Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

AEW - OCTOBER 2022


The Natural

Recommended Posts

Dave Meltzer:

Quote

AEW and CM Punk are in talks to buyout the remaining years on his contract, according to Dave Meltzer in this week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

The news comes less than two months after Punk, Ace Steel, the Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega were involved in a backstage fight following Punk's comments about the Bucks, Omega, and others at September's All Out post-event press conference.

Meltzer said neither Punk or AEW commented on, or denied, the story.

Meltzer wrote that AEW and Punk were talks about the future, but "it looks doubtful he will be back. Those with close knowledge of the situation said they are in talks with Punk about a buyout of the remaining years of his contract which tells you that they are not looking to bring him back. The holdup right now is said to be the non-compete period."

He wrote that the non-compete is obviously because of WWE as they are the only other group that can pay him what he would ask for. Punk is currently injured from his All Out match with Jon Moxley, however, with no public timetable for when he could return.

The length of the disputed non-compete was not included.

Meltzer pointed out there is no lock WWE would want Punk back even with Paul Levesque on a streak of surprise returns, noting they turned down having Punk return before despite Fox wanting them to do so.

AEW has yet to publicly state anything related to the fight with Tony Khan refusing to answer questions when asked. It's assumed that Omega and the Bucks were suspended following the fight while Punk is injured and can't return to action anyway. It's unclear if he is still suspended despite that.

Punk, Omega, and the Bucks were all stripped of their titles on the post-All Out edition of Dynamite without being mentioned by name or why the titles were stripped from them to begin with.

Steel, a backstage producer and close friend of Punk's, was released earlier this week in the latest development in a situation that has been slow moving and without a lot of answers. 

Punk debuted for AEW in August 2021 at Chicago's United Center after nearly eight years away from pro wrestling, returning to the ring a few weeks later against Darby Allin at that year's All Out.

I thought a buyout as a possibility.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, The Natural said:

 

It's Friday, folks.  Treat yourself and watch this, it's a hoot and a half.  I still remember the look on my friend's face when I said "Hey, here's pro wrestling in 2020!" and she was incredibly amused by it all.  No wonder MJF got his NYT award.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go back and watch the first Stadium Stampede then see where things take me.  Why?  Well because that was an incredible way of making wonderful chicken salad out of the chicken shit year that was 2020.

Also, since the caffeine's working right now to go back to Miro the guy is truly living the American Dream.  I had the pleasure of speaking with him Sunday and he couldn't have been nicer and appreciative of the compliments we were were throwing at him.  He said he knew coming to America he had to stay driven to make it and IMO AEW or not he's already won at life.  I did joke that maybe he should come back in a tank and he asked what we heard about it.  My wife didn't know but all I had to do was raise my head and eyebrows and he knew that I knew.  So since I knew that he knew that I knew we both had the biggest goddamn grins and laughed at it all.  But anyway, great guy.

Edited by NikoBaltimore
  • Like 7
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, NikoBaltimore said:

It's Friday, folks.  Treat yourself and watch this, it's a hoot and a half.  I still remember the look on my friend's face when I said "Hey, here's pro wrestling in 2020!" and she was incredibly amused by it all.  No wonder MJF got his NYT award.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go back and watch the first Stadium Stampede then see where things take me.  Why?  Well because that was an incredible way of making wonderful chicken salad out of the chicken shit year that was 2020.

Also, since the caffeine's working right now to go back to Miro the guy is truly living the American Dream.  I had the pleasure of speaking with him Sunday and he couldn't have been nicer and appreciative of the compliments we were were throwing at him.  He said he knew coming to America he had to stay driven to make it and IMO AEW or not he's already won at life.  I did joke that maybe he should come back in a tank and he asked what we heard about it.  My wife didn't know but all I had to do was raise my head and eyebrows and he knew that I knew.  So since I knew that he knew that I knew we both had the biggest goddamn grins a laugh at it all.  But anyway, great guy.

@NikoBaltimoreLovely thing to read before I meet my fantastic friend Alyson for tea. Cheers.

Edited by The Natural
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, For Great Justice said:

Don’t miss him even a little bit 

I do, and yet I don't. I'm struggling with my feelings on it because there were so many amazing things about this last run, but it's hard not to think about the guy jamming muffins in his face and shitting on absolutely everything. It's like an ex-girlfriend: tough to remember the good times in high school, when she's throwing your ass out 10 years later.

So yes, some days I miss things like the FTR interactions, the tremendous MJF feud, being able to go "Oh hey, that's from Bret vs Diesel at the Rumble" during his Hobbs/Wardlow matches or whatever. Other days, I'm like, whatever - his signing was a means to an end to get a better TV deal and a video game, and he couldn't even do that for 'em right, fucking baby.

'Tis a complicated matter.

