Wrestling Entertainment - we know, you don't have to tell us!

[Mike E]

Holy shit!

https://twitter.com/VinceMcMahon/status/1550572700959121408?t=KOcGe6E9ivqeLUkzObvXQg&s=19

[DE.]

55 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Holy shit!

https://twitter.com/VinceMcMahon/status/1550572700959121408?t=KOcGe6E9ivqeLUkzObvXQg&s=19

Lol, yeah Vince, probably time to go considering there are a shitload more allegations about to come out. 

[DE.]

And there it is, Vince defrauded the company for $14.6m. 

[Gav]

My lads in Cardiff tonight watching some wresting event or something, he should have been at Ewood……then again, maybe not.

 

[Miller11]

So… CM Punk. Hero or villain?

[DE.]

Punk is just Punk. This is who he is, this is what he does. He's a toxic personality who is rapidly poisoning AEW. Dude stewed for three months over a totally innocuous comment from Hangman Page in a promo everybody had forgotten about by the time he came back. He's harbouring a grudge over Hangman saying in a random interview a while ago that he prefers to make his own mistakes and learn from them than just sit around taking advice from vets (keeping in mind with Punk's hiatus taken into account Page and Punk have basically been wrestling the same amount of time).

Maybe Punk has some valid points, but to air them in that manner? Come on, man. Made himself look like a child having a temper tantrum. Khan looks just as bad through all of this. Sitting there mimicking a nodding dog whilst Punk eviscerated his EVPs, one of the company's top, homegrown stars and in truth the company itself. MJF was right, the guy is nothing but a fucking mark with no backbone and needs help desperately.

Khan would have genuinely been better off using the money he wasted on Punk to keep Cody around. The Codyverse was way out of sync with the rest of AEW by the end, but his backstage respect and overall demeanour is clearly missed. 

To top it all off, there couldn't be a worse time for AEW to be imploding from within. WWE is in the ascendency, feeling fresher and newer than it has since Smackdown's incredible August 2016 - April 2017 run. With Vince gone, a lot of Trips favourites in AEW are now looking over at WWE thinking it's time to go home - and who could blame them with the increasingly amateur way AEW is being run. 

I was a huge fan of AEW, but it's increasingly feeling like a federation for WWE cast-offs and midcarders. The backstage bullshit just makes a shit situation worse. I never thought I'd be looking forward to Raw & Smackdown more than Dynamite & Rampage, but that's where I am right now. I don't even watch Rampage anymore. 

With that said, WWE still has its issues. The ending to Clash at the Castle was a massive missed opportunity and the ending with Drew and Fury singing was just fucking dumb on every conceivable level. Fine as a dark segment post-PPV, but why the fuck would you air that live? Strowman coming back and making the tag division look like a collection of jobbers was another 'lolWWE' moment which shows some things will never change. Overall though WWE just has more structure, more coherence and makes more sense than AEW. Primarily thanks to Vince leaving, but still... who would have thought it. 

[Dreyski]

If it's a work then all they've done is overshadow MJF and anything good about All Out / AEW generally.

Assuming it's real if Tony doesn't fire Punk, he's a moron. No man should be bigger than the company, even if he holds the belt. Though it smacks of the whole "leaving with the title" angle they did in WWE, I don't think it's a work. Like I say if it is, then fine - I bought it - but all people are talking about is the shit show. It doesn't elevate the company in the slightest.

There's no "gotcha!" in this... they all look like fucking idiots.

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by Dreyski

[DE.]

Meltzer and Alvarez have stated decisively on WOR that it is not a work, and that there's legal action being taken. Even if it was a work... what does it really achieve? It just makes AEW as a company, Tony Khan as a leader and Punk as a champion all look like a total joke. Not to mention most of the casual fans don't follow the backstage drama, so it's only going to translate to eyeballs on the product from smark fans - who are most likely already watching AEW. 

There's so much dissention being reported from AEW that it genuinely sounds like the entire thing is falling apart. That's not a good look.

