Brody King was absent from Wednesday night’s episode of AEW Dynamite, and it reportedly wasn’t a Tony Khan decision not to have him on the show. According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, AEW’s TV partner Warner Bros. Discovery made the call not to have Brody King on Dynamite due to the prospect of further “F*ck ICE” chants.
WBD reportedly wanted to avoid upsetting United States President Donald Trump because of the pending Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition by Netflix, which still requires regulatory approval.
“The deal is that they didn’t want the fans in the arena to be chanting that. If Brody came out, there was that risk…when he comes back, it will happen again….I don’t know how they’re going to handle it. This is again not a Tony call. This is from above. You know what it is, nobody wants to get on Trump’s bad side. If it wasn’t for that, nobody would care, it’s just a chant, but unfortunately they’ve [WBD] got a company they’re trying to sell and get regulatory approval from a guy who is gonna take that stuff personal. That’s just how it is. No Brody King on the show when he absolutely, of course – of course Brody King and MJF should have had a segment on the show,” Meltzer said.
Both MJF and Brody King were absent from AEW Dynamite and their AEW World Title match at Grand Slam Australia was promoted through a video package on Wednesday night. King earned the title shot courtesy of his squash win over MJF on last week’s Dynamite. Fans chanted “F*ck ICE” before the match, with Brody King having previously worn an ‘Abolish ICE’ t-shirt at pro wrestling events.
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