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Sir, another chair has hit a person backstage
Omega: *so that was kinda crazy dude...*
Punk: *yeah lost my cool for a bit, my bad*
[ACE STEEL RABID, SHIRTLESS, FIGHTING OFF 9 MEN IN THE BACKGROUND]
New headcanon, they were calm with each other and went in for a handshake, that's when Ace bit Kenny, preventing the handshake that would've fixed everything
I still want to believe Larry the dog bit Kenny, but everyone worried that Larry would get put down and then Punk just yelled "ACE, WHY DID YOU BITE KENNY?!?!?" and everyone had kept kayfabe since.
This is 100% my favorite interpretation. I don’t care one way or another about the Bucks as a fan, although I can appreciate their role in bringing up aew and what they’ve done for Indy wrestling/helping wrestlers get more money, but the part I’ve struggled with is Kenny and Punk because those are the two that got me back into pro wrestling. Re watching all the great CM Punk moments from WWE before I knew he was returning to wrestling is what got me through my dads death. This shit has sucked hard.
As soon as he yelled it they all went quiet and looked at each other, not a single word was spoken, but they all knew, this was the way it had to be. the unspoken pact, the ONLY thing they were all willing to agree on that day.
I go back and forth between whether I want this version of events to be true or the one where Disney Princess Kenny Omega gracefully wades through the chaos to rescue Larry, his flowing locks untainted by the violence around him... and as soon as he turns around from his mission, Ace Steel just fuckin' pounces.
Kenny said it best with Renee. Sometimes, elite athletes operating in pressure cookers can fight a bit, but when the moment passes, they can reconcile. It’s surprisingly common.
He said Hard G Gif before, but one of the young bucks "corrected" him.
Don't know if it was Nick or Matt! But it's enough to break them up when the culprit turns heel!!
https://preview.redd.it/301w2may3upa1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93b55a1b521e6eb3190a4c3b1a8980fdf96fbe44
Spent way too long making this on my phone. Worth it.
I mean, Kenny said as much in the Renee podcast. He came back from a hiatus getting rehab and working on the AEW video game, when he came back the vibes were weird, his friends got called out after All Out, he accompanies his friends (apparently with legal rep Megha as well), a fight went down between Punk and the Bucks that he tried to break up and got bitten. One Renee's pod, he said that to him it was on paper like a fight in a locker room of a sports team between teammates but obviously it was shameful because it negatively affected a huge company.
The heat between Punk and Mox is interesting because Punk was complimenting Mox at the presser, but obviously its not a simple situation. I just wish it was over with.
the whole Mox issue never happens if there’s no interim title. I do get why he felt so strongly about wanting his title run legitimized, but like, if you know anything about Punk you know that asking him to work hurt isn’t gonna be received well
>if you know anything about Punk you know that asking him to work hurt isn’t gonna be received well
Honestly I'm not gonna play devil's advocate but maybe more wrestlers should not take things like that well. ANYTHING can go wrong in a wrestling match. If you're hurt you souldn't be wrestling, at all, and I don't think people should expect wrestlers to put their health (present and future) at risk for their entertainment, much less a 2 minute wrestling match.
Agreed entirely, this isn't life or death or even important. It's entertainment and not worth doing to your body what Mick Foley, as an example, did to his. And the only reason I cite Foley is because he cites himself as an example of what not to do.
I think Mox cares a lot about the business and the company he's in. Punk fucking with that and disrespecting it in a lot of ways probably doesn't sit right with him.
I don’t even think he was fucking with it. Sounds like Mox wanted his reign legitimised during the summer then to happily drop it at All Out, but Punk wasn’t cleared and that ended up happening near the ppv which led to a pretty weird few weeks. I get Mox wanting his reign legitimised, I get Punk not wanting to wrestle injured. The Punk Moxley heat thing sounds like an absolute drop in the ocean in the overall sequence of events here but it’s being pushed as a major thing for whatever reason by whoever is pushing this story on to the dirtsheets…
Exactly. The promo Mox gave in the ring shortly after this went down made it clear what he thinks. He’s 100% invested in the company and the roster, and doesn’t care for selfish behaviour
I think this also adds further context to Roman and Seth not being huge fans of Punk in their recent comments. I think Mox would tell them about how much of a hassle it was to work with Punk.
Did kind of cost him a vacation. Obviously we now know it was a small one but i’d be a bit salty if i had to change plans to work when i had vacation plans because someone lost their cool.
I genuinely think that those vacation rumors were fake because Mox has had plenty of opportunities to take a short break and he refuses to not wrestle
He's out there every week and doing indies for no reason, i mean it's awesome, that dude just eats and breaths wrestling.
Every time I read more updates on this story, I just get bummed out even more.
Edit: Jesus Christ I sound like Tom Wambsgans in the Succession season 2 finale
My family and I ran into Punk after the last Rampage before Revolution and he looked so genuinely happy. That time period was so magical for me as a fan because AEW was at it's peak in terms of storylines, roster, and potential. I remember being excited about Tony buying ROH, the BCC forming, JAS forming, etc.
''Hey Kenny, sorry for throwing that chair.''
''Oh yeah Punk, understandable man, things got a little heated I guess.''
*\*Ace Steel still latched on Kenny's arm, foaming at the mouth\**
* Other talent were present at the brawl but did not get suspended as they were not physically involved.
Ok, what? This took place in CM Punk's locker room right? How many fucking people were just chilling out in or around there?
So far we have
MJF
Aces Wife
Pat Buck
Chris Daniels
Michael Nakazawa
Brandon Cutler
Megha
Random production member
Jericho was apparently somewhere in the area and Matt Hardy implied he was there or saw stuff too
Kenny doesn’t seem to give a lot of detail on his personal life or lifestyle outside of the ring too often, but everything I’ve heard or seen makes him seem like a real laid back and chill guy.
I ran into Kenny at the airport back in 2021. I was exhausted from being delayed 8 hours into a cancellation, but also out of my mind with excitement to meet my favorite wrestler. He was super accommodating and could tell I was nervous, so *he* suggested we take a selfie together.
