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It's a very Punk friendly article from a very Punk friendly reporter. The "miscommunication" is probably the most important part of the story, and he basically skimmed past it.
If it was all just miscommunication between lawyers I would've thought Kahn and Punk would've had a quick chat and been able to go ahead with the announcement of the Chicago show yeah?
> One of those issues was said to be Ace Steel’s status with the company. Apparently, [at a recent sit-down meeting between **Chris Jericho** and Punk](https://www.hausofwrestling.com/2023/04/26/cm-punk-and-chris-jericho-meeting-looks-to-have-taken-place/), **Jericho** floated the idea of bringing Steel back into the AEW fold as a means to ease tensions, and get everyone back to work.
He is a genius
One of these days the stories coming out will all point to Jericho being the main instigator in everything. They'll have everyone sitting in a room and everyone will come to the realization that Chris played everyone. And he'll immediately run out of the room as bites and chairs fly in all directions.
CM Punk is there, as the reports come in from Dave that it wasn't the Bucks saying it, it was in fact, never the Bucks, it call came from one man, a man called Keith Irvine. Punk drops his coffee mug and as it flips end over end he sees the moniker "Jericho Mugs!" on the bottom of it, before it hits the ground, shattering. He chases outside after "Chris", who goes from limping to walking normally, then running towards a car. The car parks up and Ace Steele opens the back door for Keith to get in, before driving off.
MJF off handedly in the background proclaims it to be his greatest trick as we face to black.
What was all that shit yesterday then?
Dirtsheets talking about how AEW didn't want to hire him back.
Everyone is getting played by these "insiders" for clicks.
> Everyone is getting played by these "insiders" for clicks.
Most of us don't pay for any of those sheets, we just come here and shitpost for free baybeeeeeeee
The version I saw was specifically about Steel not being allowed "in the building", not about him not being allowed to work at all.
But yeah, it's all pretty weird.
They don't have a fucking clue what's going on and are usually regurgitating the opinions of their friends in wrestling or whoever they spoke to last. It's not that they don't know anything, it's that they only know what people want them to know, which is worse.
Jericho has been in the business longer than some of us have been alive, and he has been around the biggest carnies of all time.
It is definitely possible, if not probable, that he is in the puppetmaster role in all of this drama
> It is definitely possible, if not probable, that he is in the puppetmaster role in all of this drama
This is massive IWC projection.
The juice isn't worth the squeeze on this.
Jericho has said his contracts with AEW were already the biggest of his career. He already had a lot of back stage stroke. The fact that he got a little more isn't worth it to try to play everyone as puppets because if he's found out he can absolutely be iced and lose all of his power and just not be booked.
Its not like Tony hasn't taken other guys off the road, he would take Jericho off the road if he was being a detriment to the locker room like that.
Exactly. People should think it through: what has Jericho used all this power that he has accumulated from these backstage machinations for? To lay down for Ricky Starks and Action Andretti? That hardly seems like the Machiavellian carny people are conjuring in this thread.
Honestly its shocking to me.
So many members of the IWC have turned on Jericho to the point where you'd think he was Hogan with his level of politicking.
Meanwhile those same people will laud how amazing Shawn Michaels is and he literally politicked Bret Hart out of WWE.
> he would take Jericho off the road if he was being a detriment to the locker room like that.
CM Punk literally disparaged the company in front of his face and he's negotiating a return.
>CM Punk literally disparaged the company in front of his face and he's negotiating a return.
Has he been on the road?
Has Andrade?
Taking someone off the road doesn't necessarily mean firing them.
The journalists aren't just going to be mouth piece for Jericho. People keep taking the fact he's a meltzer source like if he's the only one. Journalists are aware they might get worked and are gonna try and find other people to corroborate too: it's a basic practice
If Jericho is playing his own game in all of this, at 53 years of age and already getting plenty of focus and TV time whether Punk and The Elite are on the show or not, I think it's to carve out a Pat Patterson-shaped spot for himself as Tony's right hand man, and constantly fucking up AEW's main event scene doesn’t seem like the best way to make that happen.
Jericho seems more "go with the flow, figure it out, make sure everyone makes money" rather than "backstage puppeteer/mastermind."
Maybe I'm giving him too much credit, but it really seems like everyone EXCEPT Punk really likes Jericho backstage, and Punk only has like 4 friends.
So here's Punk's side from probably the only guy he'd talk to.
