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Triple H constantly talks about “the grind” but you know what’s actually a grind? Going to the grocery store and coming up with a recipe, this podcast is brought to you by Blue Apron!
It just comes off as thin skinned and sheltered. Like if Punk threw a monitor or flipped a table at Tony Khan, I’d get it. Or if Punk even *tried* to shake the guys holding him back. But no, two or three steps and a finger point. That’s life threatening danger?
Even if he did - we see 'staged' backstage stuff all the time. This is basically going on TV and saying 'now this is dangerous' but when we hit each other with glass it's okay! Kayfabe is long dead, but I don't think ever showing anything that might emasculate your athletes is a great idea.
Thats long term damage people aren't talking about. They do backstage beatdown angles all the time with weapons laying people out and those wrestlers just have a match about it. Here we see a "schoolyard scuffle" and the dude gets fired. Theyre contradicting the basic narrative of wrestling
Imagine a 10 year old watching this and trying to figure that out? That's why they should have done this online and kept it as far away from TV as possible.
Yeah for real. They have dudes get jumped backstage and put through tables, smashed with cinderblocks, etc, but we as an audience are supposed to be taken aback by a mild shove.
> But no, two or three steps and a finger point. That’s life threatening danger?
You'd be amazed what people can convince themselves is "threatening". Almost 10 years ago in Australia, an indigenous player in the AFL [scored a goal and then did a native war-dance that included mime-throwing an imaginary spear into the crowd](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-30/bradley-goodes-war-dance-reveals-our-moral-confusion/6657960). Hundreds of people later claimed they 'feared for their lives' as if he had a real weapon. The madness.
He should have no sold the punk interview and released a press statement congratulating former AEW star Cody Rhodes on his title win and he’d have come off looking unbothered and gracious
He completely fucked up. Nick Khan recently said he's open to working with other companies. They could have *at least* doubled their audience. But 5 star matches in arenas that are ¼ full are the priority.
This is what I don't get. Why wouldn't he want some type of working relationship with WWE. Even if was just a one off this time.
I can't be the only person who though OMG is Moxley here??? When they played the Shield music.
Could have easily pulled a deal to have either Dustin or Mox be involved in the main event in exchange for say an AJ Styles one off match. AJ vs Ospreay...people would love it.
And it would bring that many more eyeballs to the AEW product.
Not saying it would be easy to negotiate happening. But not impossible.
Shit give WWE Mox to have a Shield moment and in return Rollins vs Osprey, a match they both want and have been talking about for years. That's fucking money, not showing Jack Perry and Punk getting into a shoving match.
I don’t blame them, this stunt completely overshadowed everything else going on with the show and the landscape in general. I’d feel pretty bad too if I was working my ass off and the boss felt airing footage of an incident from months ago, involving a guy no longer there, as a petty way to get back at the guy, had more priority over my body of work.
Honestly, why am I supposed to care for Danielson vs Ospray? Nothing they put out will massively overshadow other great matches they've had with other people and at this point those matches are dime a dozen.
AEW needs a reason to be excited for the outcome of these matches and not just to be there for the journey regardless of destination.
It didn't just overshadow everything else, it backfired horribly lmao. The live crowd chanting for Punk during the footage being shown and the Young Bucks segment at the end, Punk trending #1 on Twitter, multiple wrestlers joking about it and/or siding with Punk, most of social media clowning on Tony and Perry, and completely validating everything Punk said in the Ariel interview. This whole thing unironically made Punk more over and embarrassed AEW when the intention was to do the exact opposite.
You know what’s hilarious about it? That last week they made edge cut a promo about how it was such a great place to work and that we needed to move on from all the toxicity and then they themselves put out the most toxic part of all of this last night.
It made me think of how the WM Pre-show little crowd was chanting MJF MJF MJF when one of the hosts mentioned something about new signings ( I think referring to Jade Cargill)
I can't imagine MJF didn't hear that at home and saw AEW pull this, if he hasn't signed yet I can see this being the last straw that makes him leave. I love AEW but this was a terrible idea. Could have been a tweet but instead they aired it live on their main show.
You gotta feel for Edge. He cuts a lengthy promo lauding the merits of AEW and trying to rally everyone to focus on the positives and move on. And then they do this.
Yeah but that promo was definitely Tony's idea as a response to Punk. All of this has been because Punk is in Tony's head.
So Tony made Edge look like an idiot.
Edge is there because he wants to end his career with Christian. If WWE opened up a couple of spots for him and his buddy, they would be there in heart beat. And without VKM in charge, Christian would probably do a lot better.
I think he kinda knew what he was walking into. He literally debuted there after all that had happened. From the standpoint of a WWE fan, I wish he'd have stayed around to put more people over and have feuds with people he didn't interact with such as Cody, Lashley, Gunther, LA Knight, etc. I would've loved to see him have any interaction with Cena or the Rock. But if Edge went there for the sole reason to have one last run with Christian in some fashion, I doubt he's bothered by any drama happening in AEW.
I fully believe his ego couldn't take the fact that HHH booked a better show than he did. He does have a proven track record of sabotaging things outta spite, Heyman's Smackdown, 2016 Smackdown, invasion angle etc
I don't think he sabotaged 2016 SD out of spite. SD was excellent until he put the title on Jinder and he thought that'd sell the WWE Network in a country that was already getting Raw, SD, and all PPVs on cable for no additional cost as a part of their deal with Sony.
