PWMania.com previously reported that STARDOM wrestler Sareee was not medically cleared to compete in her matchup against Skye Blue at Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite: Summer Blockbuster, part of the Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament. Consequently, Sareee was replaced by Maya World, who surprisingly won the match and advanced to the semifinals of the tournament.
On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer shared that Sareee traveled to the event in Cincinnati, Ohio, accompanied by Takumi Iroha, and was present at the Andrew J. Brady Music Center. Bryan Alvarez noted that they had suspected for about a month that Sareee likely wouldn’t be cleared to compete due to an existing injury.
However, Meltzer pointed out that Sareee had been “cleared in Japan” prior to Wednesday’s event. She also brought Iroha with her as a backup in case she wasn’t medically cleared after arriving in the U.S. Ultimately, AEW chose to use World as the replacement instead of Iroha.
Alvarez and Meltzer suggested that AEW’s decision to select World as Sareee’s replacement may have been influenced by the real-life tragedy she faced earlier this month, the loss of her brother. Meltzer remarked that using World instead of Iroha created “just a better story.”
