Backstage heat on AEW's Sammy Guevara over nixed storyline with IMPACT Wrestling - Reports
Last Wednesday on AEW Dynamite, Sammy Guevara said he needed to "go away" for a while. This development was supposed to lead to Guevara working a storyline with IMPACT Wrestling before he eventually returned to AEW. Unfortunately, the plan is no longer on the table, and AEW management is reportedly upset with Guevara over the situation.
According to Bob Kapur of Slam Wrestling, Chris Jericho pitched the idea of Guevara doing a storyline with IMPACT Wrestling to Tony Khan. After one initial storyline proposal was rejected the company, Khan approved a second suggestion, and everything seemed to be going smoothly.
But then Guevara complained about the storyline direction before he arrived in Nashville for the IMPACT tapings. The company then reached out to both Khan and Jericho, asking Callis to ban Guevara from the premises where the tapings were taking place.
By the time Guevara arrived in Nashville, Slam reported he had a message from Jericho which told him to return home. It's reported that AEW is worried that Guevara may have hurt its relationship with IMPACT going forward.
Fans have seen several other competitors cross back and forth between AEW and IMPACT Wrestling in recent months. Kenny Omega, Private Party, Matt Hardy and the Good Brothers are the most prominent examples. Guevara was reportedly set to join this group before the planned storyline fell apart.
What does this incident mean for the future of AEW's collaboration with IMPACT Wrestling?
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightul Select reported that various IMPACT staff and talent told him no one from AEW was seen at this week's set of television tapings.
It's possible that the company could do something similar to the Kenny Omega situation back in December by having wrestlers appear via taped segments. Otherwise, the latest set of tapings might have produced the last time fans see AEW talent appearing on IMPACT programming in the foreseeable future.
With both companies just starting to work with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, this issue seemingly couldn't have come at a worse time. Hopefully, cooler heads from all companies will prevail, and they can all continue to work together in the future.