British death match legend Jimmy Havoc had a tumultuous time in AEW, ending in his firing from the company in 2020.
He was fired after some dangerous allegations against him as part of the Speaking Out movement in 2020, but Havoc was already in AEW’s bad books after an incident the year before.
The Englishman got into a fight with AEW commentator Excalibur in 2019, while the company was still in its infancy. The altercation took place at Jimmy’s Famous Seafood in Baltimore, Maryland in November 2019.
Multiple members of AEW’s roster and backstage crew were in attendance. This included Tony Khan, who organised the event to celebrate the birthday of Tony Schiavones’ birthday.
The drinks were flowing, and Havoc (who has issues with drugs and alcohol) was drunk. He reportedly got into a verbal spat with Excalibur (it is unknown whether he had his mask on or not), which eventually turned physical.
Reports claim that Havoc tried to punch Excalibur, but missed his shot and was put into a chokehold that incapacitated him. After security broke up the pair, Havoc continued his assault before he was escorted from the restaurant.
Excalibur joined him outside to try and hash things out, but the Englishman was having none of it. Jimmy Havoc reportedly threw his phone at the commentator, and security escorted Excalibur back inside.
Jimmy Havoc DIsputes What Happened In The Fight
Despite what seem to be fairly specific and detailed reports, Jimmy Havoc has downplayed what happened at the restaurant.
In fact, he called the reports not true, claiming they are “50% false” as to the true story. He refused to go into what was actually true, indicating that the real story may incriminate him even more.
Alternatively, he could have been forbidden by Tony Khan to discuss the incident in detail. We can only speculate why he refused to give details on the altercation.
However, Jimmy Havoc did speak with WrestlingInc about the situation late 2019. Here, he claimed the dirt sheets had everything wrong, and that it “wasn’t as bad as everyone’s making out”.
“The report that got put out was totally not what happened at all. I’m not gonna say exactly what happened, but the truth was there was one punch thrown and a sleeper hold. And it’s not in the order that the press decided to report it as happening and that’s all I’m gonna say,” stated Havoc.
“The dirt sheets decided to run with a story that was 50 percent true. It was all sorted out and there’s no animosity. We were all drinking and how many times have you been out with your mates and something happens?
“The thing that upset me the most was how many people wanted me fired even though the boss [Tony Khan] was out at the bar where it f*cking happened. So obviously, it wasn’t as bad as everyone’s making it out.”
Tony Khan Called It “Cool” And Played Down The Fight
While Jimmy Havoc did not come out of the fight looking good, Tony Khan tried to play down the incident.
The AEW boss spoke at the Full Gear 2019 post show scrum about the fight between Jimmy Havoc and Excalibur. He said he “wouldn’t call it a fight”, and compared it to much worse incidents he has seen in football locker rooms.
He also called it “cool”, which is not something he said when CM Punk fought Jack Perry backstage at Wembley Stadium.
“I wouldn’t call it a fight, I’ve seen a lot worse in the world of football, both in England and the NFL — I’ve seen a lot worse, and I saw a lot worse tonight. They scrapped around and it was cool yesterday.”
