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The AEW Brawl & Its Fallout


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I don't know who was saying what to which dirt sheets, but if this is a matter that people really didn't want Colt Cabana to get fired, they went to bat for him, and they kept him under contract, why did this continue after they kept Cabana under contract? That really should've been the end of it. Unless Punk was actually threatening to walk if Cabana wasn't fired, like what is the issue here?

The thing is that company personnel changes all the time. People come and go, and that probably means some nice cool people won't stay at the company the whole time. I get Colt Cabana being well liked, but was it really worth jeopardizing the company for him? 

Joey Janela seems well liked, but The Elite didn't fight to keep him under contract. Jericho highly praised Marko Stunt, but he didn't fight to keep him there either.

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It's one thing for someone to get fired and/or not renewed for legitimate business reasons. It's a whole different thing if someone who is well liked gets fired because some asshole didn't like him... especially if no one likes the person insisting he gets fired. 

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Seems like real sports is full of double standards for the stars and the rank and file. Could Barry Bonds have gotten a bench player cut or traded during his peak with the Giants? Did Michael Irvin get fired over the barber shop incident? 

That's just how things are, fairly or unfairly. 

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13 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

Seems like real sports is full of double standards for the stars and the rank and file. Could Barry Bonds have gotten a bench player cut or traded during his peak with the Giants? Did Michael Irvin get fired over the barber shop incident? 

That's just how things are, fairly or unfairly. 

Being a Dallas Cowboy fan for 56 years has really colored my view of morals in professional sports.

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6 hours ago, Casey said:

I just want to point out that another outlet that was ahead of a lot of others this past week was actually Brian Last's Wrestling News (I think that's what it's called). Which is wild to me, since I thought he was just Cornette's stooge. But apparently FTR might be one of their sources?

 

Someone I know who checks in on Cornette's podcast said that one of them on it had a criticism of the Elite or Page in recent history that sounded very much like what Punk said at the press conference. Given that Punk is unlikely to being talking to either of them, many people shifted their focus to either member of FTR. Last apparently was talking about the Cody stuff that climaxed with him leaving AEW earlier than most others as well, so there is more than a bit of smoke hinting that someone fairly well connected in the company is talking to him. 

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1 minute ago, evidence said:

I wonder if it's too early to put in my $25 request to Bix and Kris for a 2032 Between The Sheets episode request. 

This has been a running joke for at least a month, starting with the first Vince hush money story. There has been something new every week seemingly since then. 

I said by 2032, Kris will have snapped and buried Bix under a box of stale cereal boxes.

Edited by odessasteps
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37 minutes ago, username said:

 

Last apparently was talking about the Cody stuff that climaxed with him leaving AEW earlier than most others as well, so there is more than a bit of smoke hinting that someone fairly well connected in the company is talking to him. 

Lat correctly called Cody being the 1st big name to jump back to WWE. Now I don't know if that means he's got an inside source or he just correctly read the room when Cody was trapped in the Codyverse 

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4 hours ago, punkenhead said:

As an animal lover, if Kenny Omega's main role in all this is that he passed Larry to Megha Parekh to keep him safe then God bless that man and straight up fuck crazy eyed Ace Steel and thin skinned CM Punk. The man should be lionized, not suspended. 

If people believe that, it is their choice. If I want to go the opposite way, this is three EVPs and the second in command of the company getting a dog who would probably defend its owner out of the way in an attempt to get the advantage in the situation, then failing to capitalise.

I think Punk is a thin skinned asshole, but very upfront about it. I also think Bucks & Omega are plotting assholes, but goofballs (likeable to some). 

I think no one is totally in the right or wrong here, the majority of people who follow the thing have made their mind up, though, putting it all on one party. EDIT: Or so it seems. There are probably a lot of grey areas people don't see. 

I have the same problem regarding Cabana. Don't care if he shares bank accounts with family members, I have been doubting the dudes honesty years before the public fallout between him and Punk. It takes me a way bigger effort to see Punk's bank account comment as a dig or even a cheaoshot for that reason, but it may very well be. To me, the focal point is that the shared bank account is in a greater context of e. g. the diffamation law suit. So yeah, I think we all sit here with a perception of what is true or rather what we want to believe to be true. 

I really just hope Tony wakes up and re-thinks his leadership-style 

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2 hours ago, Execproducer said:

It was all downhill after Staubach.

Oh Tex Schramm was a pretty low point in pro sports and he goes back to six years before I was born.   "Gene, here’s what you have to understand: we're the ranchers and you're the cattle, and we can always get more cattle."

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8 hours ago, TheVileOne said:

I don't know who was saying what to which dirt sheets, but if this is a matter that people really didn't want Colt Cabana to get fired, they went to bat for him, and they kept him under contract, why did this continue after they kept Cabana under contract? That really should've been the end of it. Unless Punk was actually threatening to walk if Cabana wasn't fired, like what is the issue here?

The thing is that company personnel changes all the time. People come and go, and that probably means some nice cool people won't stay at the company the whole time. I get Colt Cabana being well liked, but was it really worth jeopardizing the company for him? 

Joey Janela seems well liked, but The Elite didn't fight to keep him under contract. Jericho highly praised Marko Stunt, but he didn't fight to keep him there either.

Janela wanted out. 

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Normally I wouldn't do this but consider how often we get MELTZER SAID THIS IN THE WON~! and it is totally wrong, here is the entire blurb from the WON that just came out.

Spoilers because it is fucking long (at lot of that is because he transcribed Punk's full rant from the scrum)

Spoiler

A backstage brawl that came from and took place during the strangest modern pro wrestling press conference after the AEW All Out show ended with multiple wrestlers either suspended or removed from programming or working backstage for the time being.

C.M. Punk was the center of the controversy, which started after the press conference, which saw him lash out at Colt Cabana, Adam Page and others, notably The Young Bucks, who he never mentioned by name, but made it clear talking about Executive Vice Presidents and using the term Reseda, CA (the former home of PWG, where the Young Bucks first became stars prior to Japan).

It ended with Punk, who had torn his triceps five minutes into the match and gutted his way through in a great heated match, being stripped of his title. Even if nothing had happened after the show, the injury would have required surgery and six to nine months out of action, so that title stripping was happening regardless of what happened after the match. This took place in Punk’s first real match back after he suffered essentially a destroyed foot on 6/1 in Los Angeles. That injury took place when he jumped off the ramp to be hugged by fans, but didn’t realize the severity of it, did a full match, came off the top rope a few times on the foot, and needed four-and-a-half hours of surgery and extensive rehab to return for this show.

