10 Things That Didn't Go The Way AEW Wanted

4. The Domino's Pizza Fiasco

The Butcher The Blade The Bunny Cody Rhodes AEW Dynamite
WWE

Many raised an eyebrow when it was announced that Nick Gage would be taking on Chris Jericho on AEW Dynamite in a Deathmatch as part of MJF's Five Trials of Jericho scheme. In Gage, AEW was bringing in someone famed for ultra-violence, his criminal record, and for nearly murdering David Arquette live on PPV.

To say MDK brings controversy is like saying The Rock was okay at promos; it's an understatement of huge proportions.

Would AEW allow Nick Gage to do Nick Gage things on their flagship television show? Would AEW really put their inaugural World Champion and a true legend of the industry in harm's way by having him go all in on a Deathmatch?

The answer to these questions is that, yes, while this Death Match wasn't as gnarly as some of Gage's other outings, it was still extreme when compared to what was usually seen on AEW programming. And in one such 'extreme' moment, the King of Ultra-Violent Wrestling took his patented pizza cutter to the forehead of his opponent.

In terms of how this didn't go the way AEW intended, said attack took place during a commercial break just as an ad for Domino's Pizza was airing. So, as Domino's was trying to shill its pizza to the masses, the picture-in-picture accompaniment was the visage of Nick Gage slicing open Chris Jericho's head with a pizza cutter. Mmm, appetising...

Domino's were quick to release a statement lambasting the spot and detailing how they were assessing their advertising presence on TNT and AEW. This controversy would eventually die down, but it was an awful look for AEW at the time.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.