most notably taking part in Dragon Gate’s “The Gate of Sin City” event on April 15.