The original main event for IMPACT Wrestling’s Hard To Kill pay-per-view was AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and IMPACT Tag Team Champions Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson versus Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) and IMPACT World Champion Rich Swann. Prior to the pay-per-view, IMPACT announced that Shelley would not be a part of the main event and filling in for him would be Moose.
Shelley was not a part of the post-Hard To Kill TV tapings either and Chris Sabin has been aligned with James Storm on-screen over the past several weeks. Shelley took to social media to explain why he was not at Hard To Kill and it had to do with his physiotherapy job. Due to the number of sick and injured patients at his workplace, they modified their mandates and with that comes more restrictiveness. He is unable to travel and wrestle until he is vaccinated for COVID-19.
Most days out of the week, I look like this. I read theories about why I wasn’t at @IMPACTWRESTLING for Hard to Kill. They ranged from injury, to illness, to getting arrested, to harming my family members and attempting to cover it up; I am a physical therapy clinician. pic.twitter.com/i68Bg0XHhl
— @Lx$ (@fakekinkade) January 28, 2021
Physio is my livelihood and career. Wrestling is my livelihood and passion project. At my company, due to the volume of sick and injured patients we are in care of, we modify our COVID-19 mandates as needed. As numbers went up, so did restrictiveness.
— @Lx$ (@fakekinkade) January 28, 2021
To circumvent the topic, I could not be at Hard To Kill due to my career. I respect the decisions made by our company surgeons and doctors: I look to them for advice and guidance. I am unable to travel and wrestle until I am vaccinated. I took every caution I could before…
— @Lx$ (@fakekinkade) January 28, 2021
But I don’t feel right maintaining this duality unless I take every possible safety measure. When the vaccine became available, that required extra security on my end and my company’s end for our patients. I honestly don’t want to get the vaccine so soon…
— @Lx$ (@fakekinkade) January 28, 2021
But I want to wrestle very badly while I help people in therapy. So there’s no option. @IMPACTWRESTLING was supportive and understanding and as someone who doesn’t have nor want a contract at this point, my hands were tied. Thanks for your support everyone.
— @Lx$ (@fakekinkade) January 28, 2021
POST Wrestling has a review up of the Hard To Kill pay-per-view that can be listened to at this link.
