Interesting Note On Cancelled AEW Plan For The Blackpool Combat Club
William Regal almost recruited this AEW wrestler alongside Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley.
Daniel Garcia was originally supposed to be part of William Regal's Blackpool Combat Club stable.
The Wrestling Observer reports that Garcia was going to stand alongside the Brit, Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley in the hard-nosed faction. That was even teased by Bryan on TV - he mentioned to Mox during promos that he'd mentored the likes of Garcia, Lee Moriarty and Wheeler Yuta.
Yuta joined, but Garcia did not.
Dave Meltzer revealed the reason for that too. Apparently, Chris Jericho was adamant that Garcia become a key component of his Jericho Appreciation Society group instead. The veteran was particularly keen to put across his wishes backstage, and so AEW's creative nucleus changed their minds on Dan's direction.
This does show the power Jericho has behind the scenes in the company, but it also seems like a bit of a missed opportunity. Will Garcia get over as part of the "sports entertainment" obsessed faction? Sure, but he does also seem like a better fit for the wrestling-centric stylings of Regal's Combat Club too.
File this under 'what might've been' for AEW in a few years.