So far, AEW has allowed their performers to keep taking indy dates after being signed, including during the pandemic. This has been met with mixed results, as some performers have had to miss Dynamite after COVID-19 exposure.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated before tomorrow night’s Full Gear PPV, Tony Khan was asked by SI’s Justin Barrasso about that, and Khan mentioned having to tighten up their policy on that thanks to the pandemic.
I implemented a policy where people were only supposed to work indie shows when certain conditions were met. There have been times when people did not take that seriously, so I have tightened up the restrictions. I’ll still allow it under certain conditions, but people need to look me in the eye and say that the conditions are being met. Our talent and their opponent need to be tested before the show, and there also needs to be a good reason why the match is important.
This is important for everyone’s safety, as well as important for our show. I’ve been flexible in the past because I thought it was good for the talent to have the opportunity to earn, as well as great for the fans and the indies as a whole. We also don’t run every night of the week, so it allows for talent to get extra reps, too. So we have a policy, and I’ll be enforcing it strictly.
COVID-19 has had stars miss Dynamite, as previously mentioned. Lance Hoyt contracted it, causing his title shot to be delayed, along with Joey Janela being pulled from the #1 Contender’s tournament just a couple weeks ago and Scorpio Sky missing this past Wednesday’s Dynamite. Other stars have had thankfully missed being exposed, as Joey Janela and Jon Moxley worked The Collective events where several indy wrestlers tested positive following the event.
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