Bishop Dyer's AEW debut was not planned.
The former WWE star wrestled a surprise dark match before this week's episode of Dynamite. He teamed with Martin Stone & Better Together in an 8-man tag against Billy Gunn, Austin Gunn, Brady Booker, & Elijah Drago.
While speaking to Off The Ropes, Dyer explained how the whole thing came about. He revealed that he had travelled to the arena with Paul Wight, formerly known as The Big Show just to hang out with his friends.
Upon reaching the arena, Billy Gunn, who was already booked for the match, asked him to take part in the bout. The former Baron Corbin mentioned that the one rule for any wrestler is to always bring your gear with you, so he was able to say yes:
"I got there and saw my man Billy Gunn, who’s like a dad to me. He’s always been my guy that I’ve leaned on through a lot of stuff in the wrestling world. They had the dark matches because he was working with his son, Austin (Gunn), and he’s like, ‘Hey man, do you wanna be in this dark match with us?’ And I was like, ‘Dude, if it gets OK’d, I’m sold. Let’s do it,’"
That Was The Extent of Our Conversation: Bishop Dyer
Bishop Dyer then discussed a spot in the match that got a good fan reaction. The former US Champion revealed that he had a short exchange with Tony Khan later in the night, where the AEW President praised his performance:
“I know Tony told me afterwards, he was like, ‘The match was so fun. I enjoyed it,’ and obviously, he’s working his ass off back there. I’m not gonna bother him with anything other than, ‘Thank you for allowing me to do that with Billy and Austin’ so that was the extent of our conversation.”
The 41-year-old, who left WWE in November 2024 after the promotion decided not to renew his deal, also mentioned that he felt good wrestling in front of a sizeable crowd after some time.