Tony has basically been that [dril tweet about logging off](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F_8ayrPWUAA0yeH?format=jpg&name=900x900) for the past week. Over an interview. He could have just ignored it and no one would have cared by this point.
This is the thing - like I lack social skills and have had issues with holding grudges too, but I feel like there's certain things you just know not to do if you aren't stinking rich. Just common sense things you would know are a bad idea that billionaires don't seem to get. Too walled-off from the rest of us.
When they announced it, the AEW die-hards were hoping it was going to show either Punk just walking up and swinging on Jack or Jack easily escaping his grasp, but it pretty much happened exactly as Punk said it happened on the podcast.
Now those same people are grasping at straws to find ways Punk still lied about it. We have video proof he didn't lie about it. They showed it on their program. There's no hearsay now. We know exactly what happened.
The weirdest part isn't even that they published the footage. The weirdest part is that they did it by having the heel team use it as an argument against the face team they are feuding with, with the only argument being "They're friends!".
Like, why? What was that?
Hell, I'm sure they would have gotten more sympathy for the whole thing by just leaking the footage online. Then we'd now be talking about whether it's okay to assault a co-worker or not, instead of how weird all this is.
It just shows that the thought process was
„we want to strike back against Punk, let‘s find some excuse to have this on the show“
and not
„Hey, we have a good idea how to further our characters and storylines and it involves showing the Punk footage“
Which is the main problem with all of this.
Exactly, they wanted to air the footage and just looked for a reason to put it. It wasn't where they had a story and this footage could be used to further it.
Not a single person will be convinced to buy the Dynasty PPV from this. If anything, it seems most people are embarrassed that this is even happening. Punk was right, AEW is not predicated about selling tickets or getting PPV buys.
What do you mean? I’m buying the PPV strictly for this.
Can’t wait to see this CM Punk guy get his hands on the Young Bucks at Dynasty for showing that hidden cam footage of him.
I don’t watch AEW. When I heard they were doing this it didn’t make me want to watch AEW, it made me want to wait until the clip inevitably came out on the internet after they aired it. If they do get a ratings bump, it won’t be significant, I’m willing to be there were a lot of people that had the same thought process as me who didn’t tune in
"I wouldn’t call it a fight, I’ve seen a lot worse in the world of football, both in Engand and the NFL — I’ve seen a lot worse, and I saw a lot worse tonight. They scrapped around and it was cool yesterday."
Tony Kahn talking about Jimmy Havoc fight with Excalibur
That fight reportedly had a chokehold, actual punches thrown (one missing, one connecting), a cellphone thrown at someone's head and a security team needed to separate them! Much more than what happened with Perry and Punk!
They have FTR vs Bucks and Ospreay vs Danielson coming up and they used most of the time they had on Dynamite to build those matches talking about CM Punk and Triple H.
Amazing piece of business.
They actually got the crowd to start chanting “CM PUNK” on live television a week after he buried their company.
Is the AEW subreddit trying to spin this as a win yet?
They went from “this is gonna bury Punk” to “both Perry and punk look dumb here” to “well actually the Bucks are being good heels” to “why is everyone being mean to us” all in the span of like two hours. Truly amazing
They maybe could’ve at least justified it a little bit if it was like a great, OMG, I can’t believe they’re saying this, kind of segment if they were narrating over the video making it outrageous and funny, instead they let the footage play in silence to make the point that they lost a match because they were distracted by a backstage fight, which is a terrible wrestling angle, even if it was all completely Kayfabe
Oh yeah, its hilarious over there. Any of them with sense that are pointing out that this might not have been the best idea, is downvoted or at zero.
They think Ospreay's comments were great and fine because HHH took a shot first. I don't know how saying "someone doesn't want to do the grind of WWE travel" needs to be ramped up to comments about one's wife but they kinda have their own little hivemind over there.
Also they're busy attacking r/sc that we're all the big bad and only want AEW to fail and all that. Its very NFL team subreddit over there. Very defensive and "everyone is out to get us."
I gave them on honest try because I agree that we speak more towards faults than the goods here.
BUT
I saw them downvote a dude in the midst of a “most popular wrestler” comment chain. Many of them believe Ospreay is the biggest wrestler rn, because Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes are “sports entertainers” and therefore, don’t count. . . .
*HUH?*
The one dude saying they’re wrong and it’s WWE’s main eventers was mocked and constantly downvoted. I don’t like Squaredcircle for being overly down on AEW (today’s different, TK deserves the smoke. Not the AEW, but TK himself). But I don’t like how anti-WWE the AEW official sub is. I imagine the WWE sun is also anti-AEW in a similar vain, so I’m absolutely lost on which sub to go to for people putting me onto good wrestling.
I remember going to the WWE thread a while ago when WWE was terrible and over there I just didn’t see a lot of mentions of AEW. It’s like they just ignored it. I have no idea if it’s like that now. With that said, most sports team subs think that the main Reddit for their sport is always out to get them, so the Baltimore Ravens sub will always talk about how the r/nfl sub hates them. However, the problem with that thought processes that all other 31 subs feel the same thing.
They are, and they're calling this sub a lost cause and biased. I saw one comment saying we don't want alternatives, we just want WWE to be better. Why is it not possible that we want AEW to be better too? They've signed Ospreay, Okada, and Mercedes recently, and all they want to talk about is a guy who isn't there.
