Report: Tony Schiavone's AEW Dynamite Absence Unrelated To Chris Charlton Tweet

In the wake of New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Chris Charlton receiving a two-month suspension for unprofessional comments during Wrestle Dynasty on January 5, All Elite Wrestling’s Tony Schiavone tweeted and quickly deleted a jab at Charlton.

On the January 8 edition of AEW Dynamite, Schiavone was nowhere to be seen, with ROH lead announcer Ian Riccaboni joining Excalibur and Nigel McGuinness in the commentary booth. Whilst some assumed Schiavone had been benched following his comments about Charlton, Dave Meltzer stated on Wrestling Observer Radio that his absence was unrelated:

“He wasn’t on the show tonight and it’s nothing big or anything like that. When he wasn’t there I started getting all these people going like, ‘Oh my god did he get suspended for that text?’ but it was just a family situation. He’s fine, he’ll be back I presume on Saturday. It’s not anything to be alarmed over. It was just a family situation, he missed one show,” stated Meltzer.

Charlton was suspended by NJPW for two months for insulting NJPW business partner AEW, with Charlton - seemingly in character - calling Tony Khan a money mark and attacking AEW for taking some of NJPW’s biggest stars whilst proudly defending NJPW.

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