Confusion As Another AEW Star Pulls Out Of GCW Show

The saga between AEW and GCW has taken a new twist after another star was pulled from a show, but it seems Tony Khan’s company is disputing what happened.

Missing AEW star Ricky Starks was pulled from GCW shows after comments were made by GCW talent Effy who was clearly unhappy that Tony Khan’s company was running Hammerstein Ballroom a few weeks after they held their own show in that venue.

Uproar ensued with fans of AEW commending Tony Khan for taking a strong stand while the company’s detractors questioned why Ricky Starks had to be collateral damage given that he has not wrestled in an AEW ring for several months.

Now the latest twist in the saga has seen AEW contracted talent Willie Mack pull out of a GCW show on the 14th of December. But All Elite Wrestling is adamant that he was not pulled off the show by them due to the comments made by Effy.

AEW Claim They Did Not Pull Willie Mack From GCW Show

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained both sides of the story involving GCW owner Brett Lauderdale calling up AEW’s Sonjay Dutt to try and find out what was going on:

So Wilie Mack was gonna wrestle Saturday in Los Angeles for GCW. I’ve got both sides of the story and you can decide which side is the accurate side. If they love AEW or hate AEW, they’ll pick the one.

So this is the GCW side of it. Willie Mack called them up for Saturday, it’s a late deal and said that he was pulled from the show by AEW over the Effy situation. Brett Lauderdale, really upset, calls up Sonjay Dutt at AEW and goes ‘Is this true?’ and Sonjay says ‘It’s absolutely not true.’

So he calls up Willie Mack and Willie Mack [says] well I wasn’t pulled, I was specifically not pulled but Christopher Daniels made it clear that I shouldn’t go.

From the AEW standpoint they are saying nothing like that happened and Willie Mack called them and asked if it would be a problem to go and they said you can go. Maybe he took it the wrong way. AEW was very, very clear and look Sonjay told Brett the same thing, they’re not pulling Willie Mack from the show.

The funny thing is nobody knew Willie Mack was under AEW contract until today – I didn’t know. He’s been on ROH shows and everything, he’s been on a lot of the west coast shows but he’s almost never on AEW television. But he is under contract there and he’s not wrestling Saturday.

There’s two different sides to the story and ultimately it was Willie Mack’s choice. Was he pressured or did he just do it on his own, I don’t know because AEW was adamant they did not pressure him. He certainly was not told not to go.

One man frequently seen on GCW shows, Matt Cardona will challenge Chris Jericho for the Ring of Honor World Championship at Final Battle on the 20th of December. Cardona will be in action on the GCW show Willie Mack pulled out of as he faces Effy.

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