“I did the stage dive, what an idiot. I must have hit my foot on the top of the guard rail, but I didn’t feel it. You would think that shit would hurt, but people caught me, put me back down, I waited for FTR. It just didn’t feel right. I thought I just whacked it, but then I wrestled on it, blew a springboard, came off the top with a double axe, did all this shit. What I eventually did was, yeah, I fractured my foot, but then I pulverized the bone. Surgery was supposed to be an hour, it wound up being four a half (hours). I got three plates and 16 screws in my foot and I essentially have a new foot now. It is 100 percent. But it is a new 100 percent. Every day, I rehab. This is the worst injury I’ve ever had. I was in the bedroom for two weeks and it was really hard for me because I wanted to have this great summer, do good for Tony, sell tickets, draw money and ratings.”

He talked about how for two months he couldn’t walk his dog.

The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega, who are currently suspended due to the brawl, were stripped of their trios championships that they also won at All Out over Adam Page & John Silver & Alex Reynolds in the finals of a tournament to crown the first champion.

All four were also removed from the show open on the 8/7 Dynamite from Buffalo, NY. None of their names were ever mentioned on the show. Because of a lot of potential legal issues, Tony Khan at the start of the show in a taped interview only said that due to actions of the past week he was forced to vacate both titles, and then announced the three-week-long Grand Slam tournament for the AEW title and that the trios title vacancy would be filled on the show. That ended up with Pac & Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix beating Orange Cassidy & Trent Baretta & Chuck Taylor to take those titles.

While not announced officially by the promotion, everyone involved in the fracas was either suspended or told not to come to television, including a number of people whose participation was actually attempting to break things up. The list of those involved and not brought to TV were Punk, producers Ace Steel and Pat Buck, The Young Bucks, Omega, Head of Talent Relations Christopher Daniels, Michael Nakazawa and Brandon Cutler.

The company has brought in an independent firm to investigate and do video interviews with everyone in the room, which included all the names mentioned above, as well as many others, including a number of neutral parties who were in the room and were believed to have seen everything as it happened. The key names that would have included were Max “MJF” Friedman and AEW and Jacksonville Jaguars Chief Legal Officer Megha Parekh.

Until the investigation is completed those involved in the fracas were suspended. All long-term decisions regarding anything to do with any of them are pending until completion of the investigation. There still could be outside legal proceedings regarding the fight from different sides. I don’t expect AEW to ever address the specifics of what happened. Depending on the timing or threats of legal action, we don’t know if the key parties will talk. It is believed some want to talk and tell their side of the story when they can.

It becomes a difficult situation because Punk was, at least before his broken foot, AEW’s biggest drawing card, and he likely still is. The Young Bucks helped build the company from nothing, to where it is projected in 2022 to become only the third professional wrestling company in history (after WWE most years but not every year from 1984 on, and WCW from 1997 to 2000) to ever gross more than $100 million during a calendar year. Both acts are valuable in different ways. Based on history, if this was UFC, nobody would have been fined or suspended, although none involved company executives. Generally speaking WWE historically hasn’t fired wrestlers for getting into fights wit other wrestlers. But locker room fights, while never the norm, do happen in wrestling and will always happen in wrestling. The same happens, even more so, with boxing and MMA. Most of the time the promotions ignore it, or in many cases, use it to promote fights, such as Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov or Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier (which did end up leading to punishment for both by the Nevada commission). I can’t think of a WWE fight where somebody got punished with the exception of Curt Hennig starting a fight with Brock Lesnar on an airplane on the famed Plane Ride from Hell and he was fired. The closest was the fight with Vader and Paul Orndorff in WCW, where Orndorff was an agent and Vader was one of the company’s biggest stars. In theory in those situations, you protect the star, but WCW handled it based on doing the right thing, with the feeling Vader started it (Orndorff finished it very violently) and Vader was fired and Orndorff kept his job. WCW also fired Sid Eudy in a hotel room brawl in the U.K. with Arn Anderson, when Eudy was the bigger star, largely because the talent was adamant that going to somebody’s room, knocking on the hotel room door and clocking someone in the head with a chair to start a violent fight was worthy of a firing offense.

The legal threats were likely why Tony Khan did not announce anything regarding any of the talent at the start of the television show past the titles were vacant. The story broke pretty big, but there had to be a large number of viewers hearing that who had no idea what he was talking about, and then got no explanation as the show went on. But that was the only way it could have been handled by that point in time until things were over.

All parties involved were told not to talk about it. There were stories that broke regarding what happened from people not involved but were there and saw or heard about much of it. But as best we can tell, no actual person involved has talked, and the only story we’ve directly gotten was from someone very close to the Punk side.

Stories that have gotten out are so completely different and some things that have gotten out, such as the idea the Young Bucks broke down or kicked down the dressing room door to get at Punk, have been denied even by the Punk side. That side’s explanation was only that they got in the room quickly.

It started when Punk lashed out at the press conference. When he showed up, rather than answer questions, he immediately seemed to want to confront those in attendance, asking for hands of people who consider themselves journalists. Hausman was going to ask the first question,. Stated his name, and the Punk cut him off and asked for a show of hands. Then he went after Nick Hausman, believing him to be friends with Scott Colton, the name he used for the wrestler better known as Colt Cabana.

He asked Hausman if he was friends with Colton, and Hausman indicated that while he knew him, but that they were not friends.

Being right there as this was going on, my gut was Punk was looking to be confrontational with Hausman for being friends with Colton, but when he said he wasn’t, he dropped the media stuff for then and went on a tirade against Colton.

“I haven't had anything to do with Scott Colton in almost a decade,” said Punk. “Probably wanted nothing to do with him even longer than that. It's f***ing unfortunate that I have to come up here and speak on this when I'm on my time and this is a f***ing business. Why I'm a grown-ass adult man and I decided not to be friends with somebody is nobody else f***ing business.

“But my friends, if I fall backward, who will catch me, Scott Colton, I felt, never would have. My problem was I wanted to bring a guy with me to the top that did not want to see me at the top, okay? You call it jealousy, you call it envy, whatever the f*** it is. My relationship with Scott Colton ended long before I paid all of his bills. The fact that I have to get up here and do this in 2022 is f***ing embarrassing.

