Backstage News on This Week’s AEW Dynamite Plans Changing

Hurricane Ian reportedly caused adjustments to this week’s AEW Dynamite from Philadelphia’s Liacouras Center.

As PWMania.com previously reported, AEW President Tony Khan informed earlier this week that attendance at Dynamite will be voluntary this week due to Hurricane Ian’s landfall in Florida.

A new report from Fightful Select adds that a number of the storm-related absences resulted in “big changes” to the planned Dynamite event.

Swerve Strickland was supposed to work the event, but he was unable to go to Philadelphia. Because Swerve was not there, his partner Keith Lee worked a backstage session with AEW World Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed.

Lee accused Billy Gunn of costing them the AEW World Tag Team Titles at Grand Slam last week, as shown in the video below, and claimed they were carried. Lee then walked away, wishing them luck. The Acclaimed will defend against The Butcher and The Blade, as well as Private Party, on Friday’s Rampage. Spoilers from the Rampage tape are available by clicking here.

Samoa Joe, the ROH World Television Champion, was also unable to attend this week’s Dynamite. The show was ROH-heavy, and Joe was supposed to be a part of it. Joe last wrestled during the Grand Slam Rampage tapings last week, partnering with AEW TNT Champion Wardlow to defeat Josh Woods and Tony Nese.

Click here for full AEW Dynamite results. The following is video of the segment with Lee, Gunn, and The Acclaimed: