The Termination of CM Punk by The Coward Tony Khan

[The Natural]

12 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

To me what he said about Cabana and his mother was pretty garbage thing to say and he had no right to say that. Even if Cabana was at fault for their falling out, that was a despicable thing to say, and it was basically doxing of Cabana's mom. Did he even ever apologize for that? He had no right to say and it's also exposing private financial info.

 

5 minutes ago, Greggulator said:

Oh it was so awful. Just a total garbage person move. What was the point, even?  “I am mad that these people think I did something to Colt and I totally didn’t by the way he has access to his mom’s bank account I totally did not screw over Colt.” 

Going into business on Hangman after having a few months to stew about things was also something that should have gotten him fired. Going off-script like that on live TV was really unprofessional. 

I do not care one bit about The Elite (and I am including Hangman here.) But unless I missed something, those guys just went about their business. No potshots or knocks, but just handling themselves professionally.

 

2 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

To play devil's advocate, The Elite did the biting spot on TV, and I think the G2S after they came back. But yeah, all that aside, to do that to Cabana's mother was awful.

That jibe on Colt Cabana and his Mum still pisses me off. Total dickhead move by CM Punk.

Edited September 3, 2023 by The Natural

[Greggulator]

5 minutes ago, The Natural said:

 

 

That jibe on Colt Cabana and his Mum still pisses me off. Total dickhead move by CM Punk.

At what point in that press conference would anyone in their right mind let him anywhere near their company again, let alone let him have any degree of say in one of its TV shows. I hope TK has matured in his management because I want all the good wrestling possible. But none of this is a good look for him. Hopefully this is at least a clean start.

[JohnnyJ]

People with special talents get special treatment. You see it in every walk of life and wrestling is no different. It’s just a matter of how far they can push the line until they’re more trouble than they are worth.

The disconnect for me throughout all of the drama is this is a 44 year old man acting like he’s 18. Grow up. 

[Eivion]

11 minutes ago, John E. Dynamite said:

Don't forget that even if the public views them as HHH projects, Vince likes both of them.  Enough to something-like-blade for Kevin, and that the Sami heel turn is generally credited as Vince's idea. They knew they were in. The x factor is wondering if they offered KO vs. Austin pre-or-post negotiations.

Vince was the one who wanted Sami to get so obnoxious with the dancing in his entrance, and apparently Sami was one of those guys he rarely said no to when it came ideas.

Edited September 3, 2023 by Eivion

[The Natural]

https://twitter.com/fireproscreens1/status/1698101015420317861

CM Punk vs. Tony Khan, FPW.

[Octopus]

So is Ace Steel still going to be a from home producer?

[Matt D]

Tony came out before the show and ate the boos, even chiding the crowd at one point, in what’s basically his beloved hometown. I’m not convinced he thought he’d get that reaction because I’m not convinced he has that level of perspective, but to get that reaction from this crowd (any crowd but especially this one), for the first time as he’s always gotten rah rah thankful pops, had to absolutely eat him up. 

[Octopus]

1 minute ago, Matt D said:

Tony came out before the show and ate the boos, even chiding the crowd at one point, in what’s basically his beloved hometown. I’m not convinced he thought he’d get that reaction because I’m not convinced he has that level of perspective, but to get that reaction from this crowd (any crowd but especially this one), for the first time as he’s always gotten rah rah thankful pops, had to absolutely eat him up. 

He’s used to just getting yelled at by one guy after being bombarded with monitors.

[mystman]

50 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

To me what he said about Cabana and his mother was pretty garbage thing to say and he had no right to say that. Even if Cabana was at fault for their falling out, that was a despicable thing to say, and it was basically doxing of Cabana's mom. Did he even ever apologize for that? He had no right to say and it's also exposing private financial info.

This right here is what he should of been ,at least, punished for. The second that crap came out of his mouth, Khan should've covered up his mic, said "this interview is over", and gotten Punk out of there.

[jaedmc]

I'm watching a clip of it(edit: Tony K addressing the Collision crowd tonight), and it sounds like the audience kinda goes back and forth, but the boos really started when he said The Board of Discipline is made of only lawyers.

He then said he "feared for his safety." which got more boos.

Nothing gets more heel heat than telling an arena of wrestling fans: "I was scared and had to get lawyers to tell me what to do."  ...even if he was right to feel that way and do so.

