AEW Announces Changes To #1 Contenders Tournament Over Coronavirus

Card subject to change. A tournament is one of the best ways to present a lot of wrestlers in either short or long order. You can get some good matches planned several weeks in advance and at the end the winner gets some kind of a price. A lot of the time that’s a title shot, which is the case at the moment in AEW. However, one person had to be pulled at the last minute.

The Coronavirus pandemic has changed everything about the way the wrestling world works and that is going to be the case for a very long time to come. There are only so many ways that you can be completely safe from the disease and several wrestlers have already been infected. That can change some plans in a hurry and that is the case again with the AEW #1 contenders tournament.

AEW has announced that Joey Janela has been pulled from the #1 contenders tournament due to coming into contact with a wrestler who has tested positive for the Coronavirus at an independent show. As a result, Janela has been replaced by his tag team partner Sonny Kiss. Janela was part of the Collective series of events earlier this month, which saw several wrestlers test positive. Kiss was defeated by Omega in the first round on Dynamite.

AEW and Joey Janela learned today that he had exposure to a known COVID-19 positive person at an independent show. For that reason we are pulling him until such time as he is cleared to return consistent with our protocols. pic.twitter.com/V8TJiAhuNF

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) October 21, 2020

In the #AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament @KennyOmega will now face @SonnyKissXO in the first round tonight on #AEWDynamite at 8/7c on @tntdrama pic.twitter.com/LgESLviA43

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) October 21, 2020

It’s a big switch. Check out what Janela and Kiss can do:

Opinion: This is something that you have to do at some point and that is understandable. There is no reason to let someone get sick or even risk it and people are going to understand that at the moment. Janela sitting out to remain safe is a lot more important than what he would be doing in the tournament and while it’s annoying, it’s the only thing he could do.

What are you expecting from the tournament? What is next for Janela? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books. Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for “GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES” to sign up. Thank you for reading!