Overshadowing a solid AEW “Dynamite” with two major title changes is the news that Warner Bros. Discovery ordered AEW President Tony Khan to keep #1 contender Brody King off last night’s show to avoid the “F**k ICE” chants that preceded his main-event match with champ MJF a week ago.
King has been outspoken in his criticism of the Trump regime in general and the violent anti-immigrant raids led by ICE in particular.
It would have been expected that both King and MJF would appear on last night’s “Dynamite” to promote their upcoming AEW World title match in Sydney, Australia, scheduled for Saturday in the main event of “Grand Slam Australia.”
Instead, the show ran a pre-produced segment highlighting the run-up to the match.
Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer broke the news on the backstory as to why King and MJF both were absent from Wednesday’s live TV show.
“The deal is that they didn’t want the fans in the arena to be chanting that. If Brody came out, there was that risk. When he comes back it will happen again, I don’t know how they’re going to handle it,” Meltzer said in today’s installment of “Wrestling Observer Radio.”
Video: AEW fans serenade ICE
loud “fuck ICE” chants during MJF and Brody King match.
you just love to see it.#AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/IzWsCxl8uX
— 𝕸𝖔𝖓𝖆𝖗𝖈𝖍𝖔 (@_monarcho) February 5, 2026
Which raises the question – indeed, how do Khan and WBD proceed with King, and in general, the generally center-left-leaning fan base, going forward?
The “F**K ICE” chant went viral among mainstream news and politics media sources within minutes of the first clips finding their way online, and the news getting out now that WBD put the kibosh on King being on its TV, in the process of the entertainment conglomerate getting bought out by Netflix, in a move that will require the regulatory approval of the Trump regime, will only egg live crowds on going forward.
The “Streisand effect” would seem to apply well here, is what I’m getting at.
“You know what it is, nobody wants to get on Trump’s bad side. If it wasn’t for that, nobody would care, it’s just a chant, but unfortunately, they’ve got a company they’re trying to sell and get regulatory approval from a guy who is gonna take that stuff personal. That’s just how it is,” Meltzer said.
I would say that, in terms of Saturday, whatever chance there was that King was going to go over as the new world champ, which I didn’t put very high before this, is as close to zero as is possible.
My fear for King in the hereafter is that he doesn’t go the way of the guy in WWE who was given the Muhammad Hassan gimmick, Marc Copani, who was taken off the air after WWE booked a segment for a 2005 episode of “Smackdown” in which a group of masked men, made to resemble Muslim terrorists, attacked The Undertaker, at Hassan’s direction – as Hassan knelt in prayer on the entrance ramp.
The segment was taped three days before terrorist attacks in London; WWE aired the segment unedited, leading to massive controversy, and pressure on WWE from UPN, the TV network airing “Smackdown” at the time, to remove Hassan from its roster.
Copani, who we would learn later was being positioned for a run as the WWE champ, was released outright two months later, becoming a high-school teacher, and later, a high-school principal.
Copani, an Ohio Valley Wrestling champ before signing with WWE, returned to the wrestling ring for a few appearances on the indies in 2018, before retiring for good in 2019.
At the least, I can see Brody King being put on the shelf for a few months after “Grand Slam Australia” to let the “F**k ICE” heat die down, before being reintroduced as a heel, to try to keep fans from taking his side upon a return.
Editorial comment: no, this isn’t self-censorship, not at all.
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Chris Graham
