Posted in: Impact Wrestling, Sports, TV | Tagged: Deonna Purrazzo, impact, kylie rae, su yung, wrestling

Mystery, Confusion Surrounds Kylie Rae's Absence at Bound for Glory

Published Sun, 25 Oct 2020 14:35:49 -0500

Following last night's Impact Wrestling Bound for Glory PPV, we finally have a few conflicting answers as to why Kylie Rae was replaced at the absolute last minute in her Knockouts Championship match against Deonna Purrazzo. However, we don't appear to be very much closer to understanding what really happened. Kylie Rae was advertised to compete against Purrazzo in one of the biggest matches of the night, and it would be fair to say that a lot of people purchased the PPV event in whole or in part because of that match. So when Kylie Rae was replaced by Su Yung at the last minute, right as the match was about to happen, some viewers were rightfully upset, feeling Impact pulled a bait and switch and should have informed people earlier.

And it might well be the case that Impact knew about Rae's absence and should have done something sooner. But how early they knew isn't exactly clear. F4WOnline's Bryan Alvarez reports that Rae was absent from the show due to "an injury that isn't considered to be serious." Rae also pulled out of a Black Label Pro event two weeks ago due to "unforeseen circumstances."

But another report from Fightful Select claims they haven't heard any reason given for Kylie Rae's absence and that Impact talent wasn't told she was injured. Additionally, Fightful Select reports that Kylie Rae's absence was a surprise to Impact Wrestling, which calls into question whether they actually knew she wouldn't appear much sooner than fans did.

It's not the first time mystery has surrounded Kylie Rae. She was one of the first female wrestlers signed to AEW but departed the company before Dynamite launched, with no explanation ever given. If Impact did, in fact, know for sure before the PPV started that Kylie Rae wouldn't appear, they should have let fans know. But on the bright side, they did appear to do their best to make up for the switch, as Yung went on to defeat Purrazzo to win the Knockouts Championship. You can read about it in our recap here.