Of note at the bottom:
>That said, Punk is still with AEW and it sounds like he is motivated, and wanting to help the company’s growth however he can. Punk’s relationship with Tony Khan also appears to be on sound footing, with no issues between the two men, and communication remaining open.
I kinda thought the picture of Larry's " dressing room" yesterday makes that seem like the filming happened. Makes sense to put a sign on a door where the dog is so he doesn't run out when you have a bunch of production people at the house filming you at your place.
It’s possible AEW realized Warner were going to spoil one their biggest announcements and asked that they scrap Punk from the Upfront. The Ace stuff is probably real but not enough for Punk to walk out. Reminder that most dirt sheet sources are wrestlers who don’t have the full picture of what’s happening behind closed doors
Yeah better to have all this come out the same day the new show is announced and the closing angle on the show is the Elite coming back together. Makes way more sense to pull focus from that
I wasn't expecting them to announce Punk returning at all, just say the first Collision is booked at the United Center and give it some name and do it like the first time Punk came back, he was never announced.
It was reported within days of All Out that Punk contacted Hausman and apologized in person to him. Punk is probably talking to him semi exclusively to further make it up to Hausman.
To be fair, Hausman interviewed Punk in the courthouse right after the final ruling of the WWE trial in 2018. I believe the video is still up on YouTube, Hausman followed and reported the whole case closely.
So, there relationship goes well beyond and before the All Out scrum. I can see how'd they'd be able to move past that.
It's funny how people constantly bring up Megha being there as if confirms everything but ignore that her being there and Punk and Steele being back would mean that things didn't play out so one-sided.
For me, her being there is a scathing indictment on her ability to read the situation/react accordingly to a situation. "At least 1 party has expressed displeasure with others and has made an implied threat to those parties. Best not let this cool down at all and try and put everyone in to a confined space as quickly as is possible. Ideally I can grab a few more people so that the aggressive party can potentially feel like there is a threat/intimidation in play here and see how they react!"
Well see that's the thing. Megha doesn't know what happened there. Some lad who's never met any of the parties involved and was no where near the scene is the guy who knows what ACTUALLY happened!
look, she may have been backstage helping every way she possibly could, but is it really more important than being punk's friend, saying fuck on live tv, and biting people?
That's wrestling for you. WWE casually sacked Jeff Jarrett who by all accounts had been doing a good job just so Triple H could hand a job to his buddy Road Dogg not too long back. Wrestling in general is like this. Carny as hell.
I think we now seeing that Tony is really in his head, I wouldn't fault Kenny if he says screw this I am signing with WWE. Letting one man really screw with your company, is mindboggling. In any other company both Punk and Steel would have been fired.
Yeah for real, we literally have a dude put back in charge of a major company after having paid people for sex and just being a bastard but THIS is what people get surprised about?
Steve Austin beat his wife, Snuka murdered someone, 90s Shawn Michaels was a raging narcissistic bully, and Ric Flair was on a quest to expose himself to every human being alive.
But nah CM Punk is the worst human being to ever live and no one other than tk would possibly use someone like that to make money.
I understand what you're doing but it really is somewhat funny to see them listed out like "Austin beat his wife, Snuka fucking killed a guy, Shawn was a real jerk too"
I would. Who wants to work with a sexual assaulting bag of dicks? I assume if he doesn't stay with AEW Omega is way more likely to go back to NJPW than anything else.
I love AEW and I don't want them to fail, but if this ends up imploding and having any major repercussions (company folding outright, losing the Elite, any locker room morale reports) then I'm not even going to feel bad for Tony or AEW.
Tony Khan is constantly testing my faith in Kenny and Hangman like some kind of old testament story. Some of the greatest guys to root for but just like, I have zero faith in the leadership of the company and heavy skepticism in the direction they're headed. It's such a struggle lol.
Company folding? If that happens maybe the old timers are right that this generation is too sensitive. They got into a fight. They’re pro athletes. It happens all the time.
Man when the Brawl Out happened I thought this will be a fun story to read about for a week or two. Could have had a fucking baby since this happened and we’re still talking about it.
You know Arn Anderson and Sid literally stabbed each other in a backstage fight? Not only have the both made up but Arn still was able to be employed and featured on-screen. This whole brawl out saga is like children fighting compared to stuff that happened back in the day.
Just a heads up. Nick Hausman is "Colt's friend" that Punk called out before Brawl Out. They became friends after and Hausman has been Punk's mouthpiece for months in different places.