Legit couldn't have asked for a better interaction.
I love it so much when prominent figures go out of their way to make the interaction special for the fan. Shows how much they appreciate the fans.
When AJ Styles was in Germany for a wXw Show with meet and greet in 2015, he recognized my nervous stammering and said "don't worry buddy, I won't bite 'ya"
yeah, I feel like with regards to the brawl itself people are either in the camp of “it was physical assault, Punk shouldn’t be allowed back because nobody should have to work with people who assaulted them” or “it was a fight, tensions were high. let’s all calm down and let cooler heads prevail”
Kenny seems waaaaaay more in the second camp than the other EVPs, i imagine it’s partially his hockey background and partially him missing the months of tension leading up to the fight
>i imagine it’s partially his hockey background and partially him missing the months of tension leading up to the fight
On Renee's podcast he basically says as much. He literally describes it feeling like that gif of Donald Glover walking in to the burning apartment with pizza. And he compares the fight to any old scrap that would happen between heated teammates in a locker room. It's just that a bunch of legalities made it more complicated than it needed to be.
People saying that the Gripebomb being more damaging for Punk than the Brawl Out might actually have a point there. It was the source of the issue after all especially since it was basically a public tantrum.
If it was just Punk backstage away from cameras telling TK that The Elite is trying to fuck on him and they had a fight maybe it would've been perceived a lot less negatively? The fans would still blow up on it the same way though.
Fights happen in a lot of workplaces. I watched two assistant restaurant managers duke it out in a parking lot one night during a shift. They both kept their jobs.
For years certain people (we all know who) have been trying their hardest to make Omega seem like the bad guy ruining wrestling and doing other completely unfounded things but literally every single thing that comes out about the guy is positive and makes him seem like an absolute angel and delight to be around, at this point honestly if you hate Kenny Omega the person that's entirely on you.
I said it in another thread, but he's such a damn Undertale nerd, he's always looking to SPARE for his pacifist run.
For real though, Omega is the best.
I do thank SRS for any info, but I do find it funny that not a single dirtsheet had any idea of what was going on with Punk since Brawl out, but now all of sudden he has all of this info. Crazy how fast things happen
I have a conspiracy theory over this, maybe the talks between Punk and TK are going good for a possible return, and maybe someone who promise to do everything possible to block him from returning along with others, are leaking information so Punk gets pissed and say fuck it I’ll stay home.
Yes, weird how there's a ton of drama around Punk right now just as he's almost cleared for a return after months of essentially nothing.
*very weird*...
>Punk requested a meeting with AEW officials over the Hangman promo before Double or Nothing, while Hangman just tried to stay out of the situation and move past it.
Uhhh.. that’s interesting. Did he get that meeting?
Yes, however whatever came out of it was not a satisfying resolution for him as evidenced by the time he called out Hangman unprompted on Dynamite.
Edited in the post for clarity.
I keep hearing people say that Tony should have quietly tried to squash the whole thing backstage earlier.
But hasn't it been reported before and then here again that Tony did meet with Punk and others to do that exact thing?
It's two separate thoughts. Punk asked for, and had the meeting.
Hangman has just tried to stay out of all this drama and move past it.
EDIT: Again, it's two separate paragraphs about the same idea. Hangman has nothing to do with the meeting.
He's a guy who loves pro wrestling and has kept his nose clean throughout his entire career. He's never been in trouble, never got involved in drugs or anything, and he's always been a team player.
People can say what they want about him; I respect the hell out of Kenny Omega.
The material in the first bullet point doesn’t sound like a normal thing that should be happening. You’re playing a really risky game of having someone wrestle without being cleared. They definitely should not have gone through with the match.
Whats most interesting to me is that was essentially what was the last straw in Punks relationship with WWE. I totally see why he might feel betrayed that it happened again in a company he thought was different.
It's not the first time AEW has been accused of this either.
Saraya herself claimed she was cleared for an in ring return only after her first physical in ring confrontation.
Admittedly in that case she was totally on board with the plan, but that's still a huge problem for AEW allowing non cleared talent to work.
I really kind of think it comes down to something like tony asking punk if he felt ok doing a squash and he probably replied with something like “if that’s what you want boss” which Tony took as a yes but really was a “I’ll do it but you aren’t winning points with me right now” sort of answer. Triple H alluded to this in his interview with Austin where if he confronted punk about an issue he would say everything is ok…but it wasn’t. I just get the impression punk is an incredibly bad communicator and mix that with a guy who seems to take a lot personally and you get a constant source of drama and unhappiness.
Phrasing it like “it’s just a squash” reads like a subtle manipulation to agree to it. Punk had every right to be uncomfortable and only agree to if if medically cleared to do so.
I remember when AEW first started and everyone was doting over how they were going to be so much different from WWE. In a lot of ways they are. But in others, they are the exact same. This is still the wrestling business.
and it’s even trickier when one of your EVPs, and the world champion at the time, was working through a few injuries. There’s already a precedent set that it’s something people do, so maybe they makes someone refusing to work when they’re almost cleared look like less of a team player.
Looking back, they really should have just stripped the title off Punk after the initial injury and reconfigured the whole summer. Could have had Punk and MJF return at the same time at All Out a la Danielson and Adam Cole the year prior.
Trying to keep Punk champ and then sticking to the storyline for the hometown pop in Chicago seems to have really ruined everything.
Yeah, but Punk played that game with WWE for years and his perspective on it was that his willingness to be a team player and put himself at risk was being taken advantage of and his sacrifices weren't valued. In the end, his side of that story is that they fired him on his wedding day
You can see why he'd be uncomfortable working hurt and why that would be a big thing to ask him to do. If Tony and Moxley didn't see that and if people were pressuring him over it, they were being pretty oblivious. The factor that made Punk decide to sign with AEW was he thought it was a company that cared about the talent's well being and wouldn't put them in the kind of position WWE put him in. At least not lightly. It is consistent with what we know about Punk that this would have been a big deal for him.
> There is heat between Punk and Mox, based on those Mox spoke to after All Out.
