If AEW (All-Elite Wrestling) was making an attempt at humor on Wednesday’s telecast of AEW Dynamite on TNT, Domino’s Pizza didn’t think it was funny.
As reported by Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy, the nationwide pizza chain publicly distanced itself from any knowledge or connection to the use of a pizza cutter in a match between Nick Gage and Chris Jericho. At a climactic point in the bout, which drew the fourth-highest viewership in AEW history, Gage used the utensil to cut Jericho’s forehead open, causing him to bleed.
What Domino’s more strongly objected to was the TNT telecast going to a commercial, picture-in-picture, during the match with a spot featuring the pizza chain and workers slicing a pie before boxing it up for delivery or pick-up.
https://twitter.com/trillmoregirls/status/1420740036841050113
The timing of the ad and its placement during a match implied that there was some sort of commercial tie-in, at least in the view of Domino’s. Obviously, that’s not the family-friendly association the pizza chain prefers. (Though one might guess that any advertisers would be aware of some risk in buying spots during pro wrestling telecasts.)
Putting the Dominos ad right after the pizza cutter spot has me an AEW fan for life. 😂
— JpDeathBlade (@JpDeathBlade) July 29, 2021
“We share the concerns expressed about this incident and the content of this TV-14 rated program, and are assessing our advertising presence on it going forward,” said Domino’s spokesperson JennyFouracre-Petko told McCarthy.
McCarthy also reported that Domino’s was troubled enough by this incident to consider pulling its advertising from AEW broadcasts, something that would surely get the attention of the wrestling promotion and TNT executives.
This extra-large gently curved Stainless Steel Rocker Style #Pizza Cutter utilizes a mezzaluna shape to swiftly cut through an entire pizza in one pass. You can also use this to cut #tortillas, dice food into kid-friendly bite-size pieces, chop #herbs and more! $13.95 each. pic.twitter.com/q7bSDFLUJn
— Wheaton's (@Wheatons_Stores) March 9, 2019
In the future, AEW performers might want to consider a different sort of pizza cutter for cutting open opponents’ heads. Would the rocker blade-style of cutter be too on the nose? Not to mention it could be difficult to conceal.
What about those wheel-type cutters with the protective guards? Are those popular? (Personally, I have one of those and I hate it. This guy needs a handle, apparently.) Some people use scissors too, but the guess here is that those aren’t safe to bring into a wrestling ring, bloody results aside.
Nick Gage smashing Chris Jericho over the head with a light tube on national television is a real thing that just happened. pic.twitter.com/CTwcToYYex
— Garrett Kidney (@garrettkidney) July 29, 2021
No word if any light tube manufacturers were upset over Jericho smashing a fluorescent (or LED?) bulb over Gage’s head. Maybe if an ad for Philips or Sylvania had run during the match, we’d be hearing about it now.