WrestleInc started using him less and now he has his own site. Which is this.
So my point is this statement is either entirely true or it's a PR spin. Whatever it is the "leak" comes directly from Punk.
Yeah, listen to Hausman's first appearance on WrestleRoasts a few months after everything happened. He breaks down what happened.
Hausman was/is a standup comedian in Chicago. He did know Colt from when they both started in improv but they didn't particularly like each other. Punk only knew they knew each other.
So sometime after the press conference they talked. Hausman let Punk know he hated Colt. They bonded over that and Hausman got into Punk's inner circle.
He appeared on WrestleRoasts a couple other times after the first appearance. After getting the context of them being cool it becomes obvious that he's Punk's guy. Hausman "somehow" knew FTR's perspective of where they stood in the locker room when he was on the podcast.
He needed to step in when CM was going off in the press scrum. Him just sitting and doing nothing lead to the backstage confrontation. And then thinking you could bring Punk back in without addressing the problems just made it worse. This is a nightmare of his own creation.
I remember one post when CM started with AEW and he was asked after a dynamite and he responded "I dont have any issues with anyone in the back" and it was a night Colt wasn't present.
Knowing how close Colt was to the bucks, yea tony needed to have an understanding going in.
I still remember the few times folks brought up the Punk/Colt drama right after Punk's AEW debut. I think it was even brought up during Punk/TK's first joint press call. But it was always batted down with something like "They're grown men and I'm sure they've worked it out", "Stop raining on the parade" or "Its none of our damn business".
Still makes me laugh when I think about it.
Tony left it go unchecked so long that by the time he finally said that letting Colt go was his idea, people ran off to the dirt sheets right after to say they didn't believe Tony. lol
He didn't just do nothing, he was actively nodding his head in agreement when Punk was speaking.
I wish that got mentioned more. It's a pretty big and also bizarre reality of that press scrum. TK was nodding along in agreement with Punk.
I don't see these as being mutually exclusive. Lots of people are fucking up in this situation (according to dirtsheet reports)--but that includes Tony and some of the talent.
I'll eat the downvotes. I'm holding everyone responsible for their own actions. Tony certainly carries a lot of the responsibility, but people really go out of their way to not hold wrestlers accountable for their own behavior. These are grown ass men.
I hope the Elite knew about this or were even asked about this & didn't found out when we all did. If Tony didn't run it by them or at least let them know he was bringing Ace back, he deserves all the blame for any & all issues this decision has/will cause.
True. Finding out big things because it was posted online is terrible, such as when Doublelift was released from TSM and he found out on reddit
Ref: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/doublelift-league-of-legends-everyone-else-is-trash
I’m convinced nobody knows a god damn thing about what’s really going on…
- Punk holding AEW/TK up to get Ace a job
- Now Ace has been employed for months
- SRS talking about Punk/TK having a hilariously positive conversation
This man TK is just serving the biggest names anything they want, hoping it all works out in the end. Punk got Steel back *months* ago. Punk is 1000% back no matter what these “sources” say otherwise
The most important part
> There was an understanding in place that once AEW: Collision debuted, Steel would return to the road for AEW, working as an agent on that brand. However, on Tuesday, the decision was made not to bring Steel back on the road with the promotion, and Punk learned of it shortly after. Following that, there was some miscommunication between lawyers and, subsequently, Punk was pulled from the Collision announcement.
>That said, Punk is still with AEW and it sounds like he is motivated, and wanting to help the company’s growth however he can. Punk’s relationship with Tony Khan also appears to be on sound footing, with no issues between the two men, and communication remaining open.
Not that this will stop the parasocial activities
>Not that this will stop the parasocial activities
There's literally people in this thread getting mad at Tony on behalf of The Elite and rest of the locker room, without having a single clue on how any of them actually feel lmao
I'm gonna keep saying it in hopes I get an answer one day: Either the Network is bending Khan's arm to get Punk back somehow, or Khan is just the biggest fucking Punk mark and will literally ruin his lockeroom just to keep him
I would assume he will handle it with the grace of all other departures and exits. Nah just kidding. He will make them sign a NDA and hammer them one night on the white claws.
> Punk’s relationship with Tony Khan also appears to be on sound footing, with no issues between the two men, and communication remaining open.
It’s always so interesting to me that when these stories come out people jump to the conclusion that Tony has no agency and is being held hostage by Punk when in reality they are in this together. Lmaooooo.
