AEW talent and staff were placed under a brief backstage lockdown following the August 8 episode of Collision after a threat was reported, according to Conrad Thompson and Tony Schiavone on What Happened When.
Thompson said his sources told him nobody backstage could leave the building after the show.
“There was a lockdown. Allegedly, there was an armed man. There was a shooter, or so we thought. Now, the fans never found out about it, but all the talent was locked in backstage. They couldn’t move in, they couldn’t exit, they couldn’t take the shuttle, they couldn’t hit the road to make their red-eyes because someone had called in a threat,” Thompson said, adding that it turned out to be “just a guy in a hoodie with a duffel bag” and nothing more.
Schiavone, who was at the show, said security stopped him, Nigel McGuinness, and producer Paul from taking their usual exit through the crowd, and that the lockdown lifted almost immediately afterward.
“I do appreciate that the AEW security detail was immediately like, ‘You know what? In an abundance of caution, let’s just make sure it’s nothing.’ So the local people were called and everything was fine, and it was nothing,” Schiavone said.
“Talking to security, it was a duffel bag that someone thought could be something… There’s nothing to it.”
Ring of Honor tapings followed Collision that night.