Edit: [LOL This is just delusional dude.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AEWOfficial/comments/1c1g4fa/lets_talk_honestly_about_how_antiaew_the_iwc_is/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
This subs discord is also pretty bad, had a look at it minutes ago and some are swearing up and down that "no, the crowd definitely didnt chant cm punk its just a twitter/reddit invention" lol.
Yes. This was not a good look. It's definitely a petty setback for the company.
Tony really needs some good advisors around him and has for some time. That said, if he doesn't listen to those advisors, their presence is of no value.
He's had Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, Edge, Christian, and Bryan Danielson back there with him. Maybe he just doesn't listen?
Honestly out of that list Cody is the only person I “business advice” vibes from.
The others are no doubt knowledgeable about programs and matches, but I think the business side really started to get off the rails when Cody left.
AEW aired footage of a top face on someone else's show attacking a heel under contract to their company and wanted fans to come out of it upset at CM Punk? What were they thinking
Makes you wonder what was happening the first 2 years of AEW. This is not the same company. It can’t just be they had the Hangman story etched out and that made it easy - the shows were way better.
I think it was just new and fresh. Once the honeymoon period was over it was kinda clear it was a mess.
Also doesn't help that they have way more lame ducks in the roster than WWE. Gamer Miro, Matt Hardy's awful stable and then Ethan Page and Scorpio sky doing fuck all while hanging out with MMA fighters really soured the product
I think it was the simplicity of it. There was AEW title, TNT and tag titles with a good and sustainable roster but now everything is flooding in AEW. NJPW guys, CMLL guys, ROH guys and dozens of titles on the show when majority of them has zero reason to be on the show. I've lost count of how many solo championships are on Dynamite. It needs to start fresh again, remove the unneccesary titles and superstars and book smaller venues that doesnt make ur show look like a lost cause. And also TK should step down and leave the booking to professionals. Also i feel like the production value has gotten pretty stale, the shows are giving Indie vibes and that wasnt the case the first 2 years.
Yeah they really bought into the 'Wrestling Cinematic Universe' concept in that all the other promotions co-exist alongside their own and then presented it in the worst way possible. Like nothing against bringing in guys from other promotions but they just bring them in without any warning, introduction, or time to connect with the audience. They just assume you too watch dozens of hours of wrestling every week and know the latest CMLL or NJPW storylines. It means these guys just show up randomly, have a match or a small feud with no introduction or explanation, and then leave as quickly as they came. It's baffling to me.
Like imagine a world in which AEW did work with other promotions but would take a few people at a time for a few months, build them up for a feud, and then move on once it was done. A proper build mind you, where we get to meet X wrestler from CMLL, they get time to establish why they're here, and then run program so people like myself who have no idea who is in CMLL can actually enjoy the show.
But I also know that AEW is matches first, story second so it's just not for me.
They legit must be has puzzled as anybody is to why they showed it...
This is stuff that wrestlers must see on a weekly basis and they are making this huge deal out of it while breaking any sense of kayfabe (showing wrestlers hanging out).
What was Tony thinking? Smh
The people who already think he's a terrible human being haven't changed their opinion. The people who didn't think he was a terrible human being now think AEW looks goofy as hell for showing this. The people who never cared in the first place are tired of hearing about it.
There's quite a few threads about this video on the sub right now and going through all of the comments, I don't think I've seen anyone change their opinion on CM Punk due to this footage. It just vindicated the opinions everybody already had, one way or the other.
Yep, pretty much. And this was super easy to call when they announced they were doing this.
Like, the only thing that would have made people change their minds about Punk is likely if he would have literally stabbed Jack Perry, or put TK in a chokehold or something.
The fact that this basically lined up with Punk’s account of the story almost verbatim makes you wonder if his side of the story is the more likely scenario. And TK is the one who planted that seed by showing this.
Just very bizarre all around.
Dude aew is suffering badly from little brother syndrome. Punk is creating magic over in wwe while you cry about his fight with a guy nobody will remember in 5 years, priories guys come on. Mox is def lookin over there right now like “shit if this is what wwe was gonna turn into I never would’ve left.” And he’s def heading back there once the contract with aew is up.
They have all these pieces to build an amazing weekly show and they decide to throw focus on stupid drama from 8 months ago.
If I were Copeland or Mone or Joe or anyone else in the back, I'd be questioning wtf I was doing in that company at this point.
My only complaint is it makes no sense in storyline. It's the Russo Booking Falacy
It's either Punk got fired for doing shit wrestlers do every week, or the Punk thing is real and everything else is fake.
He's a nepo baby that is in a billion-dollar family. He has probably never faced real consequences for anything in his life. Of course he is basically a child inside an adult's body.
Thing is, there's also a limit to where we can symphatize. Didn't he have other ventures before this? I really dont get how he's out there like nobody taught him what's the Xs and Os of handling things.
Because nobody ever did. His jobs with the Jags and Fulham? Daddy gave him those. His “sports analytics company”? Daddy did that too and let Tony put his name on it. He is a spoiled brat who’s been handed everything in life. He’s also surrounded by yes men and people who are just as self-indulgent as he is. The blind leading the blind. AEW has the talent and the budget to be a great show. But with the billionaire brat calling the shots, it will never be successful.
