Reason IMPACT Wrestling Officials Pulled LAX From EVOLVE Show Revealed
WWE NXT Superstars come into play...
IMPACT Wrestling World Tag Team Champions LAX were pulled from two EVOLVE shows set to take place next month. EVOLVE's Gabe Sapolsky made the announcement over Twitter, stating: "Impact Wrestling has pulled LAX off the 12/15 & 16 dates. Working on replacements now. I was just informed. Our apologies to the fans."
As you can see, at the time that the announcement was made, no reason was given. Now, thanks to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, we know why.
According to Uncle Dave, IMPACT Wrestling officials didn't want their tag champions losing to NXT talent on a show that could be aired on the WWE Network in the future.
Here's the full quote from this week's Newsletter: "LAX was pulled from the 12/15 and 12/16 Evolve shows. The basic gist is that Impact didn’t want its tag team champions working on a streaming show, that could end up on the WWE Network, losing to guys who are developmental talents (The Street Profits) that WWE isn’t using as one of its top tag teams. Also, Impact sees Evolve in its current form as a part of WWE."
In response to the news, Santana, of LAX, tweeted the following: "It would’ve definitely been cool, especially for the fans. But wrestling has proven to us once again that there’s still much more work that needs to be done, in order for all of us to truly enjoy the endless possibilities."
Ortiz and Santana were set to compete for the EVOLVE tag titles in a triple threat against Leon Ruff & AR Fox, and NXT's Street Profits on the 15 December show, before teaming with Austin Theory to face Street Profits and Darby Allin a night later.
As you can see, at the time that the announcement was made, no reason was given. Now, thanks to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, we know why.
According to Uncle Dave, IMPACT Wrestling officials didn't want their tag champions losing to NXT talent on a show that could be aired on the WWE Network in the future.
Here's the full quote from this week's Newsletter: "LAX was pulled from the 12/15 and 12/16 Evolve shows. The basic gist is that Impact didn’t want its tag team champions working on a streaming show, that could end up on the WWE Network, losing to guys who are developmental talents (The Street Profits) that WWE isn’t using as one of its top tag teams. Also, Impact sees Evolve in its current form as a part of WWE."
In response to the news, Santana, of LAX, tweeted the following: "It would’ve definitely been cool, especially for the fans. But wrestling has proven to us once again that there’s still much more work that needs to be done, in order for all of us to truly enjoy the endless possibilities."
Ortiz and Santana were set to compete for the EVOLVE tag titles in a triple threat against Leon Ruff & AR Fox, and NXT's Street Profits on the 15 December show, before teaming with Austin Theory to face Street Profits and Darby Allin a night later.
Written by Ross Tweddell
Written and video journalist for Cultaholic Wrestling | twitter: @rossonrasslin | instagram: @rossonrasslin
