Report: AEW suspends Sammy Guevara

According to Fightful Select, AEW has suspended Sammy Guevara. The suspension stems from his match with Jeff Hardy that was taped on Feb. 16 and aired on Feb. 18.

Hardy was injured in that match when Guevara’s knee hit him in the face while Sammy delivered a Shooting Star Press. Word was that Jeff suffered a broken nose, but not a concussion. AEW hasn’t used the former WWE star since.

Fightful’s report indicates that Guevara is suspended because “concussion protocol was not followed”, and that resulted in Sammy ”hitting his finisher on Hardy, which we’re told shouldn’t have happened.”

Referee Paul Turner seems to be talking to AEW ringside physician Dr. Michael Sampson as Guevara gets Hardy up for the GTH in highlight video, but it’s not clear if they’re talking to or have spoken to Sammy at that point. That’s already sparked some debate, as the report doesn’t mention any additional suspensions being handed out.

We should learn more specifics about how Guevara allegedly violated the concussion protocol in future reports. Perhaps we’ll also learn more about this scene from after the match…

Matt Hardy has addressed the match & injury on his podcast, but has mostly focused on his brother’s health.

There’s no word on the length of Guevara’s suspension, other than Fightful noting that he’s currently serving it. He wrestled Powerhouse Hobbs in a No Disqualification match on the Feb. 24 Collision that could have been a write-off for his character.

Guevara was suspended by AEW once before, in 2020 when inappropriate comments he made about Mercedes Moné/Sasha Banks on a 2016 podcast resurfaced (he apologized, which she acknowledged). He’s also been involved in behind the scenes incidents with Andrade El Ídolo and Eddie Kingston.

More as we have it.