AEW may have more than its fair share of problems at the moment, but money certainly isn’t one of them.
Since launching in 2019, the promotion has won fans over with its alternative style to WWE, and Tony Khan’s promotion is paying dividends.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that AEW is on track to gross over $100 million this calendar year, the first company in two decades to do so, not named WWE.
While it’s an impressive figure, it is dwarfed by WWE, which is projected to gross $1.1 billion.
All Out
Speaking at the now-infamous All Out post-show media scrum, AEW President Tony Khan spoke about the show’s buy rate, which he believes will be affected by WWE.
The opposition produced not one but two shows to run the same weekend as All Out, WWE Clash at the Castle, and NXT Worlds Collide.
Khan considers the actions by WWE a ‘predatory’ move by running multiple events in competition during Labor Day weekend.
Regardless of WWE’s ‘interference’ All Out has proven to be a financial success.
All Out drew a gate of just over $1 million from the 9,100 fans in attendance (8,800 paid.)
The show marks the third consecutive AEW Pay Per View to surpass $1 million.
Dynamite
Tony Khan isn’t just pleased with the numbers for All Out, but has been impressed by the figures for this week’s Dynamite.
In a tweet, Khan noted that this week’s show surpassed one million viewers, the third week in a row Dynamite has done so well, and the first time since October 2021 that this streak has been reached.
This week’s Dynamite had a lot of intrigue ahead of going live, as fans tuned in to see what Khan would do regarding the post-All Out comments by CM Punk and the fight backstage which saw Punk and Ace Steel fight the Elite.
This week’s DYnamite marked the 15th Wednesday in a row that the show has been in cable’s top two shows in the 18-49 demographic.
Thunder Rosa announced her injury on August 24 episode of Dynamite and confirmed that she will be taking time off.
This was just a couple weeks before she was supposed to face Toni Storm for the title at the PPV event and it appears that the timing of the announcement got her some heat.
Dave Meltzer provided the latest update on the situation in Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He reiterated that Rosa’s injury is legit. She stopped wrestling in fear that she may require surgery if she continued.
However, the Women’s Champion informed people of the damage only hours after she was told that she would be dropping the title to Storm at the PPV.
This peculiar timing created a lot of conjecture about the situation, with some comparing it to Shawn Michaels in the 90s.
The women’s division already had divisive issues about Thunder Rosa before the announcement. It has only been fuelled further because Rosa didn’t drop the title in the ring before taking the time off.
Talents like Storm and Britt Baker have publicly taken shots at Rosa insinuating that the injury isn’t really that serious. She took the time off to avoid dropping the title at All Out.
There is no word yet on how long Thunder Rosa will stay out of action and it would be interesting to see if she drops the title when she comes back.
For those who missed it, MJF returned at the All Out pay-per-view (PPV) this past weekend, winning the Casino Ladder match as a masked mystery Joker opponent in the contest. He now has a guaranteed shot at the AEW World Title in the future.
Later in the show, CM Punk defeated Jon Moxley to win the AEW World Title. After the match, the lights went out and a voicemail from Tony Khan was playing, pleading with someone to return to AEW and offering them a lot of money to do so.
MJF then made his way out, standing on stage and starring down Punk, motioning for the title around his waist.
According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Google Trends shows that MJF was actually the highest-searched wrestler over the weekend.
(via AEW)
That’s certainly quite the accomplishment, as he out-scored WWE’s Roman Reigns after the Clash At The Castle event, which was a massive show for the promotion. MJF out-scored Reigns on Saturday as well as Punk on Sunday.
Of course, after the drama that occurred after All Out, Punk then out-scored MJF on Monday and Tuesday.
In fact, Punk’s interest did over 70% more than what his title win generated after the stories broke about his backstage altercation with The Elite.
Posted September 9th, 2022 in AEW, News. Tagged: MJF.
CM Punk shook the foundations of All Elite Wrestling and gave Tony Khan his biggest challenge yet as the leader of a wrestling promotion with his All Out media scrum rant. Latest reports have now come out that suggest the move might have been premeditated as opposed to what was previously believed.