“I have every receipt. I have every invoice. I have every email, I have the email where he says, and I quote, `I agree to go our separate ways, I will get my own lawyer and you don't have to pay anymore.’ That's an email that I have, and the only reason the public did not see is because when I finally had to countersue him, through discovery, we discovered he shared a bank account with his mother. That's a fact. And as soon as we discovered that fact and we subpoenaed ol' Marsha, he sent the email, 'Oh, can we please drop all this?' Now, it's 2022. I haven't been friends with him since at least 2014, late 2013.” Punk switched subjects away from that briefly after being asked questions about MJF, who in theory he was to face at the Full Gear PPV show on 11/19 in Newark, NJ.

“I don't know. I'm tired of wrestling these pricks. I'm tired of wrestling these kids that think they know everything. But I'm not the boss. He won a number one contendership and I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I think Max is a supremely talented individual. But this goes for him and anyone in the locker room who doesn't want to be here: The grass is not greener on the other side. The grass is greener where you water it. And Max like to shit where he eats instead of watering the grass. So, we'll have to see how that goes.”

I took these remarks to just be promoting the match.

The big unanswered question is how much did he realize about his injury. If he knew it was serious or knew it was a torn triceps, he at that point may have realized that he wasn’t going to be doing any matches soon, let alone that one, and wasn’t going to be around soon so wanted to get things off his chest. But that is pure conjecture.

Punk, at another point, questioned Bryan Alvarez about using the word “incredulous” to describe his promo on Adam Page, although that led Punk back to Colton, saying that the two people who have made the most money off C.M. Punk were Vince McMahon and Colton.

Where the Young Bucks came in, was Punk blaming them for directly messaging me regarding the Colton story a couple of weeks ago in a Sports Illustrated interview. I just blew it off at the time a few weeks back. I probably should have told him that wasn’t true at all. I doubt it changes anything. He eventually was told directly but by that point it was too late and the damage was done. The great irony here is that he likely believed it, just as much of the dressing room believed the Cabana story.

Regarding the Colton story, this goes back months before Adam Page did the promo before Double or Nothing that Punk got so mad about. When Colton stopped being brought to television as a member of the Dark Order, given his past history with Punk and his sudden disappearance, this was a subject heavily spoken about within AEW. It seemed to be settled when Tony Khan, after the belief was he was going to or had let the contract expire, signed Colton for Ring of Honor at the same money. He appeared on both ROH PPV shows, but stopped appearing on AEW programming and was removed from the Dark Order with no angle or storyline explanation.

Several weeks ago, in this newsletter, I mentioned that the issue had gotten far more talked about after Punk did that promo out of nowhere on Page, and that Tony Khan needed to address it at a meeting or things would get bad. It was noted that Punk denied he had anything to do with it, but many talents, likely most, didn’t believe it. It wasn’t addressed at the meeting. Khan did do an interview where he said it was not Punk’s doing that Cabana was in ROH. Still, the reaction to that was that Khan saying it wasn’t Punk’s doing that he was in ROH, because that was a later part of the story since the ROH story came after Cabana stopped being brought to television. Khan did back Punk up at the press conference, but that got lost because Punk went so hard against Cabana earlier.

“What did I ever do in this world to deserve an empty-headed f***ing dumb f*** like Hangman Adam Page to go out on national television and f***king go into business for himself? For what? What did I do? What did I ever do? Didn’t do a goddamn thing.”

“I’m trying to run a f***ing business and when somebody who hasn’t done a damn thing in this business jeopardizes the first million dollar gate this company has ever drawn off of my back and goes on national television and does that, it’s a disgrace to this industry, it’s a disgrace to this company. Now we’re far beyond apologies. I gave him a f***ing chance and it did not get handled and you saw what I had to do, which was very regrettable lowering myself to his f***ing level.”

Another quote that irked Punk was when Page was at Galaxy Con, in a Q&A, he was asked about taking advice from veterans on the roster, with the question mentioning Punk and Sting, he said, “Oh boy, I don’t know, I’m stubborn, I don’t take advice. It’s a good question and that’s probably the honest answer. I listen to people say things, but very rarely do I listen hard. I was part of the movement that created the entire company and I’m a world champion. I don’t know that I need their advice. I’ll certainly listen, but there is something to be said about trial and error and doing it on our own. I take more pride in that.”

Punk at the press conference, evidently from reading those remarks, said, “Our locker room, for all the wisdom and brilliance it has, isn't worth shit when you have an empty-headed idiot who's never done anything in the business, do public interviews and say, 'I don't really take advice.' Who the f*** do you think you are?”

Earlier in the day there was something involving Punk and another wrestler who told us he was sad about how everything went down and didn’t want to acknowledge or talk about it.

“There’s people who call themselves EVPs that should have f***king known better,” said Punk. “This shit was none of their business. I understand sticking up for your f***ing friends. I f***king get it. I stuck up for that guy (Cabana) more than anybody. I paid his bills until I didn’t and it was my decision not to. When somebody who hasn’t done a damn thing in this business jeopardizes the first million-dollar house that this company has ever drawn off of my back and goes on national television and does that, it’s a disgrace to this industry. It’s a disgrace to this company. Now, we’re far beyond apologies. I gave him a f***king chance. It did not get handled and you saw what I had to do, which is very regrettable, lowering myself to his f***king level, but that’s where we’re at right now.”

“Now, it’s 2022. I haven’t been friends with this guy since at least 2014, late 2013, and the fact that I have to sit up here because we have irresponsible people who call themselves EVPs, yet they couldn’t fucking manage a Target and they spread lies and bullshit and put into the media that I got somebody fired when I have f*** all to do with him. I want nothing to do with him. I do not care where he works or where he doesn’t work, where he eats, where he sleeps. The fact that I have to get up here and do this in 2022 is fucking embarrassing. And if y'all are at fault, f*** you. If you're not, I apologize.”

Khan, sitting next to Punk, never stopped him, nor tried to get him to change the subject back to the match or his next match, nor defended Cabana, Page or the Young Bucks when Punk went after them. It led to a very awkward situation for almost everyone involved.

Shortly after Punk was finished and went back to his dressing room, things got worse.

It’s not clear if the Young Bucks were watching in some form, or were told what happened. Punk did as part of his remarks tell anyone who has a problem with him to address him like a man.

