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Over the last several days, one story that has made waves in the British wrestling scene was the announcement that WWE NXT UK talents had been pulled from the 10/26 Southside Wrestling final event at the Gordon Craig Theater. Ligero, Kay Lee Ray, Joseph Connors, Xia Brookside, Ilja Draganov and Saxton Huxley were all announced as being removed from the event:
We are truly broken hearted :( pic.twitter.com/Em7UMoYmhS
— Southside Wrestling (@SouthsideWE) September 25, 2019
Southside Wrestling had announced they would be shutting down earlier this month after the 10/26 event and merge with Revolution Pro, which sources tell PWInsider.com was the root cause of the NXT UK talents being pulled.
Several weeks ago, there was an incident at a Revolution Pro event where referee Aaren Wilde was legitimately attacked after a miscue during a near fall in a tag team bout by performer Josh Bodom. Samels had slammed Wilde went public with the attack, announcing it was not planned, he had not agreed to it and would not be able to perform as a referee going forward due to the injuries he suffered after being slammed against his will and then beaten outside the ring.
Last weekend at RevPro I was attacked after the Royal Quest tag match. This was not part of the show, it was not planned.
— aarennnn? (@AarenWilde) September 7, 2019
I was grabbed and slammed to the mat by Sha and then something happened on the outside. I honesty don’t know what, that part was a blur.
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As a result, I have sustained a much-more-serious-than-originally-thought neck and shoulder injury that means I am no longer able to referee.
— aarennnn? (@AarenWilde) September 7, 2019
I hate the term ‘retire’, so I’ll say this; I am indefinitely unable to referee due to medical restrictions.
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The intended winners (Aussies) still won, albeit 5 minutes quicker on a show that ran over by over 45 minutes. I am still shocked, upset and in disbelief at why this happened and why it has been condoned by RevPro/Andy Quildan.
— aarennnn? (@AarenWilde) September 7, 2019
500+ matches, 1 botched ending. That one.
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I have spent the last 7/8 days in many feelings. Anger, sadness, frustration. I truly adored performing as a referee and now, at least for the foreseeable future, I am medically unable to do so.
— aarennnn? (@AarenWilde) September 7, 2019
I truly hope that I can recover to pursue it again.
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There are so many things that can be said about last weekend, but I would prefer to not write an essay of negativity.
— aarennnn? (@AarenWilde) September 7, 2019
For now I am also unable to football referee (my main income) due to the injury.
If you have a few spare pennies, I won’t say no: https://t.co/tuglaZOcw1
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Thank you for a wonderful few years in professional wrestling. I am distraught that it had to end this way. Support promotions that value performer and spectator welfare: @RIPTIDEwres, @ThisIs_Progress, @FutureShockWres that I know of.
— aarennnn? (@AarenWilde) September 7, 2019
I’ll be back here when I mentally can be ?
After Wilde (who later announced he had found a new full-time job and would be fine financially) went public on Twitter with the issue, Rev Pro announced they had not been aware of the issue until Wilde spoke out and after talking with Bodom, Bodom's version of events did not match wth video footage of the incident, so they would not be using Bodom going further. Their complete response can be found below:
Official statement regarding incident with referee Aaren Wilde. pic.twitter.com/fbGSQkvhIA
— Revolution Pro (@RevProUK) September 8, 2019
Sources confirm that the fallout of the Aaren Wilde incident led to WWE, learning that Revolution Pro would technically be running the final Southside Wrestling event, determining they could not allow their contracted performers to appear. There has been a story floating that WWE yanked the performers because Revolution Pro has a relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling, but sources stated that was not an issue in the least. What led to NXT UK talents being pulled was concern they could be placed into an environment WWE didn’t approve of and WWE did not want to chance any issues for their talents that could prevent them from performing on upcoming NXT events.
This isn't out of line with WWE as they stopped their former policy of allowing talents to take third-party bookings on their days off in the mid 1990s for similar concerns.
As previously reported on PWInsider.com, All Elite Wrestling will be sending Cody, Brandi Rhodes, MJF and Shawn Spears to the 10/26 event to help Southside send their company off.
Let me see if I can help... https://t.co/p71ALnHdcY
— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) September 26, 2019
THANK YOU @AEWrestling@Perfec10n and @The_MJF will be at 9AS , more news coming soon. pic.twitter.com/fXZ6pry7sY
— Southside Wrestling (@SouthsideWE) September 27, 2019
One more thing @SouthsideWE
— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) September 27, 2019
...
Brandi & I will be there as well! ???????????????? pic.twitter.com/zcrCQSRkim
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