Dave Meltzer on the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted that when Punk originally made his return two weeks ago, he had claimed that the All Out press conference would be interesting.
A report from Wade Keller supports these claims as well. Before the Newsletter came out, Keller reported on Todd Martin’s The Fix audio show onPWTorch VIP that Punk had spoken to Tony Khan ahead of the scrum. The former world champion had apparently told the AEW president that he would be firing some shots at the press conference:
“I was told that Tony knew something was coming from punk, and he had some idea he had something he wanted to bring up.. so, watching Punk, he had the agenda,”
Several fans had noted after the PPV media scrum that the Straight Edge Star went on a rant for no reason and he kept bringing up the EVPs every now and then during the whole segment. These claims if true, changes the whole narrative of what transpired after the show.
The comments being preplanned would mean that CM Punk intentionally tried to bury the AEW EVPs. The promotion has hired an independent firm to investigate the whole issue. If the claims against Punk are verified, then it could prove to be the final nail in the coffin for his AEW run.
Bobby Fish isn’t done sharing his opinions about CM Punk.
Fish was released by WWE on August 6, 2021 after four years with the promotion. He spent his entirety of that run in NXT, where he was part of the Undisputed Era faction. By October, he was wrestling for All Elite Wrestling. He’s since left AEW after two sides failed to come to terms over a new deal.
He was gone from Tony Khan’s promotion by the time Punk melted down at the All Out post-show media scrum, but that didn’t stop Fish from challenge Punk to a fight during the latest episode of his Undisputed Podcast. He had more to say about the self-proclaimed “Best in the World” during a new interview.
Bobby Fish’s Harsh Words for CM Punk
Bobby Fish spoke with SEScoops correspondent Steve Fall for NBC Sports Boston earlier this week. As a lifelong martial artist, he feltwas personally insulted having to ‘sell’ for Punk’s “bunk-ass martial arts” during their match on the October 27, 2021 edition of AEW Dynamite.
“Phil is not a bad pro-wrestling, but what Phil is not is a martial artist,” said Fish. “I’ve been doing martial arts since I was eight years old so I take a lot of pride in it… You are insulting the audience’s intelligence. It’s honestly insulting for you as one of my co-workers. As a martial artist you’re asking me to go out and sell, put over your bunk-ass martial arts. It’s insulting to the audience. It’s insulting to me. At the same time, I’m working for AEW. They’re the ones paying my check. You asked me to go out and put my shoulders down for Phil Brooks. I go out and I do it.”
“Phil, after the match, was a c***.”
Bobby Fish on his October 27, 2021 AEW Dynamite match with CM Punk.
Instead of thanking him for a good match, as is customary, Fish says Punk was bent out of shape over a blown spot. Fish says Punk was salty after he executed his Go to Sleep finisher poorly, a move that Fish reminds everybody was lifted from NJPW star KENTA.
“Phil, after the match, was a c*nt. Frankly as a martial artist, I laid my shoulders down for you. You should be grateful that I did, because on national TV if I decided I wanted to ‘Haku’ your ass, I could have. You’re that little of a threat in my world. I’m not Jon Jones or Anderson Silva, but like, I’ve been doing martial arts since I was young and I can handle myself enough to where I will fold you like a wet-nap, Phil Brooks.”
“So for you to be c*nt afterwards because of a mistake that you made, it doesn’t it doesn’t wear well, not to mention the move that he finished me with, it’s not even his finish. It was Kenta’s. Phil, you took a man’s finishing move, which anybody who knows pro wrestling knows like, that’s kind of fu*ed up, and you weren’t even decent enough to change the name.”
“So yeah, I mean, it goes back. It wasn’t a challenge. It was an invitation like Phil, if you want to throw hands with The Young Bucks, who are on a short list of people that are my friends when it comes to this business, I’m happy to oblige. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know what exactly went on. But like, if you’re feeling froggy, man, come on. Let’s jump together.”
As seen below, Fish does kick out of Punk’s finisher at the “3.1” second mark of the pinfall, so that might be a factor in Punk’s post-match frustration.