The Bucks did head to the room that Punk was in very shortly after Punk finished the press conference. There were all kinds of stories that surfaced coming out of this fracas that were greatly different from the other.

AEW obviously did not say anything, nor would any of the participants. The only thing we were told is that it was due to legal reasons, but there were witnesses and the story is that the key witnesses did have similar stories.

Keep in mind we were not far from where this was taking place. We were not close enough to hear that there was a commotion but we were close enough to see a security officer running past the press room door to break up the fight, which we just assumed was some drunks or fans causing a scene after the show. We were close enough that if somebody kicked down a door, we’d have heard it.

The story of the Young Bucks breaking down the door or kicking down the door to get in was said to be not true by multiple people who would know, given they got in late and there was no door broken down.

They did come into the room. It isn’t clear if they came with AEW and Jacksonville Jaguars Chief Legal Officer Megha Parekh, or she was there for another reason, which makes the breaking down or the door story ridiculous because nobody is doing that right in front of the head of legal.

But the claim was they did come in without knocking, the Punk side said barged in, and an argument started. Punk punched Matt Jackson, perhaps multiple times. From those close to Punk, the Bucks and Omega were in the room right away and they claimed it was clear a fight was going to happen so Punk punched first.

In the room at that time were also Lucy Guy (the wife of Ace Steel, real name Chris Guy). She had a broken foot and couldn’t move well and there was a fight now breaking out right in front of her. I believe she was there taking care of Larry, Punk’s dog, who actually got loose inside the arena and headed for the ring in front of the fans hours earlier, just before the show went on the air, although that wasn’t confirmed.

The belief from one witness is that it happened so fast that Omega and the Bucks may not have even realized she was there.

Steel was in quickly and hit Nick Jackson in the eye with a chair and Nick was said to be shaken up. Steel is a producer, backed up his good friend in a fight but also knew his wife was there. At that moment perhaps he wasn’t thinking logically because as a producer, his job would have been to break it up in any way. Breaking it up would have been even more imperative with his wife there and not being able to move out of the way if the fight got near her. Lucy Guy ended up not injured. But that was the reason given for his actions. Nick Jackson had a black eye. Punk was bleeding again from the cut from the match. Omega had his hair pulled and was bitten by Steel. The explanation on that is that Steel believed Omega was trying to crossface or choke him so Steel bit Omega as he was trying to separate Steel and Nick.

Pretty much the only points universally agreed on is that the Bucks came into the room without knocking, both sides were mad, Punk punched Matt, Steel hit Nick with a chair and pulled hair and bit Omega.

At this point more people were in the room. Those who were believed part of it in some form or witnesses were taken off the road. At this point it doesn’t appear that anyone was fired. One wrestler noted to us that he was next door and it sounded like they were shooting an angle, and when he came in to watch it, was told and it was very clear given the state of everyone, that it was not an angle. Many people, notably Page and FTR, were not believed to be still in the building at the time . The Young Bucks & Omega were scheduled to be at the press conference later. There were people yelling and screaming at each other at this point. It’s not clear what Jericho saw, but he was definitely aware of what happened.

Khan was doing the press conference while this was going on and it wasn’t until he was finished that Jericho told him shit went down. Jericho did the entire press conference giving no indication at all that anything had happened.

One person noted that Punk two weeks ago when he returned said that the press conference after the PPV would be interesting.

Khan and Punk had a meeting via zoom and Steel may have as well.

Several wrestlers not affiliated with either side noted to us that they felt Punk and Steel had to be gone. Some were upset with how Punk essentially buried the promotion, saying that Page, who had been a world champion and headlined three PPV shows that were three of the four biggest in company history, had never done anything in the business. It was in their minds outright calling AEW’s history, big show main events and championship worthless or meaningless. Others noted his remarks ran down the contributions the Young Bucks made regarding the birth and growth of the promotion. He actually used the term in the press conference that AEW critics have used saying it was only drawing a niche audience before he got there. But in fairness to him, he was the biggest peak draw the company ever had, across the board, whether it be PPV, merchandise or television ratings.

Moxley, Jericho and Bryan Danielson called a meeting in Buffalo on 9/7 before the show started. One person stated that it was the best backstage meeting the wrestlers had ever had and that they realized there was brand damage done that they have to overcome. Moxley’s promo of wanting to be handed the ball and become a legend and take that shot when we’re now in the fourth quarter of the game and behind did have its sense of reality to it. Even before the meeting, we were told that the talent arrived, knew they had a show to do and it was business as usual. People were told at the meeting to not air dirty laundry publicly and one person said when it was over, everything that happened Sunday was forgotten and there was nobody looking backwards, only forwards. Several noted how proud they were that after all this bad publicity, that they were able to put together such a strong TV show on 9/7, and most were excited about the future, but others noted being depressed with how everything had gone down over the past week.

Jericho and Moxley were both not scheduled on the show. Moxley had an angle planned that he sort of acknowledged on the air where he would be going on vacation to lead to a return with emphasis, but that’s out the window, as it appears he, Jericho, MJF and Danielson will be the key stars carrying the company for now.

But there are a few realities regarding the futures of key talent. Khan has tried to pacify his top guys, and Punk is not the only one who fits into this. There are many issues, notably Khan allowing Punk to continue at the press conference what he started with a promo that to the fans made Page seem like a nothing babyface when he was publicly called a coward on television and then nothing to the fans saw it followed up. There are a number of storylines out of whack, although with Punk’s injury, the key Punk vs. MJF storyline wouldn’t have happened either way and the Grand Slam tournament would have been the likely result. Regarding Punk’s future, the most obvious question. A decision eventually has to be made, but in a sense, he’s not going to be able to wrestle until maybe April to begin with, so that is a lot of time to heal all wounds. Whether it’s enough time to actually heal all wounds, that’s impossible to answer right now.

So for the title, two first round matches on 9/7 saw Danielson beat Page and Sammy Guevara beat Darby Allin, the latter airing on Rampage. Jericho and Moxley got first round byes.

On 9/14 in Albany, NY, both on Dynamite, Danielson faces Jericho and Moxley faces Guevara. The winners, likely Moxley vs. either Danielson or Jericho, will be on the 9/21 Arthur Ashe Stadium show in Queens, NY, which will also feature Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland vs. The Acclaimed for the tag team titles where by all rights there should be a title change, and Hook & rap star Action Bronson vs. Matt Menard & Angelo Parker.