[John from Cincinnati]

8 minutes ago, L_W_P said:

It's more towards the treatment.

Punk railed against Rock being able to walk in and be treated like a main eventer, get title shots etc

That's what Punk did.

He took 7 years off and only came back when a booker promised to give him everything he wanted.

1) He didn’t ask to be champion. Tony wanted it.

 

2) His complaint was always that Rock/Taker/Brock were gonna come do the big match and he’d be there come Monday and they wouldn’t and Vince wasn’t investing in full time guys. Punk never pulled that, he was there and ready to work every Wednesday/Saturday Tony wanted. 
 

Plenty of real shit to give Punk grief about. No need to invent more.

[The Natural]

CM Punk All Out 2022 gripe bomb conference, 4th September 2022.

CM Punk fired the weekend of All Out 2023, 2nd September 2023. 

[The Natural]

CM Punk returns on Collison, 17th June 2023.

CM Punk fired, 2nd September 2023.

[dragonzombie]

The Young Bucks did a victory lap post show.

Did anyone post Cornette's twitter post? He's very mad.

 

[tbarrie]

Just now, 赤い竜 said:

Did anyone post Cornette's twitter post?

Why would anyone do that?

[Octopus]

Freddie Prinze Jr’s wrestling company is going to be fucking lit

[Octopus]

24 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Tony came out before the show and ate the boos, even chiding the crowd at one point, in what’s basically his beloved hometown. I’m not convinced he thought he’d get that reaction because I’m not convinced he has that level of perspective, but to get that reaction from this crowd (any crowd but especially this one), for the first time as he’s always gotten rah rah thankful pops, had to absolutely eat him up. 

17 minutes ago, jaedmc said:

I'm watching a clip of it(edit: Tony K addressing the Collision crowd tonight), and it sounds like the audience kinda goes back and forth, but the boos really started when he said The Board of Discipline is made of only lawyers.

He then said he "feared for his safety." which got more boos.

Nothing gets more heel heat than telling an arena of wrestling fans: "I was scared and had to get lawyers to tell me what to do."  ...even if he was right to feel that way and do so.

It was pretty awkward to watch and maybe could have been better said. But I do respect that he was brave enough to do that. In Chicago, he had to know he’d get booed. 

[John from Cincinnati]

6 minutes ago, Octopus said:

Freddie Prinze Jr’s wrestling company is going to be fucking lit

“Make Roman look good,” but they’re talking about Kieran Culkin.

[Peck]

1 minute ago, John from Cincinnati said:

“Make Roman look good,” but they’re talking about Kieran Culkin.

The Kendall Windham of the Culkins?

[Elsalvajeloco]

26 minutes ago, Octopus said:

Freddie Prinze Jr’s wrestling company is going to be fucking lit

BILLY CORGAN IS RIGHT THERE!

I mean next year is the 30th anniversary of Todd Gordon fucking over Dennis Coralluzzo and Shane throwing down the NWA title. If folks thought Tyrus holding the belt was divisive, OH BABY.

[Octopus]

CM Punk, you beautifully complicated dick. I love you and you have brought me many wonderful memories throughout your career. Your RETURN was the second most touching thing I’ve seen in AEW (first sadly was Negative One wearing a Dark Order mask standing in the ring with Brodie’s belt). 

I can only speak on hearsay and assumptions. You are a very hard person to love. Even when you are possibly right, it can come across in a way that I’m embarrassed or disappointed. Brawl Out presser was one of the most spectacular melt downs and character turning shoot even that completely changed the company forever. There is no naive return to pre-Punk or pre-press conference.

 I like Punk’s wrestling more than a majority of the roster. I like his feuds and storytelling both in ring and out. Very few people can touch him there, and the ones that do, do so very differently. Imagine an AEW where we could have a Punk promo battle, a MJF character evolving melodrama, a Jericho Vanity Project with an exciting cast of characters, and a long Elite journey of friendship all happening simultaneously while and all time great roster is having sub feuds, revolving through those guys, and just straight up filling the cards with spectacular matches. That’s what we’ve missed with this failed experiment. It was worth the try and MAYBE worth the second or third try when things were falling apart.

I know I’m not making a well formed post or thinking coherently, I’m trying from the heart as the words come to me. Like how I imagine CM Punk promos. Something something Hangman was a middle school teacher because he could teach high school something something. OOOOOO

It sucks that this all ends with a fucking Perry fight. He’s not worth it. None of that should of happened, but maybe it was a powder keg. Maybe it could have been Namath or whoever down the line. Idk. 