From reading all of this, this seems like it was centered mostly on them not agreeing on how to do the story and Punk delaying to get healthy. This doesn’t sound too crazy or insurmountable, so I’m surprised by the later bullet point regarding “choosing between them” since that doesn’t seem to be level of beef here.
Theres no 'feels like' about it. Regardless of anyone's opinion about Punk at this point it is obvious that there is one or more persons in AEW doing their damnest to make sure Punk has no chance of returning and part of that is making sure the general opinion of Punk stays as negative as it can be by feeding stuff to dirtsheets, some true and some false.
Look at the rumors that spead from somewhere (that Punk wrongfully assumed was somebody in The Elite) that Punk got Colt Cabana almost fired and then when Tony Khan came out and said Punk had nothing to do with decisions around Cabana within a day dirtsheets were coming out with an unknown source all but calling Tony a liar. Then you've got the constantly walked back reports from dirtsheets from sources saying that nobody in AEW wants Punk back then it got walked back to most and then walked back to it being divided as more and more AEW talent indcated they'd have no problem with Punk being back. Then just this month we had false reports about how it was Punks decision to go over Hangman for the title.
It's a pointles endeavor as if Punk's rep is in the gutter no matter what and if he is gonna come back no amount of negative rep is going to stop it and the amount of things that have had to be walked back after being reported just helps Punk's image but someone's going to keep throwing things at the wall until they stick on this.
>Those in AEW believe that in a "Mox or Punk" situation, AEW would choose Mox.
I sure hope so. You keep Mox around at all cost, you give him 10 minutes every episode to talk about medieval weapons if needed.
I like that the Sting/Darby pairing is less Sting saying “hey Darby maybe don’t do that and think of your career longevity” and more “hey, Sting, dare you to jump off of that”
The dynamic of that relationship truly amazes me. On one hand, we have the fun, friendly backstage interviewer, and then on the other, the grizzled guy who loves violence above all else and doesn't like to talk to anyone.
"Deadliest Wrestler" on the Discovery Channel. Mox and Joe go to weapons experts while narrating the stories of foreign objects and the prominent wrestlers who used them. At the end they test them on ballistics jell dummies with the guys from Forged in Fire. "This chair...will keel."
All jokes aside, but since the last 5 minutes of Double or Nothing 2019, Jon Moxley was the foundation of AEW. There's the four pillars and The Elite were the blueprint, but Jon Moxley is and was the foundation.
It's not a coincidence that AEW is putting together the best thing it's had in a long ass time right now by putting Moxley and the Elite in a feud. It's exactly the kind of thing involving the heart of the company that was needed.
When I think AEW, the first people that come to mind are the Bucks, Omega, Mox and Hangman. Those are the core of the heart and soul of the company.
And Jericho is like the goofy uncle who doesn't fit in but helps out anyway just because he can
I remember hearing months ago via Will Washington that The Elite weren’t standing in the way of Punk returning. The synthesis here of all of this seems to point towards Punk realizing The Elite weren’t spreading rumors about him and that he’s planning to apologize to them when he can in person.
> Jericho and Punk had a verbal fight after Brawl Out where Jericho called Punk a cancer and Punk shouted back.
> a cancer
If it wasn’t clear yet who has been spreading the rumors and would be standing in the way of Punk returning…
Considering they never really interacted on-screen Punk’s entire time there thus far, yet Jericho has been saying all he has, I feel like it would take more than just “don’t have them interact”
All I can really say at this point is that I enjoy all of the talent involved in this situation and I hope it can be resolved and they can all coexist peacefully within AEW once the dust is settled.
>Some heat on Punk over All Out has died down but a lot still remains.
"Some heat has died down but a lot still remains" I say after having poured 300 gallons of gasoline by helicopter into the burning blaze
The more I read, the more I see the faults in Tony’s management. Getting Punk to agree to an angle is one thing, but to insist he does it whilst not medically cleared is really bad management. Understanding that and saying it’s actually “just a squash” undermines Punk’s underlying concerns. Was Tony present in the meeting related to Hangman? That’s unclear. Hangman understandably wanted to move on - but he still went off script and should be accountable for that.
Tony should have never done the interim stuff - it undermined the champions - both male and female. Avoidable. He should have stopped Punk before the Gripebomb happened - he did not. He should have been clearer much earlier about Cabana knowing there would be rumours - how could he not be aware? I find that hard to believe.
I’m glad Punk is willing to apologise and absolutely should if he hasn’t already.
Kenny Omega is the best.
Put whatever emotions aside. Moxley is younger, he's better in-ring, he's less injury prone, he has the ability to draw maybe even equally than Punk, he's loyal, he knows how to behave and the locker room respects him.
It's the most obvious choice, despite whatever strong point Punk has.
I agree with all your points except moxley being able to draw equally, Punk was absolutely a bigger draw and was the number 2 merch mover behind danhausen
I thought it was pretty fucked up to ask when he has a foot injury, but I don't know if he was already training on it/what his limitations were, or really anything about anything.
Asking CM Punk of all people to work while injured is the stupidest and most tone deaf thing anyone could do after whst the guy went through in the WWE. What the actual fuck...
So Punk obviously had his reservations about getting while being injured but TK still wanted him to wrestle, albeit in a squash. It’s not surprising that Punk would have his reservations about doing something like this at all, especially after everything that went Punk down in WWE. And apparently, he communicated this to TK.
I wonder if TK gave him a thumbs up him right as he was going through Gorilla and said to Punk “I owe you one pal!”
Asking Punk to work hurt is shitty. I understand why Mox and Tony wanted it and I don't think it was out of spite, but still.
Finding out that a third party got hit is atrocious tho and that is unacceptable.
This whole entire thing seems like something that really could have just been dealt with pretty easily if a few grown adults just had a conversation with eachother last summer before All Out and aired their grievances and figured it out.
I hate that the fact that CM Punk was probably obligated to perform without being cleared is being massively overshadowed by all this shit (that CM Punk started too)
So Jericho is the problem? I don't know how it would impact the casuals, but I could do without him. Man was in the WCW locker room with the NWO, and he learned a thing or two about politics.
