Miro On AEW Absence: I've Been Injured Since September, Got Medical Attention In January

Miro explains why he’s not in the Meat Madness match.

AEW was set to host a Meat Madness match at AEW Revolution, with Wardlow, Lance Archer and Powerhouse Hobbs being three of the confirmed participants. Earlier this week, Tony Khan announced he was putting the match “on ice” due to some of the participants being injured.

A new “All-Star Scramble” match was added in its place, with Wardlow, Archer and Hobbs all being confirmed for the match. Despite not being announced, it appeared that the Meat Madness match would have been bigger than a triple threat format.

I asked Tony Khan during Thursday’s AEW Revolution Media Call if he could comment on how much bigger the Meat Madness match would’ve been, or if he could speak to any specific injuries. Khan mentioned Miro and Keith Lee as two of the examples, noting that neither one was currently available.

For context, his full quote is below:

“Absolutely. I’m glad you asked. I first thought of the Meat Madness match and that it would be something really fun for the fans based on the fan feedback, and that’s something that fans brought to the show. I think it’s one of the great things about AEW is I try to listen to the fans. And if I’m not hearing you as the fans, then I’ll keep listening, and sooner or later, you’re gonna get through to me, you can always believe that. I’m always trying to listen to what the fans are saying, and certainly, literally, the fans were telling us during this past year’s All Out, one of the best shows we’ve ever done in AEW, and consider it an all-time great pay-per-view.

And there were a lot of great moments throughout the show, different moments, special moments, and one great thing about the card was Miro versus Powerhouse Hobbs and the the reaction they got. And it exemplified the spirit of that card. We weren’t sure what to expect going into AEW All Out, it was the first year we had done All In and All Out, and the card really delivered. It ended up being a tremendous show, and everyone who came to the show or ordered it, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and it was one of the best-reviewed wrestling shows of the year and one of the best-reviewed shows we’ve ever had.

And one of the great moments on the show was Miro versus Powerhouse Hobbs, and the meat chants from Chicago. I don’t think these were just isolated to Chicago. Then we went on the road and other big man matches we had them. So we had meat forever chants during Miro versus Hobbs at All Out. Then we had a great match on Collision, I think it was in December, and it was Brian Cage versus Keith Lee, and it was on a really strong episode of the show. I believe it was around the Continental Classic and this was a great show that had lots of good matches on it and then also a match outside of the tournament in Keith Lee versus Brian Cage, and the crowd really enjoyed that.

Now I wanted to put a lot of the big wrestlers and get the crowd fired up for a multiman scramble. A Meat Madness match, and I think the crowd would enjoy it and it would be a lot of fun, but some of the wrestlers I was hoping to use, including some of the wrestlers I just named, the Miro vs. Hobbs chants and the Keith Lee versus Brian Cage right now they’re two great wrestlers in AEW, just an example Miro and Keith Lee are both out. Neither one is available. And some of our big men being out injured, I wanted to have the depth in the field to do the match I originally envisioned, and I think people would enjoy that.

But it’s a great opportunity, I think we had named Hobbs, Archer, and of course, Wardlow on the card, and with Hobbs, Wardlow, and Archer are not only three great big man wrestlers, but they’ve all had great experiences in AEW, they’ve all been in great big main event matches and wrestled on the TVs and the pay-per-views and I thought having them involved would be great. But since we didn’t necessarily have the depth, and we’re mixing some of our big guys to do the Meat Madness multi-man scramble I think it’s a great opportunity also. We have some other great stars and rivalries in AEW we showcase. So instead, I made it an All-Star Scramble, and it should be a fun match, and when we get all of our big men healthy at the same time, I still really want to take the Meat Madness concept off the shelf and get it out of the freezer and thaw it out. But until then, I put the Meat Madness on ice.”
Tony Khan on Meat Madness, via the AEW Revolution 2024 media call

Miro has since responded to an abbreviated recap of Khan’s remarks, writing on Twitter that his status hasn’t changed in months.

“I’ve been injured since September and i got medical attention in January,” Miro wrote. “Sorry he wasn’t aware of it.”

Despite his unspecified injury, Miro competed in four matches since the beginning of September. His last match was a win over Andrade El Idolo at AEW Worlds End in December.