(BP)

Tony was intent on making it work for financial reasons, and once Punk realized that he wasn’t going to get out of his contract he became all about finishing his time out on his terms. I don’t think either one was under any illusions about their working relationship this summer or thought they were doing anything but trying to make it through the rest of Punk’s time there without another catastrophe, which they both failed at doing. I think Tony’s position was way more shrewd than he’s getting credit for, and I don’t think he’s a quaking cartoon character living in fear of his locker room like he’s often portrayed.

I love this because I feel like AEW should always be running one angle that wouldn’t be out of place in 1999 WCW.

I figure they’ll run Saraya through some of the usual suspects, do at least one individual defense against Toni, and then Ruby will turn and win it in either a singles or Outcast Triple Threat Match.

If they don’t have major singles programs lined up for Darby and OC coming out of All Out I’m hoping they get together for a tag title program with FTR. They were too good together during the tourney over the summer for that to be a one-off.

CJ Perry went to The Jeff Hardy School for Running in to Save a Loved One. Get your shit in on the ramp, they’ll still be in the ring when you get there.

I’m not kidding, my guess is he’s bitter about having to put Regal over in that King of the Ring final.

I agree that Punk isn’t showing solidarity with the working class by shitting on retail managers, but from many years of personal experience I can attest it’s one of the only careers held in equal contempt by both white collar and blue collar workers. Everyone thinks they’re above it for one reason or another.

I like complex heels, but Starks seems to be genuinely shaken by his program with Punk being overshadowed and then killed. There’s been a level of self pity to everything since he turned, which I think can work (heels always think they’re in the right) but he’s regressed as a promo since that incredible MJF program. Even acknowledging Bill in the first place felt like him reaching for a life preserver because he was struggling. It didn’t kill the moment because Danielson is Teflon and he’ll always get a reaction on a return, but Starks wasn’t looking to generate heat to build up to it.

I don’t think it’s that dire, but a little more than a year ago there was a possibility of them being real competition for WWE and now it looks like they’re going to perpetually be the number two promotion. Which is fine, there isn’t any reason there should only be one major national promotion. There’s room for them, at least for the foreseeable future.

At least if Britt was a heel her shitting all over the rest of the division with every breath would make more sense.

If Collision was Dark on steroids they’d be in a good spot. A bunch of cool competitive matches with people not on the rest of the shows regularly mixed with some squashes, a breezy commentary team that isn’t as invested in pushing long term storylines and can just riff, and then one major star in a main event or angle that’s been promoted heavily on Dynamite and Rampage like MJF/Cole vs FTR. They had the right idea, the brand split was just for the wrong reasons with the wrong talent pool.

Yeah, Billy was always going to get more opportunities from Vince because he had a great physique and he could go. Roadie was on his way to finishing his contract with WWF jobbing on Shotgun and then tagging with his brother on WCW Saturday Night putting over High Voltage. He got an opportunity to get over and he made the most of it with a limited toolbox.

Having a fanciful Sunday morning imagining Heel Authority TK pulling a Norman Smiley dressed in Jaguars protective gear and antagonizing his foes into attacking him. “He’s gonna…he’s gonna…he’s gonna LUNGE!”

Nigel’s better with Ian, but his delivery is so clearly influenced by his time with WWE that he’s not much better than Kelly for me.

The match was like a week ago and Tyrus is still running to the ropes to leave the ring.

I figured they had the crowd mics turned down because I heard the refs counting down to the commercial breaks on the ring mics a lot.

Danielson/Starks should be laid out like Austin vs KO, but Dragon loves setting his bump card on fire for his art.

The opening segment was cursed with tech issues, Starks going into business for himself and trying to turn baby, Steamboat not being able to talk, and Danielson not wanting to talk. At least the bandaid is off. Solid show, but fire that commentary booth into outer space and get a real team.

Ric Flair: Vince, it was your dad on the NWA Discipline Committee who voted for me to get a paddling!

I’m less interested in AEW without Punk, but he’s also never going to make me sit through WWE tv. So, I’ll stick with AEW for a bit and if it’s not clicking there’s always mid 90s WCW Pro to binge.

It’s 2023, and a Ricky Steamboat segment is going to be a pivotal moment in a major wrestling promotion’s immediate future. So that’s cool.

Maybe that’ll nudge Kim Cattrall into accepting a truckload of money to save And Just Like That.

Barring an injury, if anyone WBD was counting on being on TV when they sign a new deal suddenly disappears from the show and they feel misled, I’d imagine that there are ways that they can make things unpleasant for AEW for the remainder of their contract.

This does feel like Punk had Tony convinced at the beginning of the summer that they could convince the Elite to do business by All Out, and most of what we’re seeing is a fall-back plan that has also gotten screwed up.