REAL Reason Excalibur Missed AEW Dynamite This Week
Racism furore resurfaces.
AEW's Excalibur was conspicuous from his absence on Dynamite this week, and what's grim, in this year of 2020, is that virtually every multifariously speculative reason arrives at something awful.
Excalibur arrived at Daily's Place for the two-week taping cycle, but was not used. Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that his absence was indeed linked to a video that has resurfaced in recent days.
On an early 2000s Pro Wrestling Guerrilla show, Excalibur and Kevin Steen (now Kevin Owens in WWE) used disgusting racial slurs - at his apparent behest - to generate heat from black performer Human Tornado. For decency's sake, that slur will not be transcribed here.
Both men had subsequently apologised for their role before the footage resurfaced.
Author's note:
The language used is unacceptable even within the context of its fiction. It wasn't used to reflect a certain time in a sensitively-handled depiction of it. This wasn't 'Roots'; this was an independent wrestling show using the cheapest and most rancid of cheap heat to garner a reaction.
Ultimately, a well-compensated performer has missed a date with his company. This isn't an outrage; this is a subject that cannot be reflected on enough, if indeed this isn't a move for the benefit of optics.