Last night on AEW Dynamite, we all expected to see the debut of Lance Archer. Matt Hardy was also a possibility, but he hadn’t actually been announced, and Archer had. Not only did neither Archer or Hardy debut on the show, but regulars and Executive Vice Presidents Kenny Omega and Nick Jackson were missing as well. Now we’ve got reasonable-sounding explanations for at least most of those absences.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that Archer will definitely be debuting on AEW soon, but that it was a creative decision not to do it last night. He may turn out to be the client Jake the Snake was talking about in his first AEW appearance, in which case it’s likely they simply decide to build up to him a bit before we see him.
Meltzer also said that Nick Jackson wasn’t on the show because his wife is going to have a baby any day now, which seems like a good reason to take a little time off.
Kenny Omega apparently has a broken pinky, also according to Meltzer, he’s not expected to be out for the entire time that will take to heel.
Matt Hardy, if he’s really even debuting for AEW (I still think he is) we don’t know anything about. However he is appearing at a convention this weekend, despite Meltzer claiming that there’s currently a policy (presumably originating with WWE) that AEW and WWE talent aren’t allowed to appear at the same event. So it looks like if he’s joining AEW, he at least won’t be an official roster member until next week at the earliest.