[Dreyski]

So a few reports coming out which says Punk may have injured himself again. Torn bicep. Which might not matter anyways because if Ace Steel does get fired for being bitey and throwing a chair into Matt's eye then most are believing Punk will walk anyways.

Would love to have been a fly on the wall when they thought it was a great idea to unify the belts 2 weeks before a ppv. Mox drops it, now Punk is more than likely vacating it if the injury is true. Russo booking 101.

[DE.]

Tony does love a good tournament though. Tournaments are to Khan what tag team matches were to Teddy Long.

[Miller11]

To be transparent, I really dislike Omega and the Young Bucks, which will certainly influence my view on the whole thing… But they along with Jericho, have been given far too much rope. The lunatics have been running the asylum for far too long and there’s obviously a massive divide in the locker room to the extent where there are basically 2 warring factions. It’s been evident for ages and FTR were the most visible other side of the coin (got sulked at for appearing on Cornette’s podcast soon after signing, reportedly being buried by the Bucks, more recently the video game exclusion). Then along comes Punk with his ego and attitude, but perhaps most importantly is immediately the top guy. He won’t just sit back and take it, he doesn’t have to either. The balance of power shifts, Elite noses are pushed out of joint, More and more gets leaked to Meltzer. The whole thing becomes more and more toxic and Tony Khan is totally ill-equipped to deal with it. That stupid talent meeting where he let the EVPs flex their egos no doubt did more harm than good, and those media scrums are a completely idiotic idea.

Sounds like there are conflicting accounts about what has actually happened, which side was the aggressors etc, but there seem far more stories painting at all as being Punk’s fault. That’s hardly surprising as it’ll all be indirectly from Meltzer and his sources. Coming out now that Ace Steel wasn’t in the room when it all started (with the reported hair pulling and biting you have to think Omega was more involved than being an innocent bystander).

I’ve not watched any wrestling regularly for ages. All programming has been pretty dreadful for a while in my opinion, but I’m fascinated to see how this plays out.

 

[Miller11]

5 minutes ago, DE. said:

Tony does love a good tournament though. Tournaments are to Khan what tag team matches were to Teddy Long.

Or “on a pole” matches to Vince Russo!

[DE.]

Honestly none of us will ever really know what is going on, as it's all he-said she-said nonsense, but one thing that is clear is that AEW is very quickly spiralling out of control. It needs a strong hand on the tiller, and Tony Khan isn't that guy. It's obvious Punk doesn't respect him in the slightest, and if he doesn't show some serious leadership skills here I imagine he'll lose the respect of much of the locker room.

One can only imagine what the likes of Jericho, Regal, JR, Mox, Schiavone and Danielson are making of all of this. Some of them will be having some nightmarish WCW flashbacks, whilst others will be wondering what the hell is happening and how it's gotten to the point where the champion and top star in the company is literally getting into fist fights with the EVPs.

Two things Punk can't be defended on, in my view, is his comments on Hangman and Cabana. He just comes across as petty and majorly unhinged. Young Bucks and Omega is a different story - just a case of multiple big egos clashing in the worst way.

[Miller11]

5 minutes ago, DE. said:

Honestly none of us will ever really know what is going on, as it's all he-said she-said nonsense, but one thing that is clear is that AEW is very quickly spiralling out of control. It needs a strong hand on the tiller, and Tony Khan isn't that guy. It's obvious Punk doesn't respect him in the slightest, and if he doesn't show some serious leadership skills here I imagine he'll lose the respect of much of the locker room.

One can only imagine what the likes of Jericho, Regal, JR, Mox, Schiavone and Danielson are making of all of this. Some of them will be having some nightmarish WCW flashbacks, whilst others will be wondering what the hell is happening and how it's gotten to the point where the champion and top star in the company is literally getting into fist fights with the EVPs.

Two things Punk can't be defended on, in my view, is his comments on Hangman and Cabana. He just comes across as petty and majorly unhinged. Young Bucks and Omega is a different story - just a case of multiple big egos clashing in the worst way.