Watch: CM Punk vs. Bobby Fish (AEW Dynamite, 10/27/21)
Open to All Options
When asked about the possibility of going back to work for WWE, Fish said he’s open to the possibility.
“I don’t know. I’m open to all options and offers at the moment. I do know that there have been quite a few people who have come back through those doors. And I’m happy for you know, the people, that I know were left there after I had left.
“Things were weird there for a bit. So for them to be back in the direction of some normalcy and some positivity, working for Hunter. I know I enjoyed it.”
Speaking about his relationship with Triple H, Fish praised the WWE Head of Creative and Talent Relations as “awesome” and “down to earth.” Last month, while still under contract with AEW, Fish was quoted saying that he would go to war for Triple H.
Watch Bobby Fish’s interview with Steve Fall for NBC Sports Boston:
AEW has grown their roster exponentially in the past year or so and brought in a number of big stars. Though with limited TV time, it also means that the company has to make some changes to other people’s deals to accommodate and let some talents go. Alan Angles, previously known as number Five of the Dark Order is one such star who parted ways with the company earlier this year.
The former AEW star appeared on Talk Is Jericho recently. When asked about his decision to leave the promotion, he explained that it was just time to go:
“I just decided that maybe it was time to [go]. I was told they weren’t gonna renew my contract about 45 days before it was up. Basically, they just weren’t gonna give me the same deal. They were gonna give me a per appearance deal If I wanted it.” said Alan Angles, “I kind of just I figured that maybe I had reached the limits of where I could get here right now. In this run in my career, at this point in my career. I’m so young, I came into AEW virtually a nobody. I wrestled maybe three years doing the South East circuit.
He continued: “I had built up a little bit of a following on the internet and stuff like that, but I feel like there was a perception of me. I know a lot of people hate this word, but, I was kind of like the jobber of the Dark Order, or the bottom guy on the Dark Order. I feel like when fans build up that perception of you it’s kind of hard to change that. I think once that’s decided, once they get that, there’s no changing it. Unless, gradually you build up, build up, build up. But I feel like in AEW that would have taken a really long time, if that makes sense.”
Chris Jericho then asked Alan Angles what the final straw that led to his departure from the promotion was. The former Dark Order member explained that he just realized that he could do a lot more elsewhere:
“I don’t know if there was a final straw. I think it was just I kind of realized that I could do a lot more on the indies and or other companies, I could really build up my name doing that as opposed to just staying here and doing the same thing over and over again.”
During the AEW All Out 2022 post-show media scrum, CM Punk had some explosive comments for Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks.
Punk criticized the management skill of the AEW EVPs and also accused them of spreading false information about him.
The two-time AEW World Champion also fought with the Bucks and Omega, in a brawl that also involved Punk’s trainer Ace Steel.
Return to WWE?
Due to his comments and involvement in the fight (in addition to an injury) Punk has been removed from AEW programming and stripped of the AEW World title.
It has been reported that Punk could be fired (if not already) or could choose to leave AEW, especially if Steel is fired as expected. Speaking to WrestlingInc, Booker T discussed a possible WWE return for the ‘Best in the World.
“It would be hard, it would be really hard for him just to swallow his pride and go back to that.”
Booker T on CM Punk.
Booker added that while Punk’s time on WWE Backstage provided an opportunity, he believes that ship has sailed.
The two-time WWE Hall of Famer also questions what Punk’s “positioning” would be in WWE’s current roster.
Is a Deal Possible?
Punk walked out of WWE after the 2014 Royal Rumble Pay Per View, citing injuries and frustrations with the company.
Though Punk was part of WWE Backstage in 2019, the former Champion never returned to WWE, signing a deal with FOX instead.
AEW Rampage is set to go live for the next two months, according to the schedule for the show.
While Rampage airs on Fridays, the show is traditionally taped on Wednesday’s following the live AEW Dynamite.
According to the schedule, the majority of episodes after September 28, will be live rather than taped.
The exception to this is the October 13, taping of Rampage in Toronto, Canada, which will be aired on Thursday instead of Wednesday or Friday.
