WWE News: Company Rescinded Invitation To Work With Famous Filmmaker Because He Attended AEW Show
Filmmaker Kevin Smith appeared on the debut episode of All Elite Wrestling’s Dynamite show to promote his movie Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, which stars Chris Jericho as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. However, his appearance on the show also cost him an opportunity to be featured on WWE television, according to the director.
In an interview with Wrestling Inc, Smith revealed that he was originally scheduled to appear on the Friday Night SmackDown premiere on FOX as well. According to the director, his publicist advised him against appearing on Dynamite as WWE had an established audience at the time.
Smith said that AEW was always going to be his first choice because he wanted to support Jericho, who was featured on the first episode of Dynamite and has been one of the top stars in the company ever since. Smith then revealed that WWE said that he could do both shows.
However, WWE later rescinded the offer for him to appear on Friday Night SmackDown because the first AEW show was a big success and the company didn’t want to be associated with their newest rivals.
“[The] morning after we did AEW and were trending, my publicist said that WWE pulled their offer. They weren’t sh*tty about it, but they said you guys were all over AEW last night and that would be weird for them if two days later you were all over WWE. They said that down the road we could revisit this, but it’s not gonna happen Friday.”
I am now on hour 72 of my 72 hour fast. I would break it now, but I don’t eat past 8pm. So I’m extending fast to 10 tomorrow morning, making it a 90 hour fast. Feel great, not hungry, and my mood is great. One question: if you take heart meds or vitamins, does that break a fast? pic.twitter.com/XCYxYwd3wd
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) April 30, 2020
Smith went on to say that Jericho described him as “the first casualty of the wrestling war.” He also revealed that he didn’t take WWE’s rejection personally as he understands that AEW is a competitor whose existence interferes with Vince McMahon’s company’s business interests.
However, Smith admitted that he took some “pleasure” from the rejection because he believed that WWE was scared of the upstart promotion involving Jericho. The director also noted how McMahon was likely behind the decision because it involved Jericho — who was a top star during his WWE tenure — which means that WWE’s main higher-ups discussed his movie during a meeting. Given that the film is a self-deprecating comedy, Smith found the thought of McMahon and co. discussing it very humorous.
Smith isn’t the first famous person to be rejected by WWE because he worked with AEW. As The Inquisitr previously reported, Diamond Dallas Page — a Hall of Famer — revealed that he’s also been exiled from McMahon’s company because he’s contributed to AEW events in the past.
