Folks, we’ve got some serious news on the health front for one of AEW’s most imposing figures—Killswitch, formerly known as Luchasaurus (because apparently even giant dino-men need to rebrand every once in a while). It turns out that our man Killswitch was knocked down by a very real opponent: double pneumonia. And if it wasn’t for his fiancée finding him collapsed on September 27, we might’ve been dealing with a much scarier outcome.
Fightful Select broke the news that Killswitch had been struggling to breathe, with his oxygen levels dropping below 80%—and for those of you without medical degrees, that’s about as healthy as trying to breathe through a straw. If he hadn’t been rushed to the hospital when he was, it could’ve caused permanent lung damage. So, yeah, this was no kayfabe moment.
Now, according to Dave Meltzer, Killswitch is expected to be out of action for at least a month. While he’s recovering, it’s becoming clear that he was much sicker than anyone realized before his hospital visit. He originally thought he was dealing with bronchitis, which kept him from participating in the Grand Slam editions of AEW Dynamite and Collision at Arthur Ashe Stadium. But nope—it was double pneumonia all along.
This illness came after Killswitch’s last in-ring appearance at the All In pay-per-view on August 25, where he teamed up with Nick Wayne and Christian Cage in a brutal ladder match for the AEW World Trios Championship. They didn’t win that night, but Killswitch wasn’t done—he pulled off a big swerve, helping Cage win the Casino Gauntlet match, which awarded Cage a shot at the AEW World Championship. The kicker? Fans thought Killswitch might turn on Cage, since he came out with his old ring name, Luchasaurus, flashing on-screen. But it was all part of a genius plan to get Cage back in the title picture.
Here’s hoping Killswitch comes back stronger than ever, because let’s face it: AEW’s roster isn’t quite the same without the 65-million-year-old wrecking machine that is Killswitch.