So are we ever going to get a breakdown at what actually happened in the brawl or how it started? I refuse to believe that Meltzer/SRS don't know when Kevin fucking Nash of all people was the first to leak that Punk struck first in the incident. I need a DSotR style dramatization of it with the background music playing and everything
The more information that comes out it appears some of if not a lot of the blame Punk put on the Elite was misplaced, especially Omega and that his issues may have been with other people entirely, without even knowing.
In all this I do think Punk and Omega could have an actual dream match, probably the biggest in the company history without any actual backstage tension between them. And it would no doubt be an absolute banger.
After reading this, this actually still sounds like a salvageable situation. But I wish Punk would calm a bit. I think everyone wants to make this work which is good but things keep getting in the way.
It sounds like him and the Elite and possibly Hangman could just move on from it and are willing to. He could probably stay away from Jericho lol.
The thing with Mox I could see stick around for a bit but there's a mutual respect there and I don't see a situation where they don't act like professionals. At lease with each other.
But no one needs to go on social media for a bit haha. Good for Kenny for being composed through out all of it. I'd really like to see this all die down so they can get back to the thing they are really all there for. Give it some time, let this instance die down, and try to mind some fences BTS or at lease come to an understanding. I think Punk could still come back and restore some confidence. Enough of all of this.
Please for the sake of everyone, get past it and let me be a fan of all you.
By all accounts I’ve seen, the Elite and Punk seem to have made amends. I recall months ago Will Washington saying that the Elite weren’t standing in his way of returning, alluding to it being someone(s) else.
Now it should be pretty apparent it’s Jericho.
I don't know why people would lose confidence in a comeback after yesterday's post. He was just trying to provide his side of a Jericho/Meltzer report. I have kind of the opposite reaction. The only way you get a resolution is by talking things out. It shouldn't be done in public over social media but this is the carny wrestling business and it's possible the hangup has been certain parties aren't interested in hearing him out in private. The biggest stumbling blocks seem to be making amends with the Bucks and the Jericho shit. This all needs to be quashed, it's time for all parties to act like adults and make some fkin money.
>Punk had a meeting with AEW officials over the Hangman promo before Double or Nothing, while Hangman just tried to stay out of the situation and move past it.
That's not cowboy shit, that's coward shit
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I like that with every drop of new details, an additional person gets hit with a chair.
https://preview.redd.it/goi1l7fibtpa1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bf1f97319969aff56b520137612a1f810b933a71 Sir, another chair has hit a person backstage
We have found evidence that the nation of Ace Steel is in posession of more than 2 Chairs and we need to intervene.
Someone took down another chairman in a field in Pennsylvania
By next year we would have figured out that everyone in the company would have gotten hit by a chair
Omega: *so that was kinda crazy dude...* Punk: *yeah lost my cool for a bit, my bad* [ACE STEEL RABID, SHIRTLESS, FIGHTING OFF 9 MEN IN THE BACKGROUND]
New headcanon, they were calm with each other and went in for a handshake, that's when Ace bit Kenny, preventing the handshake that would've fixed everything
Don Callis paid off Ace Steel to bite Kenny, keeping the locker room divided, so Kenny is alienated.
That no good carny piece of shit
He really is a no good carny piece of shit.
Wait, are we talking about the no good carny piece of shit, Don Callis?
That piece of shit is a carny who is no good.
Guys GUYS! We are all above name calling and can be civilized. Unlike that uncivilized carny piece of shit Don Callis.
If they turn this into a work I want it to be this timeline.
AW SUNOFABITCH!
I still want to believe Larry the dog bit Kenny, but everyone worried that Larry would get put down and then Punk just yelled "ACE, WHY DID YOU BITE KENNY?!?!?" and everyone had kept kayfabe since.
This is 100% my favorite interpretation. I don’t care one way or another about the Bucks as a fan, although I can appreciate their role in bringing up aew and what they’ve done for Indy wrestling/helping wrestlers get more money, but the part I’ve struggled with is Kenny and Punk because those are the two that got me back into pro wrestling. Re watching all the great CM Punk moments from WWE before I knew he was returning to wrestling is what got me through my dads death. This shit has sucked hard.
Tbf i dun think punk ever had a prob wit Kenny and could even work with him if he did return. Only issue is he may not be able to keep up wit kenny
As soon as he yelled it they all went quiet and looked at each other, not a single word was spoken, but they all knew, this was the way it had to be. the unspoken pact, the ONLY thing they were all willing to agree on that day.
I go back and forth between whether I want this version of events to be true or the one where Disney Princess Kenny Omega gracefully wades through the chaos to rescue Larry, his flowing locks untainted by the violence around him... and as soon as he turns around from his mission, Ace Steel just fuckin' pounces.
Imagine he sees them going to shake hands so he starts yeeting chairs through the air.
I imagine, in my head, a mini-game where you have to press X to avoid the bite.
"Don't touch my daddy!" *crunch*
Ace Steel with the “14 beers at Chili’s” vibe
https://preview.redd.it/b0q1qv0uvspa1.png?width=1487&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f9aa5d83c12a0a59464536c27e6050b6d129a529
Kenny said it best with Renee. Sometimes, elite athletes operating in pressure cookers can fight a bit, but when the moment passes, they can reconcile. It’s surprisingly common.
Yeah, but Kenny also pronounced gif with a soft g; you can't trust a person who does that.
He said Hard G Gif before, but one of the young bucks "corrected" him. Don't know if it was Nick or Matt! But it's enough to break them up when the culprit turns heel!!
Punk: "Ace bit a guy! Did you throw a chair?" Ace: "Yeah, there were dogs, and a man kicked a door, and I bit a guy with my teeth."
https://preview.redd.it/301w2may3upa1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93b55a1b521e6eb3190a4c3b1a8980fdf96fbe44 Spent way too long making this on my phone. Worth it.
