Backstage News On Multiple Late Changes Forced To Be Made To 2/18 AEW Dynamite

Behind-the-scenes changes were reportedly made to this week’s AEW Dynamite.

According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio at F4WOnline.com, portions of Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite from Sacramento, California were rewritten due to medical issues coming out of AEW’s recent international travel.

Meltzer noted that the fallout stemmed from last weekend’s trip to Australia, and possibly even the week prior, with several performers reportedly dealing with illnesses, along with some injuries.

However, he made it clear that two of the night’s featured bouts, Swerve Strickland vs. Kenny Omega and the four-way TBS Championship match, were not impacted by the changes.

“There was a lot of illnesses, both people from Australia, and there were some injuries, too. There was a lot of illnesses from people, some in Australia, but a lot who didn’t go. So, the feeling was that it may have been somebody sick last Wednesday (at Dynamite) and a lot of people got it,” he said.

Not ideal timing.

Meltzer added that AEW was operating with what he described as a “skeleton crew” in several respects for the Sacramento show. He also mentioned that The Beast Mortos was not originally scheduled to appear, but ultimately worked a singles match against Kevin Knight.

No specific names tied to the illnesses or creative adjustments were revealed, and Meltzer did not provide details regarding which storylines were directly altered.

For those who missed it, we also reported this morning backstage news on reason Kenny Omega vs. Swerve Strickland took place on AEW Dynamite this week instead of AEW Revolution 2026.

You can check out our complete AEW Dynamite Results 2/18/26 here at WrestlingHeadlines.com.