Joey Janela was scheduled to work this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite, but was pulled at the last minute.
About an hour before the show went live on TNT, All Elite Wrestling announced in a post on social media that Janela had been removed from his scheduled bout against Kenny Omega due to COVID-19 concerns.
AEW issued the following statement on the situation:
“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.”
This bout was part of several planned matches as part of the World Title Eliminator tournament. AEW later announced that Janela would be replaced by Sony Kiss in this contest.
Penta El Zero M vs. Rey Fenix, Colt Cabana vs. Hangman Page, and Wardlow vs. Jungle Boy were also part of the first round matches on this show.
The news comes after Janela faced AJ Gray at Game Changer Wrestling’s The Last Resort show in Silverado, California this past Saturday.
Also on Wednesday, Gray announced that he tested positive for COVID-19. Gray wrote that his positive COVID-19 test was taken on Monday.
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