According to Dave Meltzer on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Samoa Joe was scheduled to interfere in “Jungle” Jack Perry’s match against The Beast Mortos. The bout took place at Tailgate Brawl, the pre-show for Saturday’s Full Gear in Phoenix, Arizona. However, Joe couldn’t make it to the event because the FAA grounded flights nationwide on Friday.
Meltzer revealed the plan after Bryan Alvarez pointed out that Joe wasn’t advertised for a match on the show.
“He was supposed to do a run in with Jack Perry.”
Joe and Perry would have come face-to-face again at Tailgate Brawl 49 days after Joe returned to AEW. His return came during the All Out pre-show on September 26 in Chicago, right after Perry defeated Katsuyori Shibata.
Tony Khan revealed that AEW sent three private planes to pick up wrestlers after their commercial flights were canceled, and that many of the people on the pay-per-view wouldn’t have been able to make it to Phoenix otherwise. Joe still wasn’t able to make the trip despite that.
With Joe not in the building, Perry defeated Mortos with the Muscle Buster, Joe’s own finisher, and dedicated the move to Joe. Joe responded in a video message that aired during Full Gear, once again refusing to shake hands with Perry, who has repeatedly offered a handshake since All Out.
“And Jack, don’t worry about shaking my hand. You’ll be doing plenty of shaking when I’m strangling you.”
Joe and Perry will meet on Wednesday’s Dynamite at the Mission Ballroom in Denver, Colorado. The show airs at 8 p.m. ET on TBS and HBO Max. The bout will be a rematch from their October 6 match at Dynamite Grand Slam France in Paris, where Joe defeated Perry with the same Muscle Buster.