MCMAHON’S TAKE: EL Patron left GFW management with little choice

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice?

Global Force Wrestling announced Monday morning that it won’t be fooled again by Alberto El Patron, stripping him of the GFW World Title, vacating the championship just days before the company is set to tape almost three months worth of Impact Wrestling episodes in Orlando later this week. El Patron has been suspended since early July.

According to El Patron, he suggested that GFW strip him of the championship.

Assuming that’s not entirely true, and this was a company decision, El Patron left GFW with little choice. Moreover, I wouldn’t be surprised if El Patron never sets foot in the company again (never say never, I know).

The catalyst for his suspension — which is still ongoing — was an incident at the Orlando International Airport last month, following the last set of Impact television tapings. According to multiple reports, there was a loud verbal argument between El Patron and his fiance, WWE’s Paige, and the end result was Paige throwing a drink at El Patron. El Patron allegedly told Paige that he hoped her uncle, who was hospitalized, would die, precipitating the incident. He reportedly followed that up by yelling for people to check Paige’s luggage, because she “had all the coke.”

This isn’t the first alleged domestic incident between El Patron and Paige. They had a very public argument on the streets of Las Vegas last summer and then in the fall, El Patron was mysteriously stabbed.

At the time, El Patron said he was attacked by a knife-wielding man who was disrespectful to Paige. Of course, in this latest incident, Paige said that a random woman threw a drink at El Patron in the airport.

There seems to be a lot of random individuals either talking badly or throwing drinks at the couple. Or, they both have a history of trouble with the truth. You decide.

Clearly, GFW didn’t trust El Patron this week in Orlando. If they did, he would have been brought in to drop the championship, if nothing else. Vacating the title and keeping him on suspension suggests that there is more at play here than just the Orlando incident.

To be fair, Orlando police never charged El Patron and said he was not a suspect in any ongoing investigation.

So then why not end El Patron’s suspension and bring him back to the company on Thursday? Bram was charged with more serious crimes two years ago, and when the charges were dropped, he was almost immediately returned to television, albeit that was under previous management.

Was El Patron a problem backstage? Were there other incidents that were never made public? Why is his suspension still active and why was he stripped of the company’s championship if he, technically, did nothing illegal?

That’s what suggests there is more to the story. There’s a side the public hasn’t heard.

If El Patron makes a return to GFW, I’d be surprised. I’m sure he was being paid well, but he was also reportedly not under a signed contract either. If that’s the case, GFW has all the reason in the world to step away now, before his behavior does more damage to its rebuilding brand.

Moving on from El Patron might also free up the necessary money to sign Rey Mysterio, who it seems is interested in a run with the company. GFW isn’t in a position to take PR risks with El Patron.