The actual reason for Brody King’s missing the February 11 episode of AEW Dynamite has been revealed, contradicting earlier reports of network interference. While speculation initially suggested that Warner Bros. Discovery had pulled King from the show due to political concerns, new information points to a logistical explanation involving travel.
According to PWInsider, King was never scheduled to appear live on the edition of Dynamite emanating from the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California. Instead, King and other talent flew out of LAX to Australia on Wednesday night. The travel schedule was ultimately the reason he missed the live broadcast, as he is set for a major spot at AEW Grand Slam Australia on Saturday, where he will challenge MJF for the AEW World Championship.
Conflicting Reports
A previous report from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer had initially claimed that Warner Bros. Discovery blocked King from appearing on Dynamite. The report cited concerns over “F*ck ICE” chants that occurred during King’s match the previous week and the potential for similar chants on February 11. This was linked to WBD allegedly wanting to avoid upsetting United States President Donald Trump amidst a pending acquisition by Netflix.
However, Warner Bros. Discovery released a statement denying that they had any involvement in King’s schedule. Following this denial, Meltzer issued a correction regarding his initial report.
“Those at AEW have said nobody from WBD asked them not to use Brody King on last night’s show and this was just how it was booked to only use him in a video package. We had heard over the weekend that there were concerns about how much pub the situation had gotten from the WBD side, but those at AEW said that they were not told not to put him on the show. So this corrects the report from last night. It had been a topic of discussion over the weekend,” Meltzer stated.
King’s only involvement in the February 11 episode was via a video package promoting his upcoming AEW World Title match against MJF.