MJF noted that he could enter the tournament but already has his title shot, so the tournament winner, likely Moxley, would face MJF after that.

 

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The crazy thing about this is that he thinks he needed to address the Colt Cabana thing...when nobody cares about the Colt Cabana thing but him.  Seriously, I'm on a wrestling board pretty much every day, and I don't think I've ever had a conversation about Colt Cabana that didn't start with CM Punk bringing up Colt Cabana.  I don't care about Colt Cabana.  I don't care about their relationship.  I generally only care because Punk has lit Colt Cabana's name on fire and threw it into a crowd while screaming "THE BUILDING IS ON FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  Honestly, did anyone here even realize there was a problem with what Adam Page said until months after he said it?  I didn't, and I don't remember anyone else talking about it in a thread I visit pretty much every day.  Punk's biggest problem is that he can't have a problem without making it everybody's problem.  He could have talked to Page about it, and had it done with, but nope he had to draw this shit out for months.  He could privately hate Page, he could refuse to work with Page, and he could have let sleeping dogs lie in private.  He had to go public with all his discontent and this is where it led.

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8 hours ago, username said:

 

Someone I know who checks in on Cornette's podcast said that one of them on it had a criticism of the Elite or Page in recent history that sounded very much like what Punk said at the press conference. Given that Punk is unlikely to being talking to either of them, many people shifted their focus to either member of FTR. Last apparently was talking about the Cody stuff that climaxed with him leaving AEW earlier than most others as well, so there is more than a bit of smoke hinting that someone fairly well connected in the company is talking to him. 

Fwiw Brian Last has been talking for a long time about there being a number of people backstage who arent part of the The Elites clique that have serious issues with them. He and Cornette said there are numerous people who have the same gripes Punk expressed but obviously arent in a position to be public with them. Hes also said more than once that Omega will be the next to leave.

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Can this be moved to the AEW forum or is it in general for a reason?

Anyway, obviously it's a moving target and a lot will hinge on the third party investigation, BUT we're dealing with two poles here.

  1. It's Pro Wrestling and guys always do business eventually
  2. It's CM Punk

I know Dave is so very deep in the "wrestling" bubble, but I do think that the injury has helped matters here and that there's a chance, as of this very moment, that Punk comes back in Spring, though if he does, my gut says it'll be more to wrestle younger guys he wants to wrestle and elevate them than to have some big crazy angle with the Elite.

But it's just as likely if not more likely that it doesn't happen. It's a big company with a lot of wrestlers and sometimes things get siloed. You could have Punk as a segment of the show and a match on a PPV in a Cody-like way, just doing his own thing and it wouldn't really throw anything off and would probably help business

It's wrestling and money trumps everything. Except for maybe corporate responsibility and the writhing (oft-channeled) spite contained within Phil Brooks.

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13 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Can this be moved to the AEW forum or is it in general for a reason?

It is general because of the amount of people who only read and post in the General thread (which is part of the reason this thread was needed in the first place)

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14 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Can this be moved to the AEW forum or is it in general for a reason?

Anyway, obviously it's a moving target and a lot will hinge on the third party investigation, BUT we're dealing with two poles here.

  1. It's Pro Wrestling and guys always do business eventually
  2. It's CM Punk

I know Dave is so very deep in the "wrestling" bubble, but I do think that the injury has helped matters here and that there's a chance, as of this very moment, that Punk comes back in Spring, though if he does, my gut says it'll be more to wrestle younger guys he wants to wrestle and elevate them than to have some big crazy angle with the Elite.

But it's just as likely if not more likely that it doesn't happen. It's a big company with a lot of wrestlers and sometimes things get siloed. You could have Punk as a segment of the show and a match on a PPV in a Cody-like way, just doing his own thing and it wouldn't really throw anything off and would probably help business

It's wrestling and money trumps everything. Except for maybe corporate responsibility and the writhing (oft-channeled) spite contained within Phil Brooks.

I think it's in the general due to the vastness of the situation, like how Vince retiring wasn't just in the WWE section 

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Lol, this is one of the few times I wish I was deeper in the wrestling bubble.  Meltzer has been offhandedly mentioning other wrestling fights all week and I have no idea what he talking about except for Bret-HBK and the time Sid scissored Daddy Arn.  I had no idea WCW fired Vader For fighting Orndorff.

Meltzer’s noted that backstage fights have always been a thing in MMA and wrestling, but the difference is that most fights don’t take place near media and in full view of a corporate attorney “from the real world”.

Lol, my lasting impression of this debacle is going to be Tony sitting next to Punk during the press conference with a blank “this is fine” look on his face - while Punk publicly drags four of his top stars and more or less sabotages the company.  I don’t have an opinion on Khan either way, but it’s hard for me to watch that and not conclude Tony is too too much of a sycophant to control Punk going forward.

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It looked to me like Tony was part trapped by the situation, where he couldn't put his foot down and tell Punk to stop in front of everyone without escalating things and becoming the story, and part enraptured like most wrestling nerds would have been by seeing an insane, juicy, bridge burning, historical meltdown happen right in front of him.

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2 hours ago, RIPPA said:

Normally I wouldn't do this but consider how often we get MELTZER SAID THIS IN THE WON~! and it is totally wrong, here is the entire blurb from the WON that just came out.

Spoilers because it is fucking long (at lot of that is because he transcribed Punk's full rant from the scrum)

  Reveal hidden contents

A backstage brawl that came from and took place during the strangest modern pro wrestling press conference after the AEW All Out show ended with multiple wrestlers either suspended or removed from programming or working backstage for the time being.

C.M. Punk was the center of the controversy, which started after the press conference, which saw him lash out at Colt Cabana, Adam Page and others, notably The Young Bucks, who he never mentioned by name, but made it clear talking about Executive Vice Presidents and using the term Reseda, CA (the former home of PWG, where the Young Bucks first became stars prior to Japan).

It ended with Punk, who had torn his triceps five minutes into the match and gutted his way through in a great heated match, being stripped of his title. Even if nothing had happened after the show, the injury would have required surgery and six to nine months out of action, so that title stripping was happening regardless of what happened after the match. This took place in Punk’s first real match back after he suffered essentially a destroyed foot on 6/1 in Los Angeles. That injury took place when he jumped off the ramp to be hugged by fans, but didn’t realize the severity of it, did a full match, came off the top rope a few times on the foot, and needed four-and-a-half hours of surgery and extensive rehab to return for this show.