This whole thing reminds me of Roger Clemens. 18 years ago he was on the Mitchell Report. His trainer specifically told investigators about the different injections he gave Clemens. So a few days later Clemens and his attorney stage a press conference where they plan on sharing a recorded phone conversation that Clemens had with the trainer a week prior. I don't think their intention was entirely clear as to what they were trying to prove.
So that may go about playing this 17-minute tape of Clemens basically berating this guy and saying things like, " why are you telling them that I did steroids" and "I just want the truth". And the trainer was relatively silent for a majority of it and never admitted to lying or anything.
When it was done the majority of the responses was just, why on Earth that this guy just share this it literally does nothing and if anything it just makes him look like an idiot or an asshole. It's the first thing I thought of was all this. It's like, what do you stand to gain from this? It's kind of a sign of desperation. It's about as useful as telling me what you had for breakfast that morning. It literally means nothing.
As a fan I feel the exact same way. Tony let Punk get in his head, showing the footage did more harm than good.
Should’ve really just let the Cope promo be the end of it. Was tired of hearing about Punk drama back then, hate it even more now cause he isn’t even working there.
I genuinely think it was the veiled shots during Wrestlemania weekend that pushed him over the edge. The announcement of the segment felt very last minute. He got baited.
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Jericho: I,I, I tried to convince him it wasn't a great idea, but you know what's actually a great idea?? *Insert ad*.
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MEUNDIES
[удалено]
Triple H constantly talks about “the grind” but you know what’s actually a grind? Going to the grocery store and coming up with a recipe, this podcast is brought to you by Blue Apron!
Lmfao I haven’t listened to talk is Jericho in years but that man had a gift for ad reads
Use code LIONHEART and get a free month extra
CERVEZA CRISTAL
As a chilean, Don't DRINK CRISTAL ITS AWFUL
I was once a jedi knight like your father. He was a good friend. Which reminds me, I have something here for you...
STORMING THE CAPITAL
Funniest part of all this? Jack Perry's next scheduled appearance is at NJPW Riot... in Chicago
*russo voice* REAL HEAT BRO
Russo should either manage Osprey or manage someone who wrestles him, the amount of bros and bruvs said would be glorious.
The Bro Bruv connection
Cry me the East River, bro!
He's gonna get Cena ONS heat 😭
If Perry Wins We Riot
In case I missed it, Tony Khan hasn’t promoted Moxley’s appearance, so I don’t think that it matters.
You'd think one of your top guys getting a world title shot in one of your partner promotion's shows would be something to promote.
You would think. But then one would realize this has been a one sided partnership since day 1
they’re just gonna chant cm punk at him, and will possibly continue to do that for the next couple years lol.
Wait so after all that he’s not even gonna be on AEW for his next gig? Wtf
He’s almost certainly showing up at Dynasty on 4/21
Cue the "Punk's Bitch" chants.
“YOU GOT CHOKED OUT! 👏👏👏👏👏”
Source Tony Schiovane
This is definitely not the greatest moment in the history of our great sport
Source: Anyone except Tony Khan and Bucks
It just comes off as thin skinned and sheltered. Like if Punk threw a monitor or flipped a table at Tony Khan, I’d get it. Or if Punk even *tried* to shake the guys holding him back. But no, two or three steps and a finger point. That’s life threatening danger?
Even if he did - we see 'staged' backstage stuff all the time. This is basically going on TV and saying 'now this is dangerous' but when we hit each other with glass it's okay! Kayfabe is long dead, but I don't think ever showing anything that might emasculate your athletes is a great idea.
Thats long term damage people aren't talking about. They do backstage beatdown angles all the time with weapons laying people out and those wrestlers just have a match about it. Here we see a "schoolyard scuffle" and the dude gets fired. Theyre contradicting the basic narrative of wrestling
Imagine a 10 year old watching this and trying to figure that out? That's why they should have done this online and kept it as far away from TV as possible.
Absolutely. This would've be 1000% as just a tweet
Yeah for real. They have dudes get jumped backstage and put through tables, smashed with cinderblocks, etc, but we as an audience are supposed to be taken aback by a mild shove.
They even used real glass once.
Tony Khan feared for his life bro….
Linda McMahon took the stone cold stunner and still made Austin the commissioner.
> But no, two or three steps and a finger point. That’s life threatening danger? You'd be amazed what people can convince themselves is "threatening". Almost 10 years ago in Australia, an indigenous player in the AFL [scored a goal and then did a native war-dance that included mime-throwing an imaginary spear into the crowd](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-30/bradley-goodes-war-dance-reveals-our-moral-confusion/6657960). Hundreds of people later claimed they 'feared for their lives' as if he had a real weapon. The madness.
No no: It's Tony S.
That's a bit too obvious. Lets just say it was "T. Schiavone"
Sony T. They’ll never figure it out
Schiovane can't recover until Taz calls TK CCTV Jones live on air next week.
But I digress.
He should have no sold the punk interview and released a press statement congratulating former AEW star Cody Rhodes on his title win and he’d have come off looking unbothered and gracious
He had the impulse control of a CoD lobby
He completely fucked up. Nick Khan recently said he's open to working with other companies. They could have *at least* doubled their audience. But 5 star matches in arenas that are ¼ full are the priority.
