As noted before, Claudio Castagnoli was pulled from the June 18th AEW Grand Slam Mexico show in Mexico City, Mexico for reasons unknown at the time. Besides AEW’s Grand Slam Mexico show, Castagnoli has also been absent from AEW’s recent Dynamite and Collision shows this past week.
Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that the reason for Castagnoli’s current abscense in AEW is not due to any injury-related issue nor his name being recently brought up by John Cena during his “pipebomb” promo in WWE nor any other business-related issues.
Meltzer reported that those spoken to stated that Castagnoli was simply recently granted some time off in AEW.
Fightful Select reported that their sources confirmed that Castagnoli was recently granted some time off as a break for personal reasons. Those spoken to close to the situation reportedly stated that they believe Castagnoli will return in time for AEW’s All In: Texas event this July.

Rey Mysterio Suffered Injury at 1/26 WWE RAW Show
WWE: Santos Escobar WWE Abscense & Return Plans Update, Street Profits Advertised for NXT House Show Events This Weekend, TKO Group Reportedly “Very Good At Instilling Fear” with UFC & WWE Revenue
Katsuya Murashima Wins 2026 NJPW Young Lion Cup