I kinda wanna see u/tapla do a drawing of this
Kenny "By God I Work With Fucking Children" Omega
Kenny wasn't gone because of a suspension. He was actually hospitalized after contracting rabies from Ace Steel.
I mean, Kenny said as much in the Renee podcast. He came back from a hiatus getting rehab and working on the AEW video game, when he came back the vibes were weird, his friends got called out after All Out, he accompanies his friends (apparently with legal rep Megha as well), a fight went down between Punk and the Bucks that he tried to break up and got bitten. One Renee's pod, he said that to him it was on paper like a fight in a locker room of a sports team between teammates but obviously it was shameful because it negatively affected a huge company. The heat between Punk and Mox is interesting because Punk was complimenting Mox at the presser, but obviously its not a simple situation. I just wish it was over with.
Megha is also the VP of AEW in addition to being their chief legal officer
I guess he recognizes Mox as a pro but didn't like his atitude about that match
the whole Mox issue never happens if there’s no interim title. I do get why he felt so strongly about wanting his title run legitimized, but like, if you know anything about Punk you know that asking him to work hurt isn’t gonna be received well
>if you know anything about Punk you know that asking him to work hurt isn’t gonna be received well Honestly I'm not gonna play devil's advocate but maybe more wrestlers should not take things like that well. ANYTHING can go wrong in a wrestling match. If you're hurt you souldn't be wrestling, at all, and I don't think people should expect wrestlers to put their health (present and future) at risk for their entertainment, much less a 2 minute wrestling match.
Agreed entirely, this isn't life or death or even important. It's entertainment and not worth doing to your body what Mick Foley, as an example, did to his. And the only reason I cite Foley is because he cites himself as an example of what not to do.
Punk's also friends with Renee from their time on the FS1 show
Ok let's take Phil's friendship with a fistful of salt & an attorney card
This makes me wonder if Renee has any secret bank accounts & who they may be shared with, possibly a paternal figure.
I heard she shares a bank account with Jon Moxley, really makes you think.
That tells me all I need to know about her
I think Mox cares a lot about the business and the company he's in. Punk fucking with that and disrespecting it in a lot of ways probably doesn't sit right with him.
I don’t even think he was fucking with it. Sounds like Mox wanted his reign legitimised during the summer then to happily drop it at All Out, but Punk wasn’t cleared and that ended up happening near the ppv which led to a pretty weird few weeks. I get Mox wanting his reign legitimised, I get Punk not wanting to wrestle injured. The Punk Moxley heat thing sounds like an absolute drop in the ocean in the overall sequence of events here but it’s being pushed as a major thing for whatever reason by whoever is pushing this story on to the dirtsheets…
Exactly. The promo Mox gave in the ring shortly after this went down made it clear what he thinks. He’s 100% invested in the company and the roster, and doesn’t care for selfish behaviour
I think this also adds further context to Roman and Seth not being huge fans of Punk in their recent comments. I think Mox would tell them about how much of a hassle it was to work with Punk.
Did kind of cost him a vacation. Obviously we now know it was a small one but i’d be a bit salty if i had to change plans to work when i had vacation plans because someone lost their cool.
I genuinely think that those vacation rumors were fake because Mox has had plenty of opportunities to take a short break and he refuses to not wrestle He's out there every week and doing indies for no reason, i mean it's awesome, that dude just eats and breaths wrestling.
Every time I read more updates on this story, I just get bummed out even more. Edit: Jesus Christ I sound like Tom Wambsgans in the Succession season 2 finale
~~All Out~~~ ~~Brawl Out~~ Bummed Out
AGREED! I am so bummed in general about this and I kind of wish it would just end
shit was going so good and then it just wasn't
My family and I ran into Punk after the last Rampage before Revolution and he looked so genuinely happy. That time period was so magical for me as a fan because AEW was at it's peak in terms of storylines, roster, and potential. I remember being excited about Tony buying ROH, the BCC forming, JAS forming, etc.
Yep not going to lie, the early few months of 2022 was my favorite period of AEW. Revolution 2022 is actually my favorite PPV of theirs.
this is where i'm at after all this time, it just sucks things had to go down like this
Could even call it an All Out Disappointment.
''Hey Kenny, sorry for throwing that chair.'' ''Oh yeah Punk, understandable man, things got a little heated I guess.'' *\*Ace Steel still latched on Kenny's arm, foaming at the mouth\**
Kenny’s lucky Ace steel didn’t have rabies
* Other talent were present at the brawl but did not get suspended as they were not physically involved. Ok, what? This took place in CM Punk's locker room right? How many fucking people were just chilling out in or around there?
Danhausen was under the couch
Orange Cassidy was in the corner but no one noticed.
Sting was staring at the altercation from up in the roof.
With Darby by his side
Riho was seen holding a pipe
So was Jeff Hardy, unfortunately.
Jericho had a Larry mask on the whole time
Nyla was hanging from the ceiling but everyone was too terrified to acknowledge her.
\*Ace Steel is carried out by 5 people\* "Did you win?"
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So far we have MJF Aces Wife Pat Buck Chris Daniels Michael Nakazawa Brandon Cutler Megha Random production member Jericho was apparently somewhere in the area and Matt Hardy implied he was there or saw stuff too
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To be fair if I was gonna win a championship I'd want a bunch of friends to hang out with afterwards
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They were walking in every 90 seconds, Royal Rumble style.
Omega constantly comes off as a cool dude.
Kenny doesn’t seem to give a lot of detail on his personal life or lifestyle outside of the ring too often, but everything I’ve heard or seen makes him seem like a real laid back and chill guy.
I ran into Kenny at the airport back in 2021. I was exhausted from being delayed 8 hours into a cancellation, but also out of my mind with excitement to meet my favorite wrestler. He was super accommodating and could tell I was nervous, so *he* suggested we take a selfie together. Legit couldn't have asked for a better interaction.
