Throughout this month, rumors of PAC returning to AEW have been swirling ever since his Death Triangle stablemate Penta El Zero Miedo stated that he would be back soon during a Highsports virtual signing, a fact corroborated by Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. The inaugural AEW All-Atlantic Champion has not been seen in the promotion since late July last year following an AEW Dynamite victory over Mexican independent star Gravity. On the following week’s edition of Rampage, it was announced that he had suffered an unspecified injury.
Amidst his AEW absence, it appears PAC has been spending some time with his former WWE co-star Finn Balor. In a post to X earlier today, The Judgement Day member posted a series of photos featuring his wife, parents, and PAC all meeting up in person accompanied by a caption simply reading, “FAMILY”. Balor and the former Neville have a lot of history going back to their days together in NXT, with the two most notably facing off against each other at NXT TakeOver: Rival back in early 2015.
Prior to his current absence, PAC had just returned to AEW following a nose injury that had kept him off programming from January through to July last year – though he did return to the ring in England and Ireland amidst that hiatus to compete across both nights of OTT ScrapperMania VII. After more than six months off television, he finally returned as the mystery partner of the Blackpool Combat Club for their Blood & Guts match against The Golden Elite.
A loss there led him to vent his frustrations against one of his partners in the bout and then Ring of Honor World Champion Claudio Castagnoli. The two faced off in the main event of ROH Death Before Dishonor over Castagnoli’s title which once again ended in defeat for PAC.