The pro wrestling world was shocked on Friday night when news broke that AEW had fired Bear Boulder, real name Thomas Wansaw, due to his previously unreported arrest in January. According to the arrest affidavit, Wansaw had been arguing with his fiancée and used his incredible size advantage to place his foot onto her throat, leading to her blacking out.
And now, seemingly having been unaware of the full details previously, Wansaw’s longtime tag team partner Bear Bronson, real name Joseph Fitz, has taken to X to say he feels “sick to my stomach” and confirmed he has been keeping in touch with the victim.
Wansaw and Fitz broke into the business several years apart and first began teaming in 2017 under the name Bear Country. Subsequently, they worked against teams like Proud & Powerful and, The Butcher and The Blade on the indies, which led to them getting an opportunity in AEW as freelancers. Yet, while it’s understood around this time, the pair seriously considered splitting to pursue singles careers, after MJF convinced Tony Khan to offer them full-time contracts, they decided to stay together under the new name, the Iron Savages.
