AEW Star Killswitch (Fka Luchasaurus) Hospitalized With Serious Medical Condition

Just days away from the fifth anniversary episode of "AEW Dynamite," it seems All Elite Wrestling will be without one of its original stars for an undisclosed period of time. On Monday, Fightful reported that Austin Matelson, who currently wrestles in AEW under the name Killswitch after initially being known as Luchasaurus, is dealing with a serious medical issue that has resulted in his hospitalization.

Fightful reports that Matelson's fiancee "found him collapsed" this past Friday, after which he was taken to the hospital. Upon admission his blood oxygen level was found to be below 80% — dangerously low, considering the normal level is 95% – 100%. Doctors also discovered that Matelson had pneumonia in both lungs and that he was "days away from permanent lung damage." Matelson has been on oxygen since Friday and was reportedly told he would need more than a month to recover, and it could be longer before he's ready to return to the ring. Fightful says they received permission "from those close to" Matelson before reporting on the situation.

Matelson is a former AEW TNT, Tag Team, and Trios Champion, having won the tag titles in 2022 alongside Jack Perry back when Matelson was known as Luchasaurus, Perry was known as Jungle Boy and they were collectively known as Jurassic Express. The years since have seen Luchasaurus become Killswitch after turning on Perry at the behest of Christian Cage, who brought Killswitch into The Patriarchy; Cage and Killswitch were Trios Champions with fellow Patriarchy member Nick Wayne until AEW All In 2024, when they lost the belts to the Blackpool Combat Club at Wembley Stadium. Killswitch later helped Cage win a Casino Gauntlet Match the same night, resulting in Cage "earning" a guaranteed world championship opportunity. Killswitch hasn't competed in the ring since Wembley.