Backstage reason why Saraya and a top star were removed from first Dynamite after AEW All In - Reports
AEW Women's World Champion Saraya surprisingly didn't appear on the latest episode of Dynamite to celebrate her monumental title victory at All In. A recent report has revealed the potential reason behind her absence.
Saraya was forced to retire from in-ring competition due to an injury in 2018. However, the 31-year-old overcame the odds and returned to the squared circle last year. At All In 2023, the former Paige won her first women's title in almost nine years, securing the AEW Women's World Championship in London, England.
On the latest episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer confirmed that last night's AEW Dynamite was redone at the last minute. He further mentioned that Saraya and Swerve Strickland missed the show due to illness. On the other hand, Omega couldn't appear on Dynamite because of a hurricane in Florida.
“You know that a lot of tonight’s show was redone at the last minute? Saraya and Swerve [Strickland] were pulled from the show due to illness reasons. I know that a bunch of the Florida guys, including Omega, couldn’t make it because of the hurricane, they couldn’t make it out to come to Chicago." (H/T: InsideTheRopes)
The quality of this week's Dynamite might have been negatively affected due to several top talents missing the show. However, the program had its moments, including Toni Storm's segment, where she called for referee Paul Turner to be fired.
Missed out on last night's AEW Dynamite? Catch up with the result here.
Chris Jericho reportedly made it to AEW Dynamite despite some hiccups along the way
While some issues prevented a few talents from appearing on Dynamite, Tony Khan also allowed many stars to skip the show. This was done to allow All Elite Wrestling employees to attend Bray Wyatt's memorial service.
Meltzer also noted that Chris Jericho made it to the show despite some concerns.
"I know that Jericho was there, I know there were concerns, but he was there. That was one of the reasons why the show seemed thrown together because it was thrown together.” (H/T: InsideTheRopes)
In light of Khan's decision to allow his employees to miss out on Dynamite to attend Wyatt's memorial service, it remains to be seen which stars will be absent from next week's shows.