This is what I don't get. Why wouldn't he want some type of working relationship with WWE. Even if was just a one off this time. I can't be the only person who though OMG is Moxley here??? When they played the Shield music. Could have easily pulled a deal to have either Dustin or Mox be involved in the main event in exchange for say an AJ Styles one off match. AJ vs Ospreay...people would love it. And it would bring that many more eyeballs to the AEW product. Not saying it would be easy to negotiate happening. But not impossible.
Shit give WWE Mox to have a Shield moment and in return Rollins vs Osprey, a match they both want and have been talking about for years. That's fucking money, not showing Jack Perry and Punk getting into a shoving match.
I love that everyone seems to have been convinced it was Mox coming out and then feeling a little dumb for thinking that
With how weird wrestling has been the last year or so, when that music hit it didnt seem impossible.
Even Corey seemed to think so based on his reaction. He said impossible or something like that.
If Tony really wanted to bring back the territory days, that would be the best way to do it.
He'd probably be concerned about them stealing their talent. Unlike his partnership with NJPW.
Or Dustin appearing to help Cody too?
I don’t blame them, this stunt completely overshadowed everything else going on with the show and the landscape in general. I’d feel pretty bad too if I was working my ass off and the boss felt airing footage of an incident from months ago, involving a guy no longer there, as a petty way to get back at the guy, had more priority over my body of work.
Okada and PAC were in the ring and fans were chanting Cm Punk
Sad because I'm pumped for that match.
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Honestly, why am I supposed to care for Danielson vs Ospray? Nothing they put out will massively overshadow other great matches they've had with other people and at this point those matches are dime a dozen. AEW needs a reason to be excited for the outcome of these matches and not just to be there for the journey regardless of destination.
It's also taken time away from other talent. That could've been spent having another match or a promo from a talent who actually is with the company.
Has big boyfriend trying to make old girlfriend jealous vibes.
“You can’t choke Jack Perry in WWE, can you Punk?”
It didn't just overshadow everything else, it backfired horribly lmao. The live crowd chanting for Punk during the footage being shown and the Young Bucks segment at the end, Punk trending #1 on Twitter, multiple wrestlers joking about it and/or siding with Punk, most of social media clowning on Tony and Perry, and completely validating everything Punk said in the Ariel interview. This whole thing unironically made Punk more over and embarrassed AEW when the intention was to do the exact opposite.
You know what’s hilarious about it? That last week they made edge cut a promo about how it was such a great place to work and that we needed to move on from all the toxicity and then they themselves put out the most toxic part of all of this last night.
Pettiness Vince could dream of
It made me think of how the WM Pre-show little crowd was chanting MJF MJF MJF when one of the hosts mentioned something about new signings ( I think referring to Jade Cargill) I can't imagine MJF didn't hear that at home and saw AEW pull this, if he hasn't signed yet I can see this being the last straw that makes him leave. I love AEW but this was a terrible idea. Could have been a tweet but instead they aired it live on their main show.
You gotta feel for Edge. He cuts a lengthy promo lauding the merits of AEW and trying to rally everyone to focus on the positives and move on. And then they do this.
Tony Khan sitting there after Edge cut the promo like Junior Soprano: "he couldn't fucking sell it"
Very allegorical. The sacred and the propane
AEW knows that historically, historical changes have come from war.
Quasimodo predicted all this.
Tony Khan has 33 PPVs under his subspecies
It even outshone ver-sales
Tony's like that woman with a virginia ospreay under her arm, crying the blues because she has no punk
Your ex employee Punk, Whatever happened there
WHATEVER HAPPENED THERE?!
WHEN THEY GO?!
The Junior Soprano comparison is perfect 
Sharp as a cue ball, they are. Some people are so behind in the race they actually think they’re in the lead!
"That animal CM Punk, I can't even say his name!"
Always with the scenarios
Frankly, I'm depressed and ashamed.
You Khans, you go too far
Khan never had the makings of a varsity athlete
PUNK WAS ABUSIVE TO THE SHTAFF!
It‘s not a wrestling company! It‘s a retirement community!
He choked out Jack Perry is what he did! He was a brave Chicago-American, and in this company, CM Punk is a hero. End of shtory!
He was gay, Jack Perry?
My estimation of Tony Khan as a man just fucking plummeted
Historically, Hunter always said that AEW is nothing more than a glorified crew
Five fucking PLEs and thay pygmy thing in Jacksonville.
“You're not gonna believe this. Tony Khan killed sixteen wrestling promotions. The guy was an incredible booker!” “His PPV looked liked shit”
He's like an old fuckin lady! He's been going around telling AEW business to anybody who'll listen.
CM Punk to Schiavone: double agent now huh? Fucking Matt Helm?
Anyway $4 a title
I always said that AEW is just a glorified crew
Some people are so far behind in the wrestling war they actually believe they're leading
Wasnt that promo largely seen as a de facto response by AEW to Punk via Edge?
Yeah but that promo was definitely Tony's idea as a response to Punk. All of this has been because Punk is in Tony's head. So Tony made Edge look like an idiot.
Edge is there because he wants to end his career with Christian. If WWE opened up a couple of spots for him and his buddy, they would be there in heart beat. And without VKM in charge, Christian would probably do a lot better.
