Backstage Update On The Identity Of AEW's Evil Hologram, El Clon

The AEW/Ring of Honor residency at the 2300 Arena has had some interesting developments for Hologram so far. While the seed were planted at Death Before Dishonor, they were in full bloom on "AEW Collision" when, following Hologram's victory over Jay Lethal, his music and "programming" were hacked, revealing the existence of the long anticipated Hologram doppelganger, El Clon. And it didn't take long for the man behind El Clon's mask to be revealed. 

On his Monday post, luchablog reported that El Clon is being portrayed by Arez, who had previously competed for AAA in Mexico and GCW and MLW in the United States. Many had speculated Arez was the man behind the mask, despite no noticeable hints towards him, due to his long history with Hologram; the two have been rivals in Mexico for years, dating back to Hologram's time working under the name Aramis, and worked together in MLW years ago.

While plans for El Clon date back to last year, when AEW first trademarked the name, a deal to officially bring Arez in appears to have come together in recent months. It may have also been motivated by WWE, as luchablog noted the rival organization reached out to Arez about signing him to an AAA deal. This led to Arez informing AEW of WWE's interest and an official offer being made, with Arez ultimately choosing AEW over WWE/AAA.

One factor possibly complicating Arez's in person debut as El Clon is a foot injury he suffered this past weekend wrestling for independent promotion RIOT Lucha Libre. Though he was loaded into an ambulance and is said to have swelling in his foot, Arez wasn't taken to a hospital, and the injury has been described as "not super serious." Arez himself believes he'll only miss a few days, keeping El Clon's debut right on schedule.