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More Details On Why Adam Page/PAC Match Was Pulled From Double or Nothing, Note On AEW’s Original Booking Plan

May 20, 2019 | Posted by Joseph Lee
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The big news on Saturday was that AEW had removed PAC vs. Adam Page from their Double or Nothing PPV on May 25. Instead, they flew Adam Page to a Wrestle Gate Pro event in Nottingham, England for a match with PAC, who is Open the Dream Gate champion for Dragon Gate, which Page won by DQ when he was hit with a chair. After the match, PAC said he’d already beat up Page and wasn’t going to AEW or Double or Nothing. It was later revealed that the match was pulled for “creative differences.” PAC didn’t want to lose because he took being champion for Dragon Gate seriously, and AEW had their own direction in mind for the match. AEW plans to release the match they taped tomorrow and had a DQ finish to keep things open-ended in case they can get PAC back later on.

In the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer had more details on the situation, including why the match was pulled and what AEW’s original booking plans were. He revealed that PAC actually does have a contract with AEW but it was not a full-time contract. The contract was part-time, which allowed him to continue working for Dragon Gate, because he “wasn’t going to give up Dragon Gate.” He added that PAC was paid by AEW for the match with Page in England, so it was treated as if it were an AEW match.

As far as Double or Nothing goes, Meltzer said that the plan was actually for PAC to defeat Page at that event.

He added: “The deal is, and I think people have misinterpreted, it’s not about not doing a job for Adam Page. The reality is is that he was gonna beat Adam Page. And you’ll go like, ‘Oh, if he’s gonna win, they could have just done it.’ But it’s like, the idea is that they want…they don’t want him to go in there and win. There was a reason he was going to beat Adam Page. He was gonna beat Adam Page because it was going to set up a program with Kenny Omega. And he wasn’t going to beat Kenny Omega. Nor should he beat Kenny Omega.

He added that they did not wait until the last week to book the finish as they’ve been booking months in advance. They didn’t want Adam Page to lose to PAC for nothing, so that’s another reason why they simply didn’t go ahead. As for why not do a DQ or a draw, a draw wouldn’t be likely due to the timing of the show and a DQ would go against the type of show they want to present in their first event. He said that they have planned out a new story that will get them to where they want to go, that will likely involve whoever Page’s new opponent is this Saturday.

Finally, he said whether or not they work with PAC in the future depends on whether or not they can book him to lose.