After Sammy Guevara made his ring comeback for Ring of Honor, some fans speculated on social media that he wasn’t brought back to the AEW brand due to a disagreement he had with one of the promotion’s biggest stars.
Guevara trended on social media several years ago after a 2016 rape joke about Sasha Banks went viral.
Guevara apologized after the video surfaced, stating that “2016 me is not me today,” and that what he said in 2016 was an attempt to elicit a reaction through “shock rumor.” Guevara said that he “understand[s] now that the words I say can impact people more than I’ll ever understand.” Guevara also said that he spoke with Mone (in 2020) and she helped him “learn a gigantic lesson.”
Can’t forget when Sammy Guevara made a creepy r@pe joke about Sasha Banks, he also made a anti black joke that’s been scrubbed from the internet. pic.twitter.com/d1YfuWsIgv
— RillaPerry 🇺🇸 (@Finalbossjimmy) September 14, 2022
On the Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez stated that Guevara’s use in ROH has nothing to do with the 2020 situation.
Alvarez stated, “I know that everybody has immediately jumped to the following conclusion [that] he was moved to Ring of Honor because Mercedes Mone is on the main AEW television show.” Alvarez continued, “I was told that him being on Ring of Honor has absolutely nothing to do with Mercedes. I mentioned that to some people and they were like, ‘There’s no way, it has to be.’ All I can tell you is this, “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…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, whatever it was. They did have a storyline and they decided well, he doesn’t want to do that aspect of the storyline [and] so they ended up coming up with a storyline where he’s a babyface in Ring of Honor. So, there were plans to bring him back to the main roster when Mercedes Mone was there and it didn’t happen. So, I’m sure he’ll be back on the main roster. I would bet you anything that by the end of the year he’s back doing Dynamite, Collision, etc.”
Alvarez stated that there was never any intention of Guevara joining Chris Jercho’s Learning Tree.
Guevara has been out of action since February, when he was suspended for failing to follow concussion protocols during a match against Jeff Hardy. Guevara’s suspension ended long before his return to action this weekend, but there was no word on his status until he announced on X that he and Tay Melo were training to return to the ring.
Sammy Guevara made his return at the ROH tapings today!
It might be perfect for him to start in and become a top guy in ROH before moving back to AEW. pic.twitter.com/dQBU4fpEff
— AIR (@AIRGold_) July 28, 2024
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
