WON reported today that sources close to The Young Bucks said that they stated around Punk's return that if he didn't have any incidents for six months then they would work with him.

Dude literally couldn't keep his hands to himself for six months to work what would have been the biggest payday in AEW history. If I'm FTR I'm fucking PISSED. The Elite could care less and obviously CM Punk doesn't, but they stuck by him and both have all but said they really wanted to do a CMFTR/Elite program at some point. Would have been money.

Considering Punk came back June 17th, if he behaved himself for six months that puts them mid-December. So post-Full Gear fall out would have been the beginning of a build that probably would have resulted in 2-3 months of story and the main event of Revolution in the spring.

FUCK I'M SO MAD. WHAT A FUCKING IDIOT. GOD DAMN IT.

Would it have been money? I don’t think anyone gives a shit outside of the hardcores. These worked shoot things never draw anything.

Punk also had a legal paper delivered to the Bucks complaining about a skit they did thinking it was about him.  Apparently unlike Punk, The Bucks were not allowed to reference him I guess.

I don't believe the six month story. That's easy to say after the fact, but I don't think they ever had any intention and it's only on reflection where they offer this scenario. In short, it's a nothing story and just a way for the press to squeeze more juice out of it.

Plus, the Observer doesn't speak to the Elite, so who knows where Dave is getting that story from...

Sept 8, 2023 18:57:27 GMT @toddisdrunk said:

Would it have been money? I don’t think anyone gives a shit outside of the hardcores. These worked shoot things never draw anything.

The Bucks haven't been able to sustain any type of momentum their entire time in the company, could you imagine them trying to work a money angle with Punk while keeping a straight face?

For all these ***** matches, there's only one guy who knows how to get themselves over and that's MJF.

Only one? So Orange was not over? Or Danielson? Or the Acclaimed?

Sept 8, 2023 20:16:04 GMT c said:

Only one? So Orange was not over? Or Danielson? Or the Acclaimed?

Orange isn't over at that star level. He's a mid-card workhorse the boss loves. He did just have the best match of his career but every other time he's been in a position to become a star, he's stayed in the exact same position working indie-riffic let's trade Canadian Destroyers stuff.

Danielson made himself Moxley's #2 in a directionless stable when he should have been the face of the promotion. Danielson put all that initial momentum into Hangman only for it to be completely squandered.

Acclaimed had all their momentum squashed so FTR could be happy. Now they're the champions in a division that's DOA and play second fiddle to Billy Gunn. When they were champions, the focus was on Swerve/Lee in a never-ending directionless feud that's still being resolved. Then it was Team TNA hoopla that was third match on the card type nonsense. Fun nonsense, but nonsense.

MJF is the only guy who actively pursues the brass ring, does everything he can to be the focal point and gets over with everybody.

Looks like India REALLY wanted CM Punk tonight.  Believed Punk could be on a year long no compete, but the recent FTC stance would likely allow Punk to break it in court, so may not even be in Tony's interest to enforce one.

Please, outside of Jericho there isn't a single person on that roster getting recognised in the street by the casual fan.

That's when you're over, that's when you're a star.

These guys in AEW exist in a bubble. It's like being the most popular kid at school, outside of those walls, no one knows who you are, nor cares.

LMAO:

Sept 9, 2023 4:28:39 GMT NATH45 said:

Please, outside of Jericho there isn't a single person on that roster getting recognised in the street by the casual fan.

That's when you're over, that's when you're a star.

These guys in AEW exist in a bubble. It's like being the most popular kid at school, outside of those walls, no one knows who you are, nor cares.

MJF is the only one actively looking to change that.

The rest are just happy to stay in their lane, work with the people they want to and do the stunts they want to do. Most of them are even allowed to take breaks whenever they feel like it. The one guy who really needs to take one is still showing up and working the dregs of the roster.

Sept 9, 2023 7:07:40 GMT c said:

LMAO:

Sept 9, 2023 8:45:28 GMT Big Pete said:

Sept 9, 2023 4:28:39 GMT NATH45 said:

Please, outside of Jericho there isn't a single person on that roster getting recognised in the street by the casual fan.

That's when you're over, that's when you're a star.

These guys in AEW exist in a bubble. It's like being the most popular kid at school, outside of those walls, no one knows who you are, nor cares.

MJF is the only one actively looking to change that.

The rest are just happy to stay in their lane, work with the people they want to and do the stunts they want to do. Most of them are even allowed to take breaks whenever they feel like it. The one guy who really needs to take one is still showing up and working the dregs of the roster.

From debuting on a pre-show to closing the biggest show ever 4 years later.

There's a lot of guys 'happy to be here' but I also think TK's booking lacks consistency - someone debuts, gets forgotten about, someone else debuts, gets forgotten about.. maybe, eventually someone comes up with a good idea, the arch runs its course, that wrestler disappears... reappears months later, etc.

Sure WWE will be happy to take Ace back after his exemplary behavior in AEW.

For booking, Tony should not be booking at all.  He needs a dedicated booker who has done long term booking before.  He had his run, and can have input and final say if he wants, but it is clear his booking is at best ok.  But like most fed owners, they hate when other people get to control the shows and need to book themselves.