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

The holdup right now is said to be the non-compete period."

He wrote that the non-compete is obviously because of WWE as they are the only other group that can pay him what he would ask for. Punk is currently injured from his All Out match with Jon Moxley, however, with no public timetable for when he could return.

The length of the disputed non-compete was not included.

Meltzer pointed out there is no lock WWE would want Punk back even with Paul Levesque on a streak of surprise returns, noting they turned down having Punk return before despite Fox wanting them to do so.

Huh, wonder why the non-compete would be a hang-up!? Interesting, very interesting. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, For Great Justice said:

Don’t miss him even a little bit 

Well, that's one advantage to AEW's bloated roster. They have so many great performers they can fill time with, I don't really miss guys when they're gone. Even guys I really enjoy.

Except Miro. I miss him.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, HarryArchieGus said:

Huh, wonder why the non-compete would be a hang-up!? Interesting, very interesting. 

On paper, it sort of makes sense. Tony khan doesn't want to pay him the remainder of his contract just for him to suddenly bolt to WWE, as unlikely as that may sound.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll say it, I miss him. One of my favourite wrestlers showed back up, was wrestling in a way that contrasted and interacted in an interesting way with the house style(s), and was taking part in the most interesting stories and angles in the company's short history. There's plenty of guys on the bench they can call in as needed and I understand why both sides might be compelled to move on, but my interest in AEW is adversely impacted by his absence.  

Was hoping he'd be out long enough that there'd be a chance for things to blow over. Still kind of hoping. Oh well. 

  • Like 15
  • Sad 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If he comes back and works something out, great. I'd love to see more matches that I never thought we'd see. Give me Punk vs Bowens (fun fact, Max Caster has had two matches against him. One solo, the other being the injury causing six man with FTR against Caster and the Gunns), give me Punk vs Rush.

If he doesn't, that's also great. It was a helluva year.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, John from Cincinnati said:

I'll say it, I miss him. One of my favourite wrestlers showed back up, was wrestling in a way that contrasted and interacted in an interesting way with the house style(s), and was taking part in the most interesting stories and angles in the company's short history. There's plenty of guys on the bench they can call in as needed and I understand why both sides might be compelled to move on, but my interest in AEW is adversely impacted by his absence.  

Was hoping he'd be out long enough that there'd be a chance for things to blow over. Still kind of hoping. Oh well. 

The whole situation makes me sad. They had something good and it all fell apart because of petty wrestling bullshit. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

On paper, it sort of makes sense. Tony khan doesn't want to pay him the remainder of his contract just for him to suddenly bolt to WWE, as unlikely as that may sound.

Of course, I just find it interesting that there might be a hold-up on the Punk side. I did notice some mentions of his relationship with Paul Heyman and seeing as Paul seems to have some pen power these days...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Sammo~! said:

Do Kenny and the Bucks now

Bucks can stay in California forever. Don't miss them one bit. 

Kenneth - I was hoping him coming back as a babyface was going to lead to Callis eventually turning against him. No idea who I want Callis to manage in a feud against Kenny. Maybe Miro, that way they can stop with the terrible "my god" schtick, and those matches would be fun. After putting Miro over, Kenny can find a tag partner and slot into that part of the card as a way to work a less demanding style until he retires. Dude has taken a beating over the years.   

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, HarryArchieGus said:

Of course, I just find it interesting that there might be a hold-up on the Punk side. I did notice some mentions of his relationship with Paul Heyman and seeing as Paul seems to have some pen power these days...

I think Punk needs to sack up and figure it out. 

If he feels he can never go back and work with these people again and feels like he was violated, fine I can understand that. He's still not blameless in this situation. Not everyone has to listen to you. You don't listen to everyone. And it's not your job to make sure everyone knows someone won't listen to you.

There is taking a stand and standing up for yourself, and then there's burning bridges with literally everyone. It's not a good way to do business and go through life.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Ace said:

For what, exactly? Punk started the fight twice over.

 

That's not what I heard. The Bucks superkicked Punk's door down and then Kenny did the One Winged Angel to Larry. 

Serious answer: I'm not earnestly calling for anyone to get fired or bought out but selfishly I just don't like The Young Bucks as wrestlers and they are an instant fast-forward for me, so like, if they left AEW that would be great. It also seems to me that a lot of personality conflicts stemmed from The Elite's passive aggressiveness and even if Tony doesn't want to fire them he should absolutely strip them of their EVP titles moving forward.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watch the Gripebomb again and then watch the promo where Punk says all the Hangman issues stemmed from and you'll probably understand who had the real personality issues. I don't like the Bucks as performers, not huge on Omega, and really enjoyed what I thought was a happier and more mature CM Punk being back - that said, Phil Brooks had earned a "see ya never" after everything. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...