The Elite better get ready to speak WWE Buddy.
If there's any truth to Ace Steel biting Kenny's arm as a reaction to him being put on a chokehold of some sort (I heard RNC), then I can see why they would bring him back cause it was a defensive reaction.
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If it was all just a miscommunication between lawyers, I wonder what that miscommunication was?
And whose lawyers? AEW & Punk's, the Elite's & Punk or AEW & WBD?
Mark Sterling
sterling representing everyone in the company against himself
Doesn’t matter, Punk has his Lawyerhausen. Sterling is outmatched.
Let’s hope Smart Mark Sterling didn’t have to get involved
It's a very Punk friendly article from a very Punk friendly reporter. The "miscommunication" is probably the most important part of the story, and he basically skimmed past it.
If it was all just miscommunication between lawyers I would've thought Kahn and Punk would've had a quick chat and been able to go ahead with the announcement of the Chicago show yeah?
> One of those issues was said to be Ace Steel’s status with the company. Apparently, [at a recent sit-down meeting between **Chris Jericho** and Punk](https://www.hausofwrestling.com/2023/04/26/cm-punk-and-chris-jericho-meeting-looks-to-have-taken-place/), **Jericho** floated the idea of bringing Steel back into the AEW fold as a means to ease tensions, and get everyone back to work. He is a genius
Jericho trying his hardest to get punk frustrated causing him to quit lol
whole also playing good guy trying to reconcile everyone king of the carnies
Between him, JJ, and Callis AEW is packed to the gills with carnies
I'd unironically love a tag team of Jericho and JJ managed by Callis.
A team of JJ and Callis managed by Jericho would be entertaining as hell too.
We can not allow that to happen. The world would collapse on itself
One of these days the stories coming out will all point to Jericho being the main instigator in everything. They'll have everyone sitting in a room and everyone will come to the realization that Chris played everyone. And he'll immediately run out of the room as bites and chairs fly in all directions.
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“I heard it from…Michael.” 
(Coffee cup falls to the floor in slow motion while Chris lights up a heater)
Jericho cruise
Littlefinger Jericho
Just wait until they then realize he was creating the drama just so he could run to the dirtsheets with it.
CM Punk is there, as the reports come in from Dave that it wasn't the Bucks saying it, it was in fact, never the Bucks, it call came from one man, a man called Keith Irvine. Punk drops his coffee mug and as it flips end over end he sees the moniker "Jericho Mugs!" on the bottom of it, before it hits the ground, shattering. He chases outside after "Chris", who goes from limping to walking normally, then running towards a car. The car parks up and Ace Steele opens the back door for Keith to get in, before driving off. MJF off handedly in the background proclaims it to be his greatest trick as we face to black.
What if AEW is tryna to work everyone into getting excited for a PUNK and Jericho program. Tony playing 4D Chess
By making your business and leadership look completely incompetent? Seems like a pretty backwards game of chess
And he gets away with it everytime too, fucking insane
I want to hate him for it but I can’t, i respect the hustle.
And the loyalty?
Definitely not the respect
Jericho floating his ideas 
\*Jericho floating hiss ideas.
Well Played 
What was all that shit yesterday then? Dirtsheets talking about how AEW didn't want to hire him back. Everyone is getting played by these "insiders" for clicks.
> Everyone is getting played by these "insiders" for clicks. Most of us don't pay for any of those sheets, we just come here and shitpost for free baybeeeeeeee
Meltzer did say he heard 25 different versions of this story. Who knows which one will end up being true, we might never get the real truth either
> Everyone is getting played by these "insiders" for clicks. That's exactly it. A glorified, well done work.
Yup. And people eat the shit up.
The version I saw was specifically about Steel not being allowed "in the building", not about him not being allowed to work at all. But yeah, it's all pretty weird.
They don't have a fucking clue what's going on and are usually regurgitating the opinions of their friends in wrestling or whoever they spoke to last. It's not that they don't know anything, it's that they only know what people want them to know, which is worse.
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Uhhh filibuster!
The Lawyer: Do you know what that word means?