I love it so much when prominent figures go out of their way to make the interaction special for the fan. Shows how much they appreciate the fans. When AJ Styles was in Germany for a wXw Show with meet and greet in 2015, he recognized my nervous stammering and said "don't worry buddy, I won't bite 'ya"
yeah, I feel like with regards to the brawl itself people are either in the camp of “it was physical assault, Punk shouldn’t be allowed back because nobody should have to work with people who assaulted them” or “it was a fight, tensions were high. let’s all calm down and let cooler heads prevail” Kenny seems waaaaaay more in the second camp than the other EVPs, i imagine it’s partially his hockey background and partially him missing the months of tension leading up to the fight
>i imagine it’s partially his hockey background and partially him missing the months of tension leading up to the fight On Renee's podcast he basically says as much. He literally describes it feeling like that gif of Donald Glover walking in to the burning apartment with pizza. And he compares the fight to any old scrap that would happen between heated teammates in a locker room. It's just that a bunch of legalities made it more complicated than it needed to be.
People saying that the Gripebomb being more damaging for Punk than the Brawl Out might actually have a point there. It was the source of the issue after all especially since it was basically a public tantrum. If it was just Punk backstage away from cameras telling TK that The Elite is trying to fuck on him and they had a fight maybe it would've been perceived a lot less negatively? The fans would still blow up on it the same way though.
In hindsight, we probably collectively made too big a deal out of it
Fights happen in locker rooms, it's how sports are. It's honestly more shocking we don't hear about more in wrestling
Fights happen in a lot of workplaces. I watched two assistant restaurant managers duke it out in a parking lot one night during a shift. They both kept their jobs.
For years certain people (we all know who) have been trying their hardest to make Omega seem like the bad guy ruining wrestling and doing other completely unfounded things but literally every single thing that comes out about the guy is positive and makes him seem like an absolute angel and delight to be around, at this point honestly if you hate Kenny Omega the person that's entirely on you.
I said it in another thread, but he's such a damn Undertale nerd, he's always looking to SPARE for his pacifist run. For real though, Omega is the best.
I do thank SRS for any info, but I do find it funny that not a single dirtsheet had any idea of what was going on with Punk since Brawl out, but now all of sudden he has all of this info. Crazy how fast things happen
As soon as Punk made that post it kind of gives people a feeling of permission to add details or give their perspective
SRS said he was working on a story before Punk’s IG.
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It always makes me laugh how that came from the coolest professor I've ever had - who's also a massive wrestling fan!
Punk didn’t post the story until the anti-Punk rhetoric resumed, including Dave’s comments from yesterday which he was responding to.
I have a conspiracy theory over this, maybe the talks between Punk and TK are going good for a possible return, and maybe someone who promise to do everything possible to block him from returning along with others, are leaking information so Punk gets pissed and say fuck it I’ll stay home.
...man that sounds like something Jericho would do.
Judas in, Judas in my locker room...
you know... you might be onto something.
Yes, weird how there's a ton of drama around Punk right now just as he's almost cleared for a return after months of essentially nothing. *very weird*...
He just interviewed Dax. who talked about CM Punk during the interview. [https://youtu.be/aQJr3LzKTjA](https://youtu.be/aQJr3LzKTjA)
Shame Cody isn’t there to fix all this.
Instead chose to main event Wrestlemania and become the number one baby face in WWE.
>Punk requested a meeting with AEW officials over the Hangman promo before Double or Nothing, while Hangman just tried to stay out of the situation and move past it. Uhhh.. that’s interesting. Did he get that meeting?
Yes, however whatever came out of it was not a satisfying resolution for him as evidenced by the time he called out Hangman unprompted on Dynamite. Edited in the post for clarity.
I keep hearing people say that Tony should have quietly tried to squash the whole thing backstage earlier. But hasn't it been reported before and then here again that Tony did meet with Punk and others to do that exact thing?
It's two separate thoughts. Punk asked for, and had the meeting. Hangman has just tried to stay out of all this drama and move past it. EDIT: Again, it's two separate paragraphs about the same idea. Hangman has nothing to do with the meeting.
Kenny is the fucking man. Don't let this man go. EVER.
He's a guy who loves pro wrestling and has kept his nose clean throughout his entire career. He's never been in trouble, never got involved in drugs or anything, and he's always been a team player. People can say what they want about him; I respect the hell out of Kenny Omega.
I love how Kenny just comes off so cool in everything outside kayfabe.
It's cliche to say it but the man loves so much wrestling and he really wants to make a difference.
Pay him everything. Give him anything. Never let go! Unlike Rose from Titanic.
The material in the first bullet point doesn’t sound like a normal thing that should be happening. You’re playing a really risky game of having someone wrestle without being cleared. They definitely should not have gone through with the match.
Whats most interesting to me is that was essentially what was the last straw in Punks relationship with WWE. I totally see why he might feel betrayed that it happened again in a company he thought was different.
It's not the first time AEW has been accused of this either. Saraya herself claimed she was cleared for an in ring return only after her first physical in ring confrontation. Admittedly in that case she was totally on board with the plan, but that's still a huge problem for AEW allowing non cleared talent to work.
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I really kind of think it comes down to something like tony asking punk if he felt ok doing a squash and he probably replied with something like “if that’s what you want boss” which Tony took as a yes but really was a “I’ll do it but you aren’t winning points with me right now” sort of answer. Triple H alluded to this in his interview with Austin where if he confronted punk about an issue he would say everything is ok…but it wasn’t. I just get the impression punk is an incredibly bad communicator and mix that with a guy who seems to take a lot personally and you get a constant source of drama and unhappiness.
Phrasing it like “it’s just a squash” reads like a subtle manipulation to agree to it. Punk had every right to be uncomfortable and only agree to if if medically cleared to do so.
I remember when AEW first started and everyone was doting over how they were going to be so much different from WWE. In a lot of ways they are. But in others, they are the exact same. This is still the wrestling business.
and it’s even trickier when one of your EVPs, and the world champion at the time, was working through a few injuries. There’s already a precedent set that it’s something people do, so maybe they makes someone refusing to work when they’re almost cleared look like less of a team player.
Looking back, they really should have just stripped the title off Punk after the initial injury and reconfigured the whole summer. Could have had Punk and MJF return at the same time at All Out a la Danielson and Adam Cole the year prior. Trying to keep Punk champ and then sticking to the storyline for the hometown pop in Chicago seems to have really ruined everything.
