"Damn Bray Wyatt is back," "wtf just happened" - AEW's apparent glitch during Battle of the Belts leaves fans confused
AEW programming this Saturday night went on for three hours. Following the usual two-hour Collision came a one-hour special of Battle of the Belts.
The show featured three titles that were put on the line. However, the most memorable moment came when a glitch occurred in the middle of the show that left fans confused.
Tonight's edition of Battle of the Belts featured Orange Cassidy vs. Lance Archer for the AEW International Championship and Luchasaurus vs. Shawn Spears for the TNT Championship. There was also a women's title match featuring Toni Storm defending her AEW Women's Championship against Taya Valkyrie, but this was the match where the aforementioned glitch came out in.
During the match between Valkyrie and Storm, fans watching suddenly ended up seeing a black screen for one to two minutes which resulted in a sudden commercial break.
When the broadcast returned, it was oddly showing Julia Hart's match from last week's episode of Collision before immediately going back to the current programming, showing the awarding of the Owen Hart Cup Tournament winners.
Did your feed go out during the women's title match at #AEW Battle of the Belts?
AEW has announced that this was due to weather conditions in Calgary, but before the reason was revealed, fans on Twitter got creative with their speculations.
A number of fans brought up how it could be Bray Wyatt, as he is infamously known for a lot of black-out segments in his time with WWE under his different personas.
@DrainBamager Damn Bray Wyatt is back
@nodqdotcom wtf just happened
Many fans speculated that this could be the House of Black, who was present in the building for the event, and were hijacking Battle of the Belts, and that this was part of the storyline for them.
GODDAMMIT HOUSE OF BLACK.
Stop hijacking BOTB. 😂 https://t.co/WJ0LzkK3ZY
My feed messed up.... I think. Or is this LORE?
#AEWCollision #AEWBOTBVII https://t.co/ufjhjoWiL9
@JJWilliamsWON My wife called it. She yelled House of Black. When it came back on it was a Julia Hart match
A fan mentioned another audio-visual botch that occurred a few weeks back when the show's stream suddenly displayed the word "NO" on screen during a match.
@JJWilliamsWON Maybe that “NO” message on the screen a few weeks ago was more prophetic than we thought!
AEW Battle of the Belts featured the return of the Chairman
In the main event of tonight's edition of Battle of the Belts, Luchasaurus, accompanied by Christian Cage, defended his TNT Championship against Shawn Spears. This was Spears' first shot at the title, and he made sure to give it his all.
As previously teased, Shawn Spears brought out his "Chairman" persona, even using his old theme song as a heel and bringing out his entire get-up. The match itself did not go on particularly long, but the former WWE Superstar brought the fight to the TNT Champion.
However, it wasn't long before Cage's involvement, along with Luchasaurus gaining momentum, helped them with a successful title defense. The show closed with Christian Cage holding and kissing the TNT Championship while patting Luchasaurus' back for a job well done.
In his first title opportunity in #AEW, a determined Shawn Spears is looking to win the TNT Championship in his native country of Canada tonight on the Main Event of Battle of the Belts VII!
And he’s bringing his chair!
Watch #AEWBOTBVII LIVE on TNT! https://t.co/mb8FUFq10T
From backstage, however, Scorpio Sky was intently watching the entire match, possibly interested in the title as well.
How do you feel about Christian Cage and Luchasaurus' reign as TNT Champion so far? Let us know in the comments section below.