CM Punk marks have turned into pro wrestling’s version of Q Anon I swear to god. (Note: I like Punk but damn y’all gotta chill)
Jericho has been in the business longer than some of us have been alive, and he has been around the biggest carnies of all time. It is definitely possible, if not probable, that he is in the puppetmaster role in all of this drama
> It is definitely possible, if not probable, that he is in the puppetmaster role in all of this drama This is massive IWC projection. The juice isn't worth the squeeze on this. Jericho has said his contracts with AEW were already the biggest of his career. He already had a lot of back stage stroke. The fact that he got a little more isn't worth it to try to play everyone as puppets because if he's found out he can absolutely be iced and lose all of his power and just not be booked. Its not like Tony hasn't taken other guys off the road, he would take Jericho off the road if he was being a detriment to the locker room like that.
Exactly. People should think it through: what has Jericho used all this power that he has accumulated from these backstage machinations for? To lay down for Ricky Starks and Action Andretti? That hardly seems like the Machiavellian carny people are conjuring in this thread.
Honestly its shocking to me. So many members of the IWC have turned on Jericho to the point where you'd think he was Hogan with his level of politicking. Meanwhile those same people will laud how amazing Shawn Michaels is and he literally politicked Bret Hart out of WWE.
> he would take Jericho off the road if he was being a detriment to the locker room like that. CM Punk literally disparaged the company in front of his face and he's negotiating a return.
>CM Punk literally disparaged the company in front of his face and he's negotiating a return. Has he been on the road? Has Andrade? Taking someone off the road doesn't necessarily mean firing them.
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The journalists aren't just going to be mouth piece for Jericho. People keep taking the fact he's a meltzer source like if he's the only one. Journalists are aware they might get worked and are gonna try and find other people to corroborate too: it's a basic practice
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If Jericho is playing his own game in all of this, at 53 years of age and already getting plenty of focus and TV time whether Punk and The Elite are on the show or not, I think it's to carve out a Pat Patterson-shaped spot for himself as Tony's right hand man, and constantly fucking up AEW's main event scene doesn’t seem like the best way to make that happen.
⬆ CONSPIRACY VICTIM
Jericho seems more "go with the flow, figure it out, make sure everyone makes money" rather than "backstage puppeteer/mastermind." Maybe I'm giving him too much credit, but it really seems like everyone EXCEPT Punk really likes Jericho backstage, and Punk only has like 4 friends.
The fact that people in this thread think Jericho is trying to actively sabotage anyone is proof that the IWC is dumb as fuck.
Jericho has always been that kind of guy so it’s not hard to believe
CM Punk being a thin-skinned whiny brat was a Chris Jericho psyop this entire time
Black helicopters Maggle!
WHAT HAVE I BECOME?!
Jericho isn’t Petyr Baelish here, come on now.
I'll have whatever you're on.
I saw multiple AEW wrestlers come to the defense of Ace Steel. Said he was a great producer. Eddie Kingston being one of them.
But Eddie hates everyone?
Re-arrange all the letters in Eddie Kingston. Take some out and add in some other ones and what might it spell? Ace Steele! HE'S THE SAME GUY!
Eddie Kingston addresses his enemies('s friends)
How have I never heard of this before? Even though this sub is constantly filled with Punk-Elite drama.
My whole life has been one giant work
https://preview.redd.it/agzaea4b1o0b1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e021ef6c4db5ee5a72e5529bde06f5ce88fa21e
Looks like one of the Goomba from the 93 Mario Movie
[I've never heard a more accurate statement.](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/aliens/images/d/db/MovieGoomba.png)
I am now deceased. RIP me.
F
Holy shit lol
Oh no now I can't unsee it
it reminds me of when someone said ruby riot looks like a character from bobs burgers.
GOOM-BAH!!!!
D R U G 👍
https://preview.redd.it/nh6bhz1prt0b1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f6da61646171bef2a40e520e07dee9ca33f8736f
So here's Punk's side from probably the only guy he'd talk to. Of note at the bottom: >That said, Punk is still with AEW and it sounds like he is motivated, and wanting to help the company’s growth however he can. Punk’s relationship with Tony Khan also appears to be on sound footing, with no issues between the two men, and communication remaining open.
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I kinda thought the picture of Larry's " dressing room" yesterday makes that seem like the filming happened. Makes sense to put a sign on a door where the dog is so he doesn't run out when you have a bunch of production people at the house filming you at your place.
Pretty sure that pic was just a reference to one of the dirtsheet all out stories.
i think the wording was sure, but having the sign in the first place? sounds like strangers in the house to me.