“I did the stage dive, what an idiot. I must have hit my foot on the top of the guard rail, but I didn’t feel it. You would think that shit would hurt, but people caught me, put me back down, I waited for FTR. It just didn’t feel right. I thought I just whacked it, but then I wrestled on it, blew a springboard, came off the top with a double axe, did all this shit. What I eventually did was, yeah, I fractured my foot, but then I pulverized the bone. Surgery was supposed to be an hour, it wound up being four a half (hours). I got three plates and 16 screws in my foot and I essentially have a new foot now. It is 100 percent. But it is a new 100 percent. Every day, I rehab. This is the worst injury I’ve ever had. I was in the bedroom for two weeks and it was really hard for me because I wanted to have this great summer, do good for Tony, sell tickets, draw money and ratings.”

He talked about how for two months he couldn’t walk his dog.

The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega, who are currently suspended due to the brawl, were stripped of their trios championships that they also won at All Out over Adam Page & John Silver & Alex Reynolds in the finals of a tournament to crown the first champion.

All four were also removed from the show open on the 8/7 Dynamite from Buffalo, NY. None of their names were ever mentioned on the show. Because of a lot of potential legal issues, Tony Khan at the start of the show in a taped interview only said that due to actions of the past week he was forced to vacate both titles, and then announced the three-week-long Grand Slam tournament for the AEW title and that the trios title vacancy would be filled on the show. That ended up with Pac & Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix beating Orange Cassidy & Trent Baretta & Chuck Taylor to take those titles.

While not announced officially by the promotion, everyone involved in the fracas was either suspended or told not to come to television, including a number of people whose participation was actually attempting to break things up. The list of those involved and not brought to TV were Punk, producers Ace Steel and Pat Buck, The Young Bucks, Omega, Head of Talent Relations Christopher Daniels, Michael Nakazawa and Brandon Cutler.

The company has brought in an independent firm to investigate and do video interviews with everyone in the room, which included all the names mentioned above, as well as many others, including a number of neutral parties who were in the room and were believed to have seen everything as it happened. The key names that would have included were Max “MJF” Friedman and AEW and Jacksonville Jaguars Chief Legal Officer Megha Parekh.

Until the investigation is completed those involved in the fracas were suspended. All long-term decisions regarding anything to do with any of them are pending until completion of the investigation. There still could be outside legal proceedings regarding the fight from different sides. I don’t expect AEW to ever address the specifics of what happened. Depending on the timing or threats of legal action, we don’t know if the key parties will talk. It is believed some want to talk and tell their side of the story when they can.

It becomes a difficult situation because Punk was, at least before his broken foot, AEW’s biggest drawing card, and he likely still is. The Young Bucks helped build the company from nothing, to where it is projected in 2022 to become only the third professional wrestling company in history (after WWE most years but not every year from 1984 on, and WCW from 1997 to 2000) to ever gross more than $100 million during a calendar year. Both acts are valuable in different ways. Based on history, if this was UFC, nobody would have been fined or suspended, although none involved company executives. Generally speaking WWE historically hasn’t fired wrestlers for getting into fights wit other wrestlers. But locker room fights, while never the norm, do happen in wrestling and will always happen in wrestling. The same happens, even more so, with boxing and MMA. Most of the time the promotions ignore it, or in many cases, use it to promote fights, such as Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov or Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier (which did end up leading to punishment for both by the Nevada commission). I can’t think of a WWE fight where somebody got punished with the exception of Curt Hennig starting a fight with Brock Lesnar on an airplane on the famed Plane Ride from Hell and he was fired. The closest was the fight with Vader and Paul Orndorff in WCW, where Orndorff was an agent and Vader was one of the company’s biggest stars. In theory in those situations, you protect the star, but WCW handled it based on doing the right thing, with the feeling Vader started it (Orndorff finished it very violently) and Vader was fired and Orndorff kept his job. WCW also fired Sid Eudy in a hotel room brawl in the U.K. with Arn Anderson, when Eudy was the bigger star, largely because the talent was adamant that going to somebody’s room, knocking on the hotel room door and clocking someone in the head with a chair to start a violent fight was worthy of a firing offense.

The legal threats were likely why Tony Khan did not announce anything regarding any of the talent at the start of the television show past the titles were vacant. The story broke pretty big, but there had to be a large number of viewers hearing that who had no idea what he was talking about, and then got no explanation as the show went on. But that was the only way it could have been handled by that point in time until things were over.

All parties involved were told not to talk about it. There were stories that broke regarding what happened from people not involved but were there and saw or heard about much of it. But as best we can tell, no actual person involved has talked, and the only story we’ve directly gotten was from someone very close to the Punk side.

Stories that have gotten out are so completely different and some things that have gotten out, such as the idea the Young Bucks broke down or kicked down the dressing room door to get at Punk, have been denied even by the Punk side. That side’s explanation was only that they got in the room quickly.

It started when Punk lashed out at the press conference. When he showed up, rather than answer questions, he immediately seemed to want to confront those in attendance, asking for hands of people who consider themselves journalists. Hausman was going to ask the first question,. Stated his name, and the Punk cut him off and asked for a show of hands. Then he went after Nick Hausman, believing him to be friends with Scott Colton, the name he used for the wrestler better known as Colt Cabana.

He asked Hausman if he was friends with Colton, and Hausman indicated that while he knew him, but that they were not friends.

Being right there as this was going on, my gut was Punk was looking to be confrontational with Hausman for being friends with Colton, but when he said he wasn’t, he dropped the media stuff for then and went on a tirade against Colton.

“I haven't had anything to do with Scott Colton in almost a decade,” said Punk. “Probably wanted nothing to do with him even longer than that. It's f***ing unfortunate that I have to come up here and speak on this when I'm on my time and this is a f***ing business. Why I'm a grown-ass adult man and I decided not to be friends with somebody is nobody else f***ing business.

“But my friends, if I fall backward, who will catch me, Scott Colton, I felt, never would have. My problem was I wanted to bring a guy with me to the top that did not want to see me at the top, okay? You call it jealousy, you call it envy, whatever the f*** it is. My relationship with Scott Colton ended long before I paid all of his bills. The fact that I have to get up here and do this in 2022 is f***ing embarrassing.

