Tony Khan discusses Adam Cole‘s absence from AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.
Cole was scheduled to face Tom Lawlor at the pay-per-view on June 25. However, a few hours before the show, Khan announced that Cole was not cleared to compete due to an illness, so the match was canceled.
Speaking at the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door post-show media scrum, Khan was asked about Cole’s absence, and he explained that Cole had to be sent home after he showed up with a fever.
“I’m sorry that they weren’t able to have the match,” Khan said. “It’s just terrible. Adam Cole came sick today, and we had to send him home. We didn’t want to get everybody else sick, especially post-lockdown, I think the measures are very careful. He’s a very tough guy, and he would love to fight, but he came in with a fever.
“He’s got what I think is a flu, and I think he’s gonna be okay. I hope he’s gonna be okay. But in this case, you just gotta be safe. He should be okay, I hope, and look forward to Adam Cole and a number of other great pairings that we’ll put together competing in the tag team tournament, when he’s better, but he wasn’t cleared for tonight.”
Khan continued by stating that, when Lawlor is available, he still thinks a match between him and Cole would be great. He noted that he wanted to give Lawlor a match on the show, so “Filthy Tom” wrestled in a dark match. Khan made it clear that he likes Lawlor, and Cole means a lot to the company.
“When Tom Lawlor’s available and not doing New Japan, I still think it’d be a great match,” Khan said. “I wanted to give Tom Lawlor a match still on the show, so I did give Tom Lawlor a spot. He went out and took out his anger on Serpentico, and that was a nice match, and I wanted to do something for Tom, and I know he enjoyed getting to wrestle for the fans, but he did want to get out there and have a good match with Adam Cole, so I’ll keep that in mind.
“I like Tom a lot. He’s both a great commentator and a great wrestler, and a great personality. Cole means a lot to the company, so it would have been great to have him participating tonight.”
WrestleZone will provide more information about Cole’s status as it becomes available.
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