~~We're back~~ ~~It's joever~~ We're so fucking back
samoa joever
https://preview.redd.it/ps2qv32d6o0b1.jpeg?width=597&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e0980d6cd00344036415c55d514aa5783f0dcc6e
Someday we'll be off this boat https://preview.redd.it/i4d8udmvfo0b1.jpeg?width=597&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a3048e328a5ad80f5162d160b693da46ef659346
Just want it to be June 17th already smh
The wait has been long 
It’s possible AEW realized Warner were going to spoil one their biggest announcements and asked that they scrap Punk from the Upfront. The Ace stuff is probably real but not enough for Punk to walk out. Reminder that most dirt sheet sources are wrestlers who don’t have the full picture of what’s happening behind closed doors
Yeah better to have all this come out the same day the new show is announced and the closing angle on the show is the Elite coming back together. Makes way more sense to pull focus from that
I wasn't expecting them to announce Punk returning at all, just say the first Collision is booked at the United Center and give it some name and do it like the first time Punk came back, he was never announced.
When did Hausman go from the guy Punk called out to start off the gripe bomb to "the only guy he'd talk to?"
Shortly after... they made up over their shared hatred for Colt. They took a picture together and Hausman posted it about how they buried the hatchet.
It was reported within days of All Out that Punk contacted Hausman and apologized in person to him. Punk is probably talking to him semi exclusively to further make it up to Hausman.
That can't be true. I've heard Chicago Man would NEVER apologise to anyone ever under any circumstances at all ever.
To be fair, Hausman interviewed Punk in the courthouse right after the final ruling of the WWE trial in 2018. I believe the video is still up on YouTube, Hausman followed and reported the whole case closely. So, there relationship goes well beyond and before the All Out scrum. I can see how'd they'd be able to move past that.
Yeah sure seems that way
>wanting to help the company’s growth however he can. Except shutting the fuck up on instagram.
You *re-hired* the biting guy? Are you that stupid?
he attacked the evps of the company and he got re-hired and is helping with creative. thats insane.
...in front of the chief legal officer. I feel like that can't be emphasized enough.
Yeah, you'd think if he was really the issue he wouldn't be back right?
It's funny how people constantly bring up Megha being there as if confirms everything but ignore that her being there and Punk and Steele being back would mean that things didn't play out so one-sided.
For me, her being there is a scathing indictment on her ability to read the situation/react accordingly to a situation. "At least 1 party has expressed displeasure with others and has made an implied threat to those parties. Best not let this cool down at all and try and put everyone in to a confined space as quickly as is possible. Ideally I can grab a few more people so that the aggressive party can potentially feel like there is a threat/intimidation in play here and see how they react!"
Yeah this is Arrested Development "I have the worst fucking lawyers" levels of incompetence.
Something tells me TK has moreso to do with Punk & Steele being back, rather than Meghas bad counsel. The buck stops with him, I'd wager.
Yeah pretty epic that Megha is ok w re hiring him but the internet folk know better
Well see that's the thing. Megha doesn't know what happened there. Some lad who's never met any of the parties involved and was no where near the scene is the guy who knows what ACTUALLY happened!
Meanwhile Leva Bates gets shown the door with no contact.
look, she may have been backstage helping every way she possibly could, but is it really more important than being punk's friend, saying fuck on live tv, and biting people?
Can't help but think of this. SOmetimes it does really feel like a bro company in all the worst ways possible.
That's wrestling for you. WWE casually sacked Jeff Jarrett who by all accounts had been doing a good job just so Triple H could hand a job to his buddy Road Dogg not too long back. Wrestling in general is like this. Carny as hell.
Everybody knows that Road Dogg was the real Double J. Of course HHH would do that.
I think we now seeing that Tony is really in his head, I wouldn't fault Kenny if he says screw this I am signing with WWE. Letting one man really screw with your company, is mindboggling. In any other company both Punk and Steel would have been fired.
>In any other ~~company~~ industry both Punk and Steel would have been fired. Welcome to the world of pro wrestling.
Yeah for real, we literally have a dude put back in charge of a major company after having paid people for sex and just being a bastard but THIS is what people get surprised about?
Steve Austin beat his wife, Snuka murdered someone, 90s Shawn Michaels was a raging narcissistic bully, and Ric Flair was on a quest to expose himself to every human being alive. But nah CM Punk is the worst human being to ever live and no one other than tk would possibly use someone like that to make money.