“I have every receipt. I have every invoice. I have every email, I have the email where he says, and I quote, `I agree to go our separate ways, I will get my own lawyer and you don't have to pay anymore.’ That's an email that I have, and the only reason the public did not see is because when I finally had to countersue him, through discovery, we discovered he shared a bank account with his mother. That's a fact. And as soon as we discovered that fact and we subpoenaed ol' Marsha, he sent the email, 'Oh, can we please drop all this?' Now, it's 2022. I haven't been friends with him since at least 2014, late 2013.” Punk switched subjects away from that briefly after being asked questions about MJF, who in theory he was to face at the Full Gear PPV show on 11/19 in Newark, NJ.

“I don't know. I'm tired of wrestling these pricks. I'm tired of wrestling these kids that think they know everything. But I'm not the boss. He won a number one contendership and I guess I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I think Max is a supremely talented individual. But this goes for him and anyone in the locker room who doesn't want to be here: The grass is not greener on the other side. The grass is greener where you water it. And Max like to shit where he eats instead of watering the grass. So, we'll have to see how that goes.”

I took these remarks to just be promoting the match.

The big unanswered question is how much did he realize about his injury. If he knew it was serious or knew it was a torn triceps, he at that point may have realized that he wasn’t going to be doing any matches soon, let alone that one, and wasn’t going to be around soon so wanted to get things off his chest. But that is pure conjecture.

Punk, at another point, questioned Bryan Alvarez about using the word “incredulous” to describe his promo on Adam Page, although that led Punk back to Colton, saying that the two people who have made the most money off C.M. Punk were Vince McMahon and Colton.

Where the Young Bucks came in, was Punk blaming them for directly messaging me regarding the Colton story a couple of weeks ago in a Sports Illustrated interview. I just blew it off at the time a few weeks back. I probably should have told him that wasn’t true at all. I doubt it changes anything. He eventually was told directly but by that point it was too late and the damage was done. The great irony here is that he likely believed it, just as much of the dressing room believed the Cabana story.

Regarding the Colton story, this goes back months before Adam Page did the promo before Double or Nothing that Punk got so mad about. When Colton stopped being brought to television as a member of the Dark Order, given his past history with Punk and his sudden disappearance, this was a subject heavily spoken about within AEW. It seemed to be settled when Tony Khan, after the belief was he was going to or had let the contract expire, signed Colton for Ring of Honor at the same money. He appeared on both ROH PPV shows, but stopped appearing on AEW programming and was removed from the Dark Order with no angle or storyline explanation.

Several weeks ago, in this newsletter, I mentioned that the issue had gotten far more talked about after Punk did that promo out of nowhere on Page, and that Tony Khan needed to address it at a meeting or things would get bad. It was noted that Punk denied he had anything to do with it, but many talents, likely most, didn’t believe it. It wasn’t addressed at the meeting. Khan did do an interview where he said it was not Punk’s doing that Cabana was in ROH. Still, the reaction to that was that Khan saying it wasn’t Punk’s doing that he was in ROH, because that was a later part of the story since the ROH story came after Cabana stopped being brought to television. Khan did back Punk up at the press conference, but that got lost because Punk went so hard against Cabana earlier.

“What did I ever do in this world to deserve an empty-headed f***ing dumb f*** like Hangman Adam Page to go out on national television and f***king go into business for himself? For what? What did I do? What did I ever do? Didn’t do a goddamn thing.”

“I’m trying to run a f***ing business and when somebody who hasn’t done a damn thing in this business jeopardizes the first million dollar gate this company has ever drawn off of my back and goes on national television and does that, it’s a disgrace to this industry, it’s a disgrace to this company. Now we’re far beyond apologies. I gave him a f***ing chance and it did not get handled and you saw what I had to do, which was very regrettable lowering myself to his f***ing level.”

Another quote that irked Punk was when Page was at Galaxy Con, in a Q&A, he was asked about taking advice from veterans on the roster, with the question mentioning Punk and Sting, he said, “Oh boy, I don’t know, I’m stubborn, I don’t take advice. It’s a good question and that’s probably the honest answer. I listen to people say things, but very rarely do I listen hard. I was part of the movement that created the entire company and I’m a world champion. I don’t know that I need their advice. I’ll certainly listen, but there is something to be said about trial and error and doing it on our own. I take more pride in that.”

Punk at the press conference, evidently from reading those remarks, said, “Our locker room, for all the wisdom and brilliance it has, isn't worth shit when you have an empty-headed idiot who's never done anything in the business, do public interviews and say, 'I don't really take advice.' Who the f*** do you think you are?”

Earlier in the day there was something involving Punk and another wrestler who told us he was sad about how everything went down and didn’t want to acknowledge or talk about it.

“There’s people who call themselves EVPs that should have f***king known better,” said Punk. “This shit was none of their business. I understand sticking up for your f***ing friends. I f***king get it. I stuck up for that guy (Cabana) more than anybody. I paid his bills until I didn’t and it was my decision not to. When somebody who hasn’t done a damn thing in this business jeopardizes the first million-dollar house that this company has ever drawn off of my back and goes on national television and does that, it’s a disgrace to this industry. It’s a disgrace to this company. Now, we’re far beyond apologies. I gave him a f***king chance. It did not get handled and you saw what I had to do, which is very regrettable, lowering myself to his f***king level, but that’s where we’re at right now.”

“Now, it’s 2022. I haven’t been friends with this guy since at least 2014, late 2013, and the fact that I have to sit up here because we have irresponsible people who call themselves EVPs, yet they couldn’t fucking manage a Target and they spread lies and bullshit and put into the media that I got somebody fired when I have f*** all to do with him. I want nothing to do with him. I do not care where he works or where he doesn’t work, where he eats, where he sleeps. The fact that I have to get up here and do this in 2022 is fucking embarrassing. And if y'all are at fault, f*** you. If you're not, I apologize.”

Khan, sitting next to Punk, never stopped him, nor tried to get him to change the subject back to the match or his next match, nor defended Cabana, Page or the Young Bucks when Punk went after them. It led to a very awkward situation for almost everyone involved.

Shortly after Punk was finished and went back to his dressing room, things got worse.

It’s not clear if the Young Bucks were watching in some form, or were told what happened. Punk did as part of his remarks tell anyone who has a problem with him to address him like a man.

The Bucks did head to the room that Punk was in very shortly after Punk finished the press conference. There were all kinds of stories that surfaced coming out of this fracas that were greatly different from the other.

AEW obviously did not say anything, nor would any of the participants. The only thing we were told is that it was due to legal reasons, but there were witnesses and the story is that the key witnesses did have similar stories.