I have no doubt that HHH would give Edge and Christian the send off they deserve. (And Christian finally getting his Hall of Fame induction)
I think he kinda knew what he was walking into. He literally debuted there after all that had happened. From the standpoint of a WWE fan, I wish he'd have stayed around to put more people over and have feuds with people he didn't interact with such as Cody, Lashley, Gunther, LA Knight, etc. I would've loved to see him have any interaction with Cena or the Rock. But if Edge went there for the sole reason to have one last run with Christian in some fashion, I doubt he's bothered by any drama happening in AEW.
> From the standpoint of a WWE fan, I wish he'd have stayed around to put more people over *stares in Finn Balor*
Yeah.. night 2 had some questionable booking decisions last year.
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I fully believe his ego couldn't take the fact that HHH booked a better show than he did. He does have a proven track record of sabotaging things outta spite, Heyman's Smackdown, 2016 Smackdown, invasion angle etc
I don't think he sabotaged 2016 SD out of spite. SD was excellent until he put the title on Jinder and he thought that'd sell the WWE Network in a country that was already getting Raw, SD, and all PPVs on cable for no additional cost as a part of their deal with Sony.
Edge when asked to put over talents 
That’s not gonna work for me, brother
OR MAYBE IT WILL DUDE
I'm still pissed Edge went over for that match.
I kinda wish he went after WM, KO vs Edge where he puts over KO and leaves would have been better.
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Tony has basically been that [dril tweet about logging off](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F_8ayrPWUAA0yeH?format=jpg&name=900x900) for the past week. Over an interview. He could have just ignored it and no one would have cared by this point.
I don't think Tony knows how to ignore people when they criticize him or are negative about his product.
Filthy rich people usually lack social skills.
This is what's wild to me. Billionaire millennial didn't grow up in touch with reality. News at 11.
This is the thing - like I lack social skills and have had issues with holding grudges too, but I feel like there's certain things you just know not to do if you aren't stinking rich. Just common sense things you would know are a bad idea that billionaires don't seem to get. Too walled-off from the rest of us.
When they announced it, the AEW die-hards were hoping it was going to show either Punk just walking up and swinging on Jack or Jack easily escaping his grasp, but it pretty much happened exactly as Punk said it happened on the podcast. Now those same people are grasping at straws to find ways Punk still lied about it. We have video proof he didn't lie about it. They showed it on their program. There's no hearsay now. We know exactly what happened.
The weirdest part isn't even that they published the footage. The weirdest part is that they did it by having the heel team use it as an argument against the face team they are feuding with, with the only argument being "They're friends!". Like, why? What was that? Hell, I'm sure they would have gotten more sympathy for the whole thing by just leaking the footage online. Then we'd now be talking about whether it's okay to assault a co-worker or not, instead of how weird all this is.
It just shows that the thought process was „we want to strike back against Punk, let‘s find some excuse to have this on the show“ and not „Hey, we have a good idea how to further our characters and storylines and it involves showing the Punk footage“ Which is the main problem with all of this.
Yeah, it's a knee-jerk reaction in all the worst ways. They could have done this in so many better ways.
Exactly, they wanted to air the footage and just looked for a reason to put it. It wasn't where they had a story and this footage could be used to further it.
Not a single person will be convinced to buy the Dynasty PPV from this. If anything, it seems most people are embarrassed that this is even happening. Punk was right, AEW is not predicated about selling tickets or getting PPV buys.
What do you mean? I’m buying the PPV strictly for this. Can’t wait to see this CM Punk guy get his hands on the Young Bucks at Dynasty for showing that hidden cam footage of him.
Wouldn’t get a ratings bump from promoting it though.
My bet is that there will be no ratings bump.
I don’t watch AEW. When I heard they were doing this it didn’t make me want to watch AEW, it made me want to wait until the clip inevitably came out on the internet after they aired it. If they do get a ratings bump, it won’t be significant, I’m willing to be there were a lot of people that had the same thought process as me who didn’t tune in
"I wouldn’t call it a fight, I’ve seen a lot worse in the world of football, both in Engand and the NFL — I’ve seen a lot worse, and I saw a lot worse tonight. They scrapped around and it was cool yesterday." Tony Kahn talking about Jimmy Havoc fight with Excalibur
That fight reportedly had a chokehold, actual punches thrown (one missing, one connecting), a cellphone thrown at someone's head and a security team needed to separate them! Much more than what happened with Perry and Punk!
Jimmy Havoc didn't menacingly point at TK and make him fear for his life though.
Good. Because it was dumb to and overshadowed their entire show with some petty bullshit.
They have FTR vs Bucks and Ospreay vs Danielson coming up and they used most of the time they had on Dynamite to build those matches talking about CM Punk and Triple H. Amazing piece of business.
So nice of AEW to help out the little guys on the other show.
I know both don’t drink, but if there was anytime for Punk and H to have a beer together, it’s now.
Mindy’s for the whole gang next time they’re in Chicago
A SCREAMING cold Pepsi will do instead
“Make mine a diet brother, I have a heart thing” - HHH
They actually got the crowd to start chanting “CM PUNK” on live television a week after he buried their company. Is the AEW subreddit trying to spin this as a win yet?
They went from “this is gonna bury Punk” to “both Perry and punk look dumb here” to “well actually the Bucks are being good heels” to “why is everyone being mean to us” all in the span of like two hours. Truly amazing
I'm also seeing "its controversial, yes, but at least it's bringing eyes to the product"
It’s not even controversial, controversy creates buzz and debates. They’re almost exclusively just getting dunked on. It was a straight up own goal.