If Tony Khan had an ounce of sense he’d call JR, Regal and Arn Anderson into a room and beg them to sort the mess out.

[DE.]

1 minute ago, Miller11 said:

If Tony Khan had an ounce of sense he’d call JR, Regal and Arn Anderson into a room and beg them to sort the mess out.

Trick Punk and the Elite into entering a room with William Regal and lock the door. Ten minutes later all is resolved, one way or another.

[DE.]

 

Ominous from big Dave. Sounds like a decision has been made.

[Miller11]

12 minutes ago, DE. said:

Trick Punk and the Elite into entering a room with William Regal and lock the door. Ten minutes later all is resolved, one way or another.

Oh I’d love that!!

Guys, you are relieved of your title and duties as EVPs… meet your replacements, Mr Regal, Mr Severn, and Haku. Any problems with that?

[DE.]

Maybe throw Enzo in there for a laugh just to balance things out. They've already hired Big Cass, because their roster apparently wasn't large enough already, so why not?

[Miller11]

4 minutes ago, DE. said:

Maybe throw Enzo in there for a laugh just to balance things out. They've already hired Big Cass, because their roster apparently wasn't large enough already, so why not?

Might need to pad it out a bit soon! Got to be some departures coming.

[DE.]

A lot of rumours now that Punk has been fired. I mean, it's the most logical outcome from all of this, but would still be a major development. If we consider AEW a major promotion, has a reigning champ ever been fired like this? Literally days after winning the title, no less? 

Edited September 6, 2022 by DE.

[Miller11]

1 minute ago, DE. said:

A lot of rumours now that Punk has been fired. I mean, it's the most logical outcome from all of this, but would still be a major development. If we consider AEW a major promotion, has a reigning champ ever been fired like this? Literally the day after winning the title, no less? 

I very much doubt it. It’s only very recently that someone with so little trust from a promoter would’ve been given a title. I can’t see it ever happening in the territory days either, at least not in the long standing reputable ones.

If it’s true and the Elite come out unscathed it will really embolden them and make a lot of the existing problems even worse. There really isn’t a positive resolution to any of this.

[DE.]

The only example I can think of, and this is going back a long time, is when Jim Herd fired Ric Flair in 1991 whilst he was WCW champ, and he headed to WWE with the strap. 

As for the Elite, I suspect there will be some kind of punishment given to them, but likely just a fine and/or suspension. Basically a token gesture just to make it seem like all sides were disciplined. 

If Punk does go... well, that totally blows the MJF return. That was literally the entire point of him coming back.

[DE.]

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/wadekellerpodcast/2022/09/06/96-wade-keller-podcast-flagship-live-special-with-wade-keller-nick-hausman

PWTorch apparently doing a live show in 10 minutes or so which has been made free, and it's been suggested there will be breaking news on there. Possibly the announcement of Punk's departure, if it doesn't leak in the next few minutes.

[Miller11]

4 minutes ago, DE. said:

The only example I can think of, and this is going back a long time, is when Jim Herd fired Ric Flair in 1991 whilst he was WCW champ, and he headed to WWE with the strap. 

As for the Elite, I suspect there will be some kind of punishment given to them, but likely just a fine and/or suspension. Basically a token gesture just to make it seem like all sides were disciplined. 

If Punk does go... well, that totally blows the MJF return. That was literally the entire point of him coming back.

Ah of course! Easy to forget the most obvious ones sometimes. Funnily how Jim Herd was widely considered as being utterly clueless about the wrestling business and completely out of his depth too!

[DE.]

In fairness to Khan, he does have huge, almost encyclopedic knowledge of wrestling. He's very much a legit fan. The problem is he's a weak leader and has done a really bad job of creating a professional structure in AEW. In the early days when AEW was a renegade company with only a handful of stars he could get away with it, but nowadays with a ton of big names and big egos it no longer works. The lunatics are now running the asylum, WCW style, and it's just falling apart around him. He's ultimately just a big kid who wants to fantasy book, but doesn't want to deal with the more boring but significantly more important professional aspects of the business.