Tony could certainly delegate better and work on how he formats his shows, but it's up to the talent. I don't think any talent in the history of wrestling has been given the freedom Tony has given the AEW roster and they repay him by constantly getting him to get more of their friends work. It's never about making themselves more marketable or what's best for the company, just as long as they get theirs.

With Punk gone, there's no more excuses and they need to run with a hot hand. As much as people enjoy the idea of Hangman/Swerve, it would have been a whole lot better if they didn't pull the stuff with AR Fox, the go no-where storyline with Keith Lee, the stable with Brock Lesnar Jr and some dude called Trench who looked like he came from prison after storming the capital and the unnecessary loss to Sting at Wembley. I'm sure Swerve doesn't mind because he got to work a legend infront of 90,000 people but he could and should be doing much better than he is.

But yeah it's classic TK booking that Samoa Joe loses a feud with CM Punk and is immediately rewarded with an AEW title opportunity after defending his ROH TV title on an AEW show against a guy who hadn't wrestled an AEW match since January. Sure, he has to win a tournament with a bunch of other stiffs, but he's made it clear as day who's winning this, so what does it matter?

I think you guys are underestimating how many people pay attention to all this backstage drama.

Sept 9, 2023 15:46:09 GMT Big Pete said:

Tony could certainly delegate better and work on how he formats his shows, but it's up to the talent. I don't think any talent in the history of wrestling has been given the freedom Tony has given the AEW roster and they repay him by constantly getting him to get more of their friends work. It's never about making themselves more marketable or what's best for the company, just as long as they get theirs

Wait up... When I said all of these guys were working the money mark, I was the bad guy around here.

Just give me 3 hours of Christian Cage talking about people's dead dads each week please.

Sept 9, 2023 21:54:32 GMT Jake said:

Just give me 3 hours of Christian Cage talking about people's dead dads each week please.

I would love to hear the story behind Christian pitching that idea.

Sept 9, 2023 16:17:36 GMT RT said:

I think you guys are underestimating how many people pay attention to all this backstage drama.

The problem is interweaving that drama into an angle that makes fans want to see them perform. A lot of this drama is just petty grievances and I couldn't see either side putting aside their differences for the greater good.

As long time fan, it frustrates me because when it's done well you get Matt Hardy/Edge and that was the peak of Matt Hardy's career and did so much for Edge moving forward.

I just struggle to envision anything more than a heavily compromised angle that boils down to 'we don't want you here, this is our home!' and 'you guys are nothing but a bunch of soft millennials who don't know the meaning of hard work!'

What's the end goal here? Are we trying to play to Punk's anti-authority angle? Are we trying to get Hangman on track? Are we trying to make Cabana relevant? Are we turning Punk into HHH?

What do fans actually want to see?

Sept 10, 2023 8:40:53 GMT NATH45 said:

Sept 9, 2023 21:54:32 GMT Jake said:

Just give me 3 hours of Christian Cage talking about people's dead dads each week please.

I would love to hear the story behind Christian pitching that idea.

Tony, you let me talk about other people's dead dads for 3 hours, or yours will be one of them I'm talking about next..

Punk fired again as Heels is now cancelled.

Sept 11, 2023 8:18:25 GMT Jake said:

Sept 10, 2023 8:40:53 GMT NATH45 said:

I would love to hear the story behind Christian pitching that idea.

Tony, you let me talk about other people's dead dads for 3 hours, or yours will be one of them I'm talking about next..

A thought, being Negative-1 back for a night and let Christian loose...

I wonder if we'll ever learn anything more about Punk's WWE backstage visit from earlier in the year? There was always that conspiracy theory floating around that Punk was getting his ducks in a row and took a devil may care attitude into his return.

It really is amazing how much this run backfired on AEW. When you go back and listen to Punk's interviews he seemed so genuinely excited to be a part of the company and to help shape the future of Pro Wrestling. For it to play out the way that it did, this is worse than Hogan in TNA.

It's a real shame because when Punk wasn't going all scorched earth, I think he actively made a lot of performers more interesting by proxy. Hook, Darby + Sting, FTR, MJF, Starks, Jay White, Juice Robinson, Samoa Joe etc. all benefitted from working with him and Collision was a more coherent show with Punk at the helm.

TK was really feeling himself at this point and time.

If they put him on TV I would watch Dynamite live

What is he even mad about? They signed someone he fired. It is not like they stole him.

Nov 27, 2023 20:39:27 GMT X-zero said:

What is he even mad about? They signed someone he fired. It is not like they stole him.

The promo is over two years old and was during Tony's unhinged paid advertisement run on TNA.

It was in response to a story that Nick Khan was negotiating a deal with NJPW, a deal Tony won out on.

Tony said this today in regards to CM Punk

If not for the lawyers telling him to "clamp down or else you are losing a lot of money", we would have seen looney TK here. He is taking the smart route here, sucks for us but smart for him.

Nov 27, 2023 21:15:16 GMT Blindy said:

Tony said this today in regards to CM Punk

If not for the lawyers telling him to "clamp down or else you are losing a lot of money", we would have seen looney TK here. He is taking the smart route here, sucks for us but smart for him.

That's his go to answer for everything, to the point where it's hurt his relationship with the media. You're right it's better than unhinged Tony, but it's not necessarily smart.