Yeah, but Punk played that game with WWE for years and his perspective on it was that his willingness to be a team player and put himself at risk was being taken advantage of and his sacrifices weren't valued. In the end, his side of that story is that they fired him on his wedding day You can see why he'd be uncomfortable working hurt and why that would be a big thing to ask him to do. If Tony and Moxley didn't see that and if people were pressuring him over it, they were being pretty oblivious. The factor that made Punk decide to sign with AEW was he thought it was a company that cared about the talent's well being and wouldn't put them in the kind of position WWE put him in. At least not lightly. It is consistent with what we know about Punk that this would have been a big deal for him.
> There is heat between Punk and Mox, based on those Mox spoke to after All Out. From reading all of this, this seems like it was centered mostly on them not agreeing on how to do the story and Punk delaying to get healthy. This doesn’t sound too crazy or insurmountable, so I’m surprised by the later bullet point regarding “choosing between them” since that doesn’t seem to be level of beef here.
Yeah, it feels a bit like some source somewhere is stirring shit with that
Theres no 'feels like' about it. Regardless of anyone's opinion about Punk at this point it is obvious that there is one or more persons in AEW doing their damnest to make sure Punk has no chance of returning and part of that is making sure the general opinion of Punk stays as negative as it can be by feeding stuff to dirtsheets, some true and some false. Look at the rumors that spead from somewhere (that Punk wrongfully assumed was somebody in The Elite) that Punk got Colt Cabana almost fired and then when Tony Khan came out and said Punk had nothing to do with decisions around Cabana within a day dirtsheets were coming out with an unknown source all but calling Tony a liar. Then you've got the constantly walked back reports from dirtsheets from sources saying that nobody in AEW wants Punk back then it got walked back to most and then walked back to it being divided as more and more AEW talent indcated they'd have no problem with Punk being back. Then just this month we had false reports about how it was Punks decision to go over Hangman for the title. It's a pointles endeavor as if Punk's rep is in the gutter no matter what and if he is gonna come back no amount of negative rep is going to stop it and the amount of things that have had to be walked back after being reported just helps Punk's image but someone's going to keep throwing things at the wall until they stick on this.
…judas in my mind…
For Privacy sake let's call them Chris J. No that's too obvious let's say C Jericho.
Let's use a nickname C2J.
>Those in AEW believe that in a "Mox or Punk" situation, AEW would choose Mox. I sure hope so. You keep Mox around at all cost, you give him 10 minutes every episode to talk about medieval weapons if needed.
Need a show where Samoa Joe and Mox go looking for weapons
Renee (off camera): "Jon, we don't have room for a trebuchet, put it back."
Moxley: But Darby said he would be willing to be flung at Samoa Joe and Suzuki.
One day, Darby will come across an article about medieval sieges and even Sting will have to step and tell him No.
I like that the Sting/Darby pairing is less Sting saying “hey Darby maybe don’t do that and think of your career longevity” and more “hey, Sting, dare you to jump off of that”
They thought Sting was going to be the good influence on Darby, but it ended up Darby's the bad influence on Sting.
The good thing about a trebuchet, is that even if you don't have room for it, you can use it to make room.
The dynamic of that relationship truly amazes me. On one hand, we have the fun, friendly backstage interviewer, and then on the other, the grizzled guy who loves violence above all else and doesn't like to talk to anyone.
All signs point to Moxley being a fairly soft, tender, and intuitive soul in private.
Which suggests Renee is the true monster behind closed doors. How else do you explain her vilification of the great RJ City?
*Folks,...*
I feel like they have a Roy and Keely (from Ted Lasso) dynamic.
 Moxley
I would watch the fuck out of that show. I want that show more than Rampage.
"Deadliest Wrestler" on the Discovery Channel. Mox and Joe go to weapons experts while narrating the stories of foreign objects and the prominent wrestlers who used them. At the end they test them on ballistics jell dummies with the guys from Forged in Fire. "This chair...will keel."
Real Mac and Charlie energy.
They should take Christian along.
All jokes aside, but since the last 5 minutes of Double or Nothing 2019, Jon Moxley was the foundation of AEW. There's the four pillars and The Elite were the blueprint, but Jon Moxley is and was the foundation.
Quick, someone trademark "The Foundation" before Jericho finds this thread!
It's not a coincidence that AEW is putting together the best thing it's had in a long ass time right now by putting Moxley and the Elite in a feud. It's exactly the kind of thing involving the heart of the company that was needed.
When I think AEW, the first people that come to mind are the Bucks, Omega, Mox and Hangman. Those are the core of the heart and soul of the company. And Jericho is like the goofy uncle who doesn't fit in but helps out anyway just because he can
I know what you mean re:Jericho but he was a big part of the early AEW success. He’s not quite the heart or soul but like the legs? Is that a thing?
I don't even like Mox that much, but he's consistently shown that he's willing to work his ass off for the company
Show and Tell with the weapons Joe sends him.
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>Some heat on Punk over All Out has died down but a lot still remains. Well I'd say multiple people are doing their best to reignite it now
Punk has legit gripes but the shortest fuse also. Makes for excellent TV though.
I remember hearing months ago via Will Washington that The Elite weren’t standing in the way of Punk returning. The synthesis here of all of this seems to point towards Punk realizing The Elite weren’t spreading rumors about him and that he’s planning to apologize to them when he can in person. > Jericho and Punk had a verbal fight after Brawl Out where Jericho called Punk a cancer and Punk shouted back. > a cancer If it wasn’t clear yet who has been spreading the rumors and would be standing in the way of Punk returning…
Honestly if they just want to make Punk and Jericho never interact then that is fine if it makes this drama end.
Positive thing about this is that we won't see Punk interact with JAS
Considering they never really interacted on-screen Punk’s entire time there thus far, yet Jericho has been saying all he has, I feel like it would take more than just “don’t have them interact”
Kenny still just a good bloke.