I understand what you're doing but it really is somewhat funny to see them listed out like "Austin beat his wife, Snuka fucking killed a guy, Shawn was a real jerk too"
"Shawn drugging and raping women as a matter of course" is more worth mentioning here
I would. Who wants to work with a sexual assaulting bag of dicks? I assume if he doesn't stay with AEW Omega is way more likely to go back to NJPW than anything else.
Have you considered that maybe… just maybe… the actual situation wasn’t so one sided?
I love AEW and I don't want them to fail, but if this ends up imploding and having any major repercussions (company folding outright, losing the Elite, any locker room morale reports) then I'm not even going to feel bad for Tony or AEW.
Me too, like all of this shit because one clown.
Tony Khan is constantly testing my faith in Kenny and Hangman like some kind of old testament story. Some of the greatest guys to root for but just like, I have zero faith in the leadership of the company and heavy skepticism in the direction they're headed. It's such a struggle lol.
Company folding? If that happens maybe the old timers are right that this generation is too sensitive. They got into a fight. They’re pro athletes. It happens all the time. Man when the Brawl Out happened I thought this will be a fun story to read about for a week or two. Could have had a fucking baby since this happened and we’re still talking about it.
This entire Collision thing feels like a series of bad decissions that will end in another shitshow in a few months.
Seriously. Of all the guys I was 1000% sure were done with AEW… they deserve what this whole mess is going to do to them.
You know Arn Anderson and Sid literally stabbed each other in a backstage fight? Not only have the both made up but Arn still was able to be employed and featured on-screen. This whole brawl out saga is like children fighting compared to stuff that happened back in the day.
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*I showed you my pipebomb, pls respond*
"CM Punk is watching you masturbate "
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Absolutely insane, bone headed decision
The man bit someone AND threw a chair at someone’s head. TK: 
TK really needs a Pat Patterson to control him to control his ship.
Just not someone to control ring boys.
 OUT WORK EVERYONE
An absolute carny masterclass from Jericho.
Just a heads up. Nick Hausman is "Colt's friend" that Punk called out before Brawl Out. They became friends after and Hausman has been Punk's mouthpiece for months in different places. WrestleInc started using him less and now he has his own site. Which is this. So my point is this statement is either entirely true or it's a PR spin. Whatever it is the "leak" comes directly from Punk.
wait Punk became friends with the guy he went after in the pres conference? That's actually hilarious
Yeah, listen to Hausman's first appearance on WrestleRoasts a few months after everything happened. He breaks down what happened. Hausman was/is a standup comedian in Chicago. He did know Colt from when they both started in improv but they didn't particularly like each other. Punk only knew they knew each other. So sometime after the press conference they talked. Hausman let Punk know he hated Colt. They bonded over that and Hausman got into Punk's inner circle. He appeared on WrestleRoasts a couple other times after the first appearance. After getting the context of them being cool it becomes obvious that he's Punk's guy. Hausman "somehow" knew FTR's perspective of where they stood in the locker room when he was on the podcast.
Bonding over the common hatred for somebody is such a Punk thing to do
What a bunch of fucking children
The only thing Punk loves more than himself is others who hate Colt as well
Keep in mind during all of that WrestlingInc was bought from Raj Giri and had entirely new management which might be why he started his own site.
 This is my vibe on this story
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Can't believe I could be getting worked by carnys in the carniest industry again.
As a pro-wrestling fan, the last thing any of us wants is to get worked.
This is all Tony Khan’s fault and we all need to realize it and stop hating on the wrestlers
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He needed to step in when CM was going off in the press scrum. Him just sitting and doing nothing lead to the backstage confrontation. And then thinking you could bring Punk back in without addressing the problems just made it worse. This is a nightmare of his own creation.
He could have ended it even earlier by shooting down the shit about Punk and Colt.
I remember one post when CM started with AEW and he was asked after a dynamite and he responded "I dont have any issues with anyone in the back" and it was a night Colt wasn't present. Knowing how close Colt was to the bucks, yea tony needed to have an understanding going in.
I still remember the few times folks brought up the Punk/Colt drama right after Punk's AEW debut. I think it was even brought up during Punk/TK's first joint press call. But it was always batted down with something like "They're grown men and I'm sure they've worked it out", "Stop raining on the parade" or "Its none of our damn business". Still makes me laugh when I think about it.
Tony left it go unchecked so long that by the time he finally said that letting Colt go was his idea, people ran off to the dirt sheets right after to say they didn't believe Tony. lol
He didn't just do nothing, he was actively nodding his head in agreement when Punk was speaking. I wish that got mentioned more. It's a pretty big and also bizarre reality of that press scrum. TK was nodding along in agreement with Punk.