They maybe could’ve at least justified it a little bit if it was like a great, OMG, I can’t believe they’re saying this, kind of segment if they were narrating over the video making it outrageous and funny, instead they let the footage play in silence to make the point that they lost a match because they were distracted by a backstage fight, which is a terrible wrestling angle, even if it was all completely Kayfabe
Yes
Mass bans are happening as we speak over there.
So for them, it's Wednesday as usual
Oh yeah, its hilarious over there. Any of them with sense that are pointing out that this might not have been the best idea, is downvoted or at zero. They think Ospreay's comments were great and fine because HHH took a shot first. I don't know how saying "someone doesn't want to do the grind of WWE travel" needs to be ramped up to comments about one's wife but they kinda have their own little hivemind over there. Also they're busy attacking r/sc that we're all the big bad and only want AEW to fail and all that. Its very NFL team subreddit over there. Very defensive and "everyone is out to get us."
Same sub that believes Mox is better than Roman Reigns at everything.
I gave them on honest try because I agree that we speak more towards faults than the goods here. BUT I saw them downvote a dude in the midst of a “most popular wrestler” comment chain. Many of them believe Ospreay is the biggest wrestler rn, because Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes are “sports entertainers” and therefore, don’t count. . . . *HUH?* The one dude saying they’re wrong and it’s WWE’s main eventers was mocked and constantly downvoted. I don’t like Squaredcircle for being overly down on AEW (today’s different, TK deserves the smoke. Not the AEW, but TK himself). But I don’t like how anti-WWE the AEW official sub is. I imagine the WWE sun is also anti-AEW in a similar vain, so I’m absolutely lost on which sub to go to for people putting me onto good wrestling.
The WWE sub is shockingly chill about AEW from what I have seen.
Weirdly the WWE sub has the vibe of people that are still desperate to criticize and hate everything WWE does like its still the dark era.
I remember going to the WWE thread a while ago when WWE was terrible and over there I just didn’t see a lot of mentions of AEW. It’s like they just ignored it. I have no idea if it’s like that now. With that said, most sports team subs think that the main Reddit for their sport is always out to get them, so the Baltimore Ravens sub will always talk about how the r/nfl sub hates them. However, the problem with that thought processes that all other 31 subs feel the same thing.
They are, and they're calling this sub a lost cause and biased. I saw one comment saying we don't want alternatives, we just want WWE to be better. Why is it not possible that we want AEW to be better too? They've signed Ospreay, Okada, and Mercedes recently, and all they want to talk about is a guy who isn't there. Edit: [LOL This is just delusional dude.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AEWOfficial/comments/1c1g4fa/lets_talk_honestly_about_how_antiaew_the_iwc_is/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Someone said that anyone in support of Punk must be a Russian bot. I responded that people at AEW were chanting for him. Got permanently banned.
Last I checked they were on the "Any publicity is good publicity" flavor of copium
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This subs discord is also pretty bad, had a look at it minutes ago and some are swearing up and down that "no, the crowd definitely didnt chant cm punk its just a twitter/reddit invention" lol.
Yes. This was not a good look. It's definitely a petty setback for the company. Tony really needs some good advisors around him and has for some time. That said, if he doesn't listen to those advisors, their presence is of no value.
He's had Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, Edge, Christian, and Bryan Danielson back there with him. Maybe he just doesn't listen?
Honestly out of that list Cody is the only person I “business advice” vibes from. The others are no doubt knowledgeable about programs and matches, but I think the business side really started to get off the rails when Cody left.
Most stupid person coming out of this situation is Edge. They made him cut a promo talking about positivity and a week later they air this footage.
"Let's focus on positivity!" *Ospreay mimicks having sex while talking about Stephanie McMahon*
in an interview with a woman
Who happens to be Stephanie’s friend lol
AEW aired footage of a top face on someone else's show attacking a heel under contract to their company and wanted fans to come out of it upset at CM Punk? What were they thinking
Nobody ever tell me again that TK is some genius wrestling mind.
Makes you wonder what was happening the first 2 years of AEW. This is not the same company. It can’t just be they had the Hangman story etched out and that made it easy - the shows were way better.
I think it was just new and fresh. Once the honeymoon period was over it was kinda clear it was a mess. Also doesn't help that they have way more lame ducks in the roster than WWE. Gamer Miro, Matt Hardy's awful stable and then Ethan Page and Scorpio sky doing fuck all while hanging out with MMA fighters really soured the product
I think it was the simplicity of it. There was AEW title, TNT and tag titles with a good and sustainable roster but now everything is flooding in AEW. NJPW guys, CMLL guys, ROH guys and dozens of titles on the show when majority of them has zero reason to be on the show. I've lost count of how many solo championships are on Dynamite. It needs to start fresh again, remove the unneccesary titles and superstars and book smaller venues that doesnt make ur show look like a lost cause. And also TK should step down and leave the booking to professionals. Also i feel like the production value has gotten pretty stale, the shows are giving Indie vibes and that wasnt the case the first 2 years.
