AEW Fight For The Fallen started off this week by announcing that Tony Schiavone wouldn’t be on the show. It was stated that his COVID-19 test didn’t come back in time so he was replaced by Taz. This was apparently a bigger issue than just one individual case.
AEW has conducted blood tests to check for COVID-19. This is different from the swab tests in many ways. This week it caused an issue for the company.
During Wrestling Observer Radio (transcription by Ringside News), Dave Meltzer revealed that Tony Schiavone wasn’t the only person who had issues with their COVID-19 test. He stated that some people had to take their test “multiple times.” Schiavone didn’t receive his test back in time so he couldn’t work the show.
“There’s something that happened that I was told that people were tested multiple times. I don’t know the whole story, but Tony’s test didn’t come back so he was off the show. There were a couple other people who were missing. I don’t know the reasons why, but they were missing.”
Hopefully, any delayed test comes back with a negative result. This is not something AEW planned for, but they were able to make things work. Taz sat in on commentary and then Chris Jericho filled in for Taz later on.
The commentary table was still hot all night thanks to AEW bringing in Taz and Chris Jericho to replace Tony Schiavone. Fans still missed hearing Schiavone’s voice on AEW television this week.
If you use the quotes in this article credit Wrestling Observer Radio transcription by Ringside News