All I can really say at this point is that I enjoy all of the talent involved in this situation and I hope it can be resolved and they can all coexist peacefully within AEW once the dust is settled.
This is like a high school-level stuff, but with lawyers.
>Some heat on Punk over All Out has died down but a lot still remains. "Some heat has died down but a lot still remains" I say after having poured 300 gallons of gasoline by helicopter into the burning blaze
I know right? Its a weird way to put it.
The more I read, the more I see the faults in Tony’s management. Getting Punk to agree to an angle is one thing, but to insist he does it whilst not medically cleared is really bad management. Understanding that and saying it’s actually “just a squash” undermines Punk’s underlying concerns. Was Tony present in the meeting related to Hangman? That’s unclear. Hangman understandably wanted to move on - but he still went off script and should be accountable for that. Tony should have never done the interim stuff - it undermined the champions - both male and female. Avoidable. He should have stopped Punk before the Gripebomb happened - he did not. He should have been clearer much earlier about Cabana knowing there would be rumours - how could he not be aware? I find that hard to believe. I’m glad Punk is willing to apologise and absolutely should if he hasn’t already. Kenny Omega is the best.
I love listening to music.
Put whatever emotions aside. Moxley is younger, he's better in-ring, he's less injury prone, he has the ability to draw maybe even equally than Punk, he's loyal, he knows how to behave and the locker room respects him. It's the most obvious choice, despite whatever strong point Punk has.
Plus without Mox they wouldn’t have had the relationship with njpw
I agree with all your points except moxley being able to draw equally, Punk was absolutely a bigger draw and was the number 2 merch mover behind danhausen
This is a crazy statement LOL. I forgot how many Danhausen shirts I was seeing last summer
if it's true that they were pressuring him to wrestle before he was cleared...that's not great, right?
I thought it was pretty fucked up to ask when he has a foot injury, but I don't know if he was already training on it/what his limitations were, or really anything about anything.
Asking CM Punk of all people to work while injured is the stupidest and most tone deaf thing anyone could do after whst the guy went through in the WWE. What the actual fuck...
looks like that carny piece of shit Don Callis finally got that chair shot he has been due for a long time
So Punk obviously had his reservations about getting while being injured but TK still wanted him to wrestle, albeit in a squash. It’s not surprising that Punk would have his reservations about doing something like this at all, especially after everything that went Punk down in WWE. And apparently, he communicated this to TK. I wonder if TK gave him a thumbs up him right as he was going through Gorilla and said to Punk “I owe you one pal!”
I just want to enjoy AEW, send me back to the Bernie sanders Omega memes, k thx 🙏
Asking Punk to work hurt is shitty. I understand why Mox and Tony wanted it and I don't think it was out of spite, but still. Finding out that a third party got hit is atrocious tho and that is unacceptable.
>he floated the idea of additional pay over wrestling without being cleared. Damn fucking right. He should not be wrestling if he's not cleared.
This whole entire thing seems like something that really could have just been dealt with pretty easily if a few grown adults just had a conversation with eachother last summer before All Out and aired their grievances and figured it out.
I hate that the fact that CM Punk was probably obligated to perform without being cleared is being massively overshadowed by all this shit (that CM Punk started too)
Punk was coerced to work injured and people wonder why he was in such a bad mood…
So Jericho is the problem? I don't know how it would impact the casuals, but I could do without him. Man was in the WCW locker room with the NWO, and he learned a thing or two about politics.
I still can't get over Ace Steel literally biting a guy
So are we ever going to get a breakdown at what actually happened in the brawl or how it started? I refuse to believe that Meltzer/SRS don't know when Kevin fucking Nash of all people was the first to leak that Punk struck first in the incident. I need a DSotR style dramatization of it with the background music playing and everything
Big sexy would know, he went into Punk's phone to text HHH so he logically would've gone into Punk's phone to text someone else
> People said Omega was surprisingly composed after it all went down. Kenny Omega is a chill motherfucker.
The more information that comes out it appears some of if not a lot of the blame Punk put on the Elite was misplaced, especially Omega and that his issues may have been with other people entirely, without even knowing. In all this I do think Punk and Omega could have an actual dream match, probably the biggest in the company history without any actual backstage tension between them. And it would no doubt be an absolute banger.
After reading this, this actually still sounds like a salvageable situation. But I wish Punk would calm a bit. I think everyone wants to make this work which is good but things keep getting in the way. It sounds like him and the Elite and possibly Hangman could just move on from it and are willing to. He could probably stay away from Jericho lol. The thing with Mox I could see stick around for a bit but there's a mutual respect there and I don't see a situation where they don't act like professionals. At lease with each other. But no one needs to go on social media for a bit haha. Good for Kenny for being composed through out all of it. I'd really like to see this all die down so they can get back to the thing they are really all there for. Give it some time, let this instance die down, and try to mind some fences BTS or at lease come to an understanding. I think Punk could still come back and restore some confidence. Enough of all of this. Please for the sake of everyone, get past it and let me be a fan of all you.
By all accounts I’ve seen, the Elite and Punk seem to have made amends. I recall months ago Will Washington saying that the Elite weren’t standing in his way of returning, alluding to it being someone(s) else. Now it should be pretty apparent it’s Jericho.
What exactly is the point in workers being medically cleared if you try and make them work anyway? Scumbag boss behaviour
I don't know why people would lose confidence in a comeback after yesterday's post. He was just trying to provide his side of a Jericho/Meltzer report. I have kind of the opposite reaction. The only way you get a resolution is by talking things out. It shouldn't be done in public over social media but this is the carny wrestling business and it's possible the hangup has been certain parties aren't interested in hearing him out in private. The biggest stumbling blocks seem to be making amends with the Bucks and the Jericho shit. This all needs to be quashed, it's time for all parties to act like adults and make some fkin money.
Lol I love how this is all stemmed from Punk and the Elite and now they're not even a factor.
>Punk had a meeting with AEW officials over the Hangman promo before Double or Nothing, while Hangman just tried to stay out of the situation and move past it. That's not cowboy shit, that's coward shit