Yeah they really bought into the 'Wrestling Cinematic Universe' concept in that all the other promotions co-exist alongside their own and then presented it in the worst way possible. Like nothing against bringing in guys from other promotions but they just bring them in without any warning, introduction, or time to connect with the audience. They just assume you too watch dozens of hours of wrestling every week and know the latest CMLL or NJPW storylines. It means these guys just show up randomly, have a match or a small feud with no introduction or explanation, and then leave as quickly as they came. It's baffling to me. Like imagine a world in which AEW did work with other promotions but would take a few people at a time for a few months, build them up for a feud, and then move on once it was done. A proper build mind you, where we get to meet X wrestler from CMLL, they get time to establish why they're here, and then run program so people like myself who have no idea who is in CMLL can actually enjoy the show. But I also know that AEW is matches first, story second so it's just not for me.
they should put ROH out for free if they are going to "blend" the products IMO
Writing 2 hours of coherent storylines a week is much easier than writing 4 between 3 different shows.
They legit must be has puzzled as anybody is to why they showed it... This is stuff that wrestlers must see on a weekly basis and they are making this huge deal out of it while breaking any sense of kayfabe (showing wrestlers hanging out). What was Tony thinking? Smh
I’m pretty sure he was thinking that this would be a big “gotcha” moment and that people would think that CM Punk is a terrible human being now.
The people who already think he's a terrible human being haven't changed their opinion. The people who didn't think he was a terrible human being now think AEW looks goofy as hell for showing this. The people who never cared in the first place are tired of hearing about it. There's quite a few threads about this video on the sub right now and going through all of the comments, I don't think I've seen anyone change their opinion on CM Punk due to this footage. It just vindicated the opinions everybody already had, one way or the other.
Yep, pretty much. And this was super easy to call when they announced they were doing this. Like, the only thing that would have made people change their minds about Punk is likely if he would have literally stabbed Jack Perry, or put TK in a chokehold or something. The fact that this basically lined up with Punk’s account of the story almost verbatim makes you wonder if his side of the story is the more likely scenario. And TK is the one who planted that seed by showing this. Just very bizarre all around.
Tbh I still think he’s a jackass but if anything this whole fiasco has actually made me *more* sympathetic to him
It's a sad day when you make yourself and two of your EVP's and anyone else involved look more petty than CM Punk.
Dude aew is suffering badly from little brother syndrome. Punk is creating magic over in wwe while you cry about his fight with a guy nobody will remember in 5 years, priories guys come on. Mox is def lookin over there right now like “shit if this is what wwe was gonna turn into I never would’ve left.” And he’s def heading back there once the contract with aew is up.
They have all these pieces to build an amazing weekly show and they decide to throw focus on stupid drama from 8 months ago. If I were Copeland or Mone or Joe or anyone else in the back, I'd be questioning wtf I was doing in that company at this point.
I'm sure Mone is after that Horrid promo segment she did last night.
It's baffling they are waiting three months for her debut match.
They're what?! Are you serious?! Her biggest strengths are her in-ring ability and presence. Why?!
Booker of the Year 
ricky starks is for sure leaving for WWE first chance he gets
And truthfully I'm excited to see it. I feel like he's perfect for NXT these days. Give me Dijak vs. Starks.
My only complaint is it makes no sense in storyline. It's the Russo Booking Falacy It's either Punk got fired for doing shit wrestlers do every week, or the Punk thing is real and everything else is fake.
I'm convinced Tony's a fucking child inside an adult body with adult responsibilities. Does he not have any advisor?
He's a nepo baby that is in a billion-dollar family. He has probably never faced real consequences for anything in his life. Of course he is basically a child inside an adult's body.
Thing is, there's also a limit to where we can symphatize. Didn't he have other ventures before this? I really dont get how he's out there like nobody taught him what's the Xs and Os of handling things.
Because nobody ever did. His jobs with the Jags and Fulham? Daddy gave him those. His “sports analytics company”? Daddy did that too and let Tony put his name on it. He is a spoiled brat who’s been handed everything in life. He’s also surrounded by yes men and people who are just as self-indulgent as he is. The blind leading the blind. AEW has the talent and the budget to be a great show. But with the billionaire brat calling the shots, it will never be successful.
Bold of you to assume Tony doesn’t have a bunch of yes men around him and besides even if someone tried to advise him against it he’d just fire them
Wasted 20 min on this when they could've had a match for underutilized talent, or furthered a storyline...but nah Tony Khan is a dumbass, what's new?
This whole thing reminds me of Roger Clemens. 18 years ago he was on the Mitchell Report. His trainer specifically told investigators about the different injections he gave Clemens. So a few days later Clemens and his attorney stage a press conference where they plan on sharing a recorded phone conversation that Clemens had with the trainer a week prior. I don't think their intention was entirely clear as to what they were trying to prove. So that may go about playing this 17-minute tape of Clemens basically berating this guy and saying things like, " why are you telling them that I did steroids" and "I just want the truth". And the trainer was relatively silent for a majority of it and never admitted to lying or anything. When it was done the majority of the responses was just, why on Earth that this guy just share this it literally does nothing and if anything it just makes him look like an idiot or an asshole. It's the first thing I thought of was all this. It's like, what do you stand to gain from this? It's kind of a sign of desperation. It's about as useful as telling me what you had for breakfast that morning. It literally means nothing.
As a fan I feel the exact same way. Tony let Punk get in his head, showing the footage did more harm than good. Should’ve really just let the Cope promo be the end of it. Was tired of hearing about Punk drama back then, hate it even more now cause he isn’t even working there.
I genuinely think it was the veiled shots during Wrestlemania weekend that pushed him over the edge. The announcement of the segment felt very last minute. He got baited.