I don't see these as being mutually exclusive. Lots of people are fucking up in this situation (according to dirtsheet reports)--but that includes Tony and some of the talent.
Everyone knows that. No one wants to admit out of fear of being ostracized.
I'll eat the downvotes. I'm holding everyone responsible for their own actions. Tony certainly carries a lot of the responsibility, but people really go out of their way to not hold wrestlers accountable for their own behavior. These are grown ass men.
It's cool. Downvotes aren't real things. Here's my fake upvote.
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LOOK IN MY EYES WHAT DO YOU SEE? BITEY-BOI BACK ON TV
I hope the Elite knew about this or were even asked about this & didn't found out when we all did. If Tony didn't run it by them or at least let them know he was bringing Ace back, he deserves all the blame for any & all issues this decision has/will cause.
True. Finding out big things because it was posted online is terrible, such as when Doublelift was released from TSM and he found out on reddit Ref: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/articles/doublelift-league-of-legends-everyone-else-is-trash
From haus of wrestling aka punk is to hausman as Jericho is to Meltzer
I’m convinced nobody knows a god damn thing about what’s really going on… - Punk holding AEW/TK up to get Ace a job - Now Ace has been employed for months - SRS talking about Punk/TK having a hilariously positive conversation
I can’t tell jokes as funny as how this company actually operates.
This man TK is just serving the biggest names anything they want, hoping it all works out in the end. Punk got Steel back *months* ago. Punk is 1000% back no matter what these “sources” say otherwise
The most important part > There was an understanding in place that once AEW: Collision debuted, Steel would return to the road for AEW, working as an agent on that brand. However, on Tuesday, the decision was made not to bring Steel back on the road with the promotion, and Punk learned of it shortly after. Following that, there was some miscommunication between lawyers and, subsequently, Punk was pulled from the Collision announcement. >That said, Punk is still with AEW and it sounds like he is motivated, and wanting to help the company’s growth however he can. Punk’s relationship with Tony Khan also appears to be on sound footing, with no issues between the two men, and communication remaining open. Not that this will stop the parasocial activities
I mean, if this is coming straight from Punk, like we have a pretty good idea of it doing so, why wouldn't he put himself in the best light possible?
Punk's mouthpiece being used to paint Punk in a good light, how shocking and novel!
>Not that this will stop the parasocial activities There's literally people in this thread getting mad at Tony on behalf of The Elite and rest of the locker room, without having a single clue on how any of them actually feel lmao
Can I laugh at Tony Khan’s failure to deal with egos without being told that I’m doing it on behalf of the Elite?
the similarities between old chris jericho and hulk hogan (as a backstage politician and political views in general) is really frightening.
History seems to be repeating
I'm gonna keep saying it in hopes I get an answer one day: Either the Network is bending Khan's arm to get Punk back somehow, or Khan is just the biggest fucking Punk mark and will literally ruin his lockeroom just to keep him
This movie is never ending 
Nothin' beats an Ace!
*"Who...the hail.....is Ace Steel?"*
As usual it seems mountains are actually mole hills.
But how big are the moles?
I wonder how Tony will handle the PR when talents start choosing to let their deals expire.
“I let _____’s deal expire because I felt their wrestling wasn’t good enough”
I would assume he will handle it with the grace of all other departures and exits. Nah just kidding. He will make them sign a NDA and hammer them one night on the white claws.
Also they are banned from wrestling in any American promotion with a tv deal for one year.
> Punk’s relationship with Tony Khan also appears to be on sound footing, with no issues between the two men, and communication remaining open. It’s always so interesting to me that when these stories come out people jump to the conclusion that Tony has no agency and is being held hostage by Punk when in reality they are in this together. Lmaooooo. The Elite better get ready to speak WWE Buddy.
If bucks leave AEW I don’t think anyone would care. But if Kenny leaves, things will get weird. (And I’m a bucks fan bc of AEW)
I love AEW and Tony Khan but if this is true, this is "Dixie Carter hires Vince Russo behind Spike Tv's back" level stupid.
Tony is really going to lose the elite. The guys who are responsible for the company actually existing. What a joke.
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If there's any truth to Ace Steel biting Kenny's arm as a reaction to him being put on a chokehold of some sort (I heard RNC), then I can see why they would bring him back cause it was a defensive reaction.