This has all been stupid and great and funny and embarrassing and delightful. We lived through another fucking weird wrestling period in history. Neat. 

I’m interested to see a post-Punk AEW. I’ll miss what he brought to the product but outside of injury, maybe we can see more consistency of storytelling without these suspensions. IDK.

As for changing booking in the past, whoever mentioned Punk steamrolling the roster, I half agree. It was smart to have him strong when he was. I enjoyed his very early matches where he teased his ring rust by barely getting past his opponents. The feud with MJF was fantastic and raised Maxwell’s profile. He Kingston match was beautiful. I prefer him to Hangman, but I think it would have been better for putting Page over. It could have been interesting seeing vulnerability to his character and he still could have won it in a future attempt. I loved his quick loss to Mox when Punk returned. That was stunning television! The build to the second match happened to quickly but I loved the idea. The few months on Collision was a real treat. I wish we got more of the Punk wrestling centric show, even if the Real Champion angle was pretty meh. Who all came off better through Punk? It’s tough to say that too much with the tenor being stop and go and cut short, but it’s a fair question. 

As for Ratings~!~ I think it’s tough because he was a spike in them. I believe over time AEW could have hit those peaks through building a consistently good product. Not entirely on Punk, but partially with the suspensions and injuries (others with that as well) the product has been up and down in quality of storytelling. Having to postpone planned bits or change on the fly took away a part of AEW that was originally special, it’s long term storytelling that was often predictable but build well enough to be satisfying. It even made to shock moments feel more special. It’s interesting being in a spot where I don’t know what will happen next, but at the same time I don’t know what they’re doing and I’m not caring as much. Is Cole the Hangman? If everyone played nice (which wouldn’t of happened) would we get double belts hanging above the ring ladder match madness with Punk and Max? Is Wardlow still around? I remember earlyish AEW when people here were comparing it to premium programming like HBO. Nuanced storytelling and great wrestling. Punk vs Max was fantastic. Hangman vs Punk was pretty weird (I actually blame Hangman, even if Punk overreacted afterwards). The Collision stuff didn’t last long enough to flesh the many roads through Punk out. Can we have a return to consistency? After a really bad Dark Order debut, the creative minds came together to fix the problems of early AEW and constructed a pretty interesting planned path of the main storylines. It lead to arguably the best thing from AEW which was the Hsngmsn Saga. Do that again, with built in contingency plans when someone gets hurt. 

something something do more with Athena. Fucking heck.

In ramble summation, I’ll miss Punk on tv. I think this run had great moments and was ultimately awkward. But even that was fun to be a part of this community for. I hope the product gets better because of this, but I can see things going either way.

I won’t spell check this. Sorry if I said pegging again.

 

[Octopus]

28 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

BILLY CORGAN IS RIGHT THERE!

I mean next year is the 30th anniversary of Todd Gordon fucking over Dennis Coralluzzo and Shane throwing down the NWA title. If folks thought Tyrus holding the belt was divisive, OH BABY.

CM Punk be Matt Cardona for the NWA title would be a fun feud. But I see Tyrus passing the Lou Thesz reign.

[EVA]

2 hours ago, Greggulator said:

 

Also - managing a Target is hard as hell. There is absolutely no way Phil Brooks could manage a Target. Can you imagine how he’d act regarding a customer return issue?

“DO YOU WANNA TAKE THIS OUTSIDE?”

[NoFistsJustFlips]

8 minutes ago, Octopus said:

CM Punk be Matt Cardona for the NWA title would be a fun feud. But I see Tyrus passing the Lou Thesz reign.

Ha talk about no market penetration. The NWA is not for the sea creatures it seems lol. Tyrus lost the title already. EC3 is NWA Champion now.

[BobbyWhioux]

1 hour ago, jaedmc said:

I'm watching a clip of it(edit: Tony K addressing the Collision crowd tonight), and it sounds like the audience kinda goes back and forth, but the boos really started when he said The Board of Discipline is made of only lawyers.

He then said he "feared for his safety." which got more boos.

Nothing gets more heel heat than telling an arena of wrestling fans: "I was scared and had to get lawyers to tell me what to do."  ...even if he was right to feel that way and do so.

great way to launch the "Mr. McKhan" character though.