Additional Details On AEW-GCW Controversy Over Willie Mack Booking

Tensions between AEW and GCW are flaring up, with more details coming out about the Willie Mack/GCW situation. According to the "Wrestling Observer," GCW owner Brett Lauderdale had booked Mack for December 14's GCW show from Los Angeles, but Mack recently called Lauderdale to say AEW had pulled him from the show and all future GCW dates. Reports suggest Lauderdale was unaware of Mack's contractual obligations with AEW, or that he even was under contract to begin with, since Mack has wrestled just a few dates for their sister promotion, ROH, since February. 

Wrestlers signed to AEW and/or ROH are typically allowed to take other independent bookings, leading most to assume that AEW pulled Mack because of the disparaging comments made by Effy, a high-profile GCW performer. Effy suggested on his podcast that Shad Khan pays Tony Khan to stay away from his sports teams, and alleged AEW is losing huge amounts of money. Effy also took exception to how close AEW's booking of the Hammerstein Ballroom was to GCW's booking of the same venue. According to Dave Meltzer, Lauderdale reached out to AEW's Sonjay Dutt, but Dutt denied AEW had pulled Mack. However, Mack himself told Lauderdale that Christopher Daniels, AEW's Head of Talent Relations, explicitly told him not to do the show because of the Effy controversy.

AEW is downplaying their involvement, framing the ordeal as miscommunication. According to Meltzer, "The AEW side is that Mack told Daniels about the booking, but said he felt uncomfortable with the situation (he booked the dates before there were any issues with Effy) ... They said this turned into a miscommunication in how the story was conveyed to GCW and that they did not pull him nor pressure him." This follows AEW's earlier decision to pull Ricky Starks from GCW events, which is also believed to be over Effy's inflammatory comments.