Tom Lawlor Reacts To Match With Adam Cole Being Pulled From AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door

"Filthy" Tom Lawlor was set to make his All Elite Wrestling debut on Sunday in a match against Adam Cole, but unfortunately that match was unable to occur when Cole was struck with an undisclosed illness that left him unable to compete. The Team Filthy leader took to social media to vent his feelings.

"F***ing gutted," Lawlor wrote on Twitter.

FUCKING GUTTED.

— "Filthy" Tom Lawlor (@FilthyTomLawlor) June 25, 2023

According to Fightful Select, the former NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion did get a consolation match, getting a win over Serpentico in a dark match before AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door got underway, but his televised debut will have to wait until some other time.

This marks the second time that Forbidden Door season has led to bad times for Adam Cole, who suffered a nasty concussion during last year's event, taking him out of action for months and derailing the popular main event talent's momentum in AEW. Since returning, Cole has been embroiled in a feud with AEW World Champion MJF, wrestling the champion to a time limit draw on a recent episode of "AEW Dynamite."

Lawlor, for his part, is coming off a loss to NJPW World TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. at NJPW Resurgence. So vicious was Sabre's victory that it rearranged Lawlor's face temporarily, as ZSJ sent a tooth through Lawlor's lip during the particularly brutal bout. Lawlor has been an admitted fan of AEW programming giving the promotion an "A+" back in 2021, saying that he liked the action and the fact that the storylines weren't "insulting" to the audience.