Keep in mind we were not far from where this was taking place. We were not close enough to hear that there was a commotion but we were close enough to see a security officer running past the press room door to break up the fight, which we just assumed was some drunks or fans causing a scene after the show. We were close enough that if somebody kicked down a door, we’d have heard it.

The story of the Young Bucks breaking down the door or kicking down the door to get in was said to be not true by multiple people who would know, given they got in late and there was no door broken down.

They did come into the room. It isn’t clear if they came with AEW and Jacksonville Jaguars Chief Legal Officer Megha Parekh, or she was there for another reason, which makes the breaking down or the door story ridiculous because nobody is doing that right in front of the head of legal.

But the claim was they did come in without knocking, the Punk side said barged in, and an argument started. Punk punched Matt Jackson, perhaps multiple times. From those close to Punk, the Bucks and Omega were in the room right away and they claimed it was clear a fight was going to happen so Punk punched first.

In the room at that time were also Lucy Guy (the wife of Ace Steel, real name Chris Guy). She had a broken foot and couldn’t move well and there was a fight now breaking out right in front of her. I believe she was there taking care of Larry, Punk’s dog, who actually got loose inside the arena and headed for the ring in front of the fans hours earlier, just before the show went on the air, although that wasn’t confirmed.

The belief from one witness is that it happened so fast that Omega and the Bucks may not have even realized she was there.

Steel was in quickly and hit Nick Jackson in the eye with a chair and Nick was said to be shaken up. Steel is a producer, backed up his good friend in a fight but also knew his wife was there. At that moment perhaps he wasn’t thinking logically because as a producer, his job would have been to break it up in any way. Breaking it up would have been even more imperative with his wife there and not being able to move out of the way if the fight got near her. Lucy Guy ended up not injured. But that was the reason given for his actions. Nick Jackson had a black eye. Punk was bleeding again from the cut from the match. Omega had his hair pulled and was bitten by Steel. The explanation on that is that Steel believed Omega was trying to crossface or choke him so Steel bit Omega as he was trying to separate Steel and Nick.

Pretty much the only points universally agreed on is that the Bucks came into the room without knocking, both sides were mad, Punk punched Matt, Steel hit Nick with a chair and pulled hair and bit Omega.

At this point more people were in the room. Those who were believed part of it in some form or witnesses were taken off the road. At this point it doesn’t appear that anyone was fired. One wrestler noted to us that he was next door and it sounded like they were shooting an angle, and when he came in to watch it, was told and it was very clear given the state of everyone, that it was not an angle. Many people, notably Page and FTR, were not believed to be still in the building at the time . The Young Bucks & Omega were scheduled to be at the press conference later. There were people yelling and screaming at each other at this point. It’s not clear what Jericho saw, but he was definitely aware of what happened.

Khan was doing the press conference while this was going on and it wasn’t until he was finished that Jericho told him shit went down. Jericho did the entire press conference giving no indication at all that anything had happened.

One person noted that Punk two weeks ago when he returned said that the press conference after the PPV would be interesting.

Khan and Punk had a meeting via zoom and Steel may have as well.

Several wrestlers not affiliated with either side noted to us that they felt Punk and Steel had to be gone. Some were upset with how Punk essentially buried the promotion, saying that Page, who had been a world champion and headlined three PPV shows that were three of the four biggest in company history, had never done anything in the business. It was in their minds outright calling AEW’s history, big show main events and championship worthless or meaningless. Others noted his remarks ran down the contributions the Young Bucks made regarding the birth and growth of the promotion. He actually used the term in the press conference that AEW critics have used saying it was only drawing a niche audience before he got there. But in fairness to him, he was the biggest peak draw the company ever had, across the board, whether it be PPV, merchandise or television ratings.

Moxley, Jericho and Bryan Danielson called a meeting in Buffalo on 9/7 before the show started. One person stated that it was the best backstage meeting the wrestlers had ever had and that they realized there was brand damage done that they have to overcome. Moxley’s promo of wanting to be handed the ball and become a legend and take that shot when we’re now in the fourth quarter of the game and behind did have its sense of reality to it. Even before the meeting, we were told that the talent arrived, knew they had a show to do and it was business as usual. People were told at the meeting to not air dirty laundry publicly and one person said when it was over, everything that happened Sunday was forgotten and there was nobody looking backwards, only forwards. Several noted how proud they were that after all this bad publicity, that they were able to put together such a strong TV show on 9/7, and most were excited about the future, but others noted being depressed with how everything had gone down over the past week.

Jericho and Moxley were both not scheduled on the show. Moxley had an angle planned that he sort of acknowledged on the air where he would be going on vacation to lead to a return with emphasis, but that’s out the window, as it appears he, Jericho, MJF and Danielson will be the key stars carrying the company for now.

But there are a few realities regarding the futures of key talent. Khan has tried to pacify his top guys, and Punk is not the only one who fits into this. There are many issues, notably Khan allowing Punk to continue at the press conference what he started with a promo that to the fans made Page seem like a nothing babyface when he was publicly called a coward on television and then nothing to the fans saw it followed up. There are a number of storylines out of whack, although with Punk’s injury, the key Punk vs. MJF storyline wouldn’t have happened either way and the Grand Slam tournament would have been the likely result. Regarding Punk’s future, the most obvious question. A decision eventually has to be made, but in a sense, he’s not going to be able to wrestle until maybe April to begin with, so that is a lot of time to heal all wounds. Whether it’s enough time to actually heal all wounds, that’s impossible to answer right now.

So for the title, two first round matches on 9/7 saw Danielson beat Page and Sammy Guevara beat Darby Allin, the latter airing on Rampage. Jericho and Moxley got first round byes.

On 9/14 in Albany, NY, both on Dynamite, Danielson faces Jericho and Moxley faces Guevara. The winners, likely Moxley vs. either Danielson or Jericho, will be on the 9/21 Arthur Ashe Stadium show in Queens, NY, which will also feature Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland vs. The Acclaimed for the tag team titles where by all rights there should be a title change, and Hook & rap star Action Bronson vs. Matt Menard & Angelo Parker.

MJF noted that he could enter the tournament but already has his title shot, so the tournament winner, likely Moxley, would face MJF after that.

 

For those that haven't read this, there are also Rampage spoilers for tonight's show so either read with caution or wait until Saturday morning.

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