Ladies and gentlemen, gather around as we dive into the latest and greatest from the world of wrestling! In a twist as surprising as finding a steel chair under the ring, former AEW TNT Champion Sammy Guevara has made his dramatic return. After an absence so long that fans started confusing his name with “Where’s Waldo?”, Guevara has reappeared at the recent ROH TV tapings in Arlington, Texas.
For those scratching their heads and wondering why Guevara has been MIA, let’s rewind a bit. Guevara was benched following a match with Jeff Hardy due to some concussion protocol missteps. You know, the kind of thing that would get you a yellow card in soccer but a full-on timeout in wrestling.
Rumor had it that Guevara’s extended leave was due to the arrival of Mercedes Mone. It was speculated that AEW wanted to keep these two apart like oil and water or pineapple and pizza. Guevara’s past offensive remarks about Mone, highlighted during the 2020 Speaking Out movement, had led to his suspension and mandatory sensitivity training. However, Bryan Alvarez, the Sherlock Holmes of wrestling, debunked this theory on “Wrestling Observer Radio.”
Alvarez cleared the air, stating, “I know that everybody has immediately jumped to the conclusion he was moved to Ring of Honor because Mercedes Mone is on the main AEW television show. I was told that him being on Ring of Honor has absolutely nothing to do with Mercedes.” Ah, yes, another wrestling mystery solved—case closed.
Before his suspension, Guevara had turned babyface to side with Chris Jericho in the battle against The Don Callis Family. However, our “Spanish God” is known for his heel antics, leaving fans on the edge of their seats, wondering which side he’d return on. Spoiler alert: He’s back as a babyface in ROH. Alvarez, the master of wrestling secrets, shared that Guevara wasn’t thrilled about a proposed heel turn storyline, leading to his babyface return in ROH instead.
“Sammy has been ready to go for a little while and they did have a storyline for Sammy Guevara that would have brought him back to the main roster,” Alvarez revealed. “But there was an aspect of the storyline that he was not cool with. I think it involved him turning heel and he didn’t want to turn heel.”
And there you have it, folks. While initial plans to reintroduce Guevara to AEW TV didn’t pan out, Alvarez is confident that our boy Sammy will grace AEW screens before the end of 2024. Guevara has since publicly apologized for his past remarks about Mone, showing growth and maturity—a character development arc worthy of a WWE storyline.