It has been speculated that the delay will be due to international travel from the United States to Canada.
This pattern will continue until the November 4, episode of AEW Rampage.
Making the Show Important
While AEW Rampage started strong last year, with Christian Cage beating Kenny Omega for the Impact World Championship on the debut episode, the show has lot a lot of steam since then.
During a media call leading up to the All Out pay-per-view, Tony Khan said that the fall of momentum was down to several stars being out of action (via Comicbook.com)
“A lot of the biggest stars in AEW have been out and the stars that I do have, I’ve had to put them on Dynamite every single week.”
Tony Khan on AEW Rampage losing momentum.
Khan added that Rampage will pick up momentum again with many stars coming back from injuries as of late.
It’s worth pointing out that Khan made these comments prior to All Out and before Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, CM Punk, Ace Steel and others were removed due to their involvement in the post-show media scrum fight.
Chris Jericho is not only helping talents get under the spotlight but he is helping them get contract extensions as well.
The former AEW champion spoke to Inside The Ropes before the All Out PPV. He talked about things such as Triple H’s comments about Dynamite beating NXT and more.
During the talk, Chris Jericho also confirmed that Angelo Parker, Matt Menard, and Jake Hager have all signed contract extensions with AEW:
“They all got contract extensions. I’ve told the story many times about how the Jericho Appreciation Society came to be. It was never planned; it was just something that happened in accordance to the circumstances that we were facing.
I do feel proud that they got contract extensions, raises, everything in-between.” said Chris Jericho, “They earned it, they earned it by showing what they can do.”
Bobby Fish unexpectedly left AEW last month after his contract with the company expired and both sides failed to negotiate a new agreement.
Fightful Select provided some news on his exit, noting that there was interest from both sides in continuing their relationship. They had entered the discussion about possibly renewing his deal.
However, the two sides couldn’t come to terms financially and decided to part ways. AEW officials thought the split was amicable, until Fish’s comments about CM Punk.
The creative didn’t have much for him after Kyle O’Reilly’s injury either, though it’s said that he remains friendly with many people in the promotion.
There has been no news of WWE reaching out to Bobby Fish and the creative haven’t been told anything about a potential return so far.
The issues between Fish and CM Punk have been highlighted since he left AEW. The former AEW star had told many that he didn’t appreciate Punk’s attitude after their match in October 2021. Though it didn’t have any effect on his contract negotiations.
Bobby Fish has been announced for an indie appearance later this month. There is no word on how long the 45-year-old plans to continue wrestling after his AEW departure.
The backstage altercation at All Out was the buzzing topic among fans going into this week’s episode of Dynamite, but it appears that the talent backstage were actually trying to move past it.
According to reports from Fightful Select, there was a much more positive vibe in the locker room after the Wednesday night show, with one source saying that it couldn’t have been worse than the chaos of the last few days.
The situation was ‘out of sight, out of mind’ for plenty of the roster. A talent said that the best way for all parties to make up the public embarrassment would be to get over the issues, make money for the company and help other talents along the way.
As of Tuesday, most of the roster didn’t know if they would be allowed to address the altercation on screen. AEW chose not to make any mentions of it except for the Tony Khan segment and some content had to be adjusted accordingly.
It was reported on Sunday that a top talent was scheduled to take time off. Jon Moxley confirmed during his promo that he was supposed to be on vacation.
The company planned on him being back by the Cincinnati show in October but he ended up staying to help conduct a talent meeting and add star power to the show.
Mox has since been added to the announced tournament for the vacant AEW World Championship, so it appears that he won’t be taking time off in the foreseeable future.
The phrase any publicity is good publicity seems to be true for AEW as the negative fallout from CM Punk media scrum and the backstage altercation seemed to have helped the viewership of Dynamite.
This week’s episode of the Wednesday night show averaged 1.035 million viewers, which is actually a 1.5% increase compared to last week’s show.
Last week’s episode which featured the final build for the Jon Moxley vs CM Punk match at All Out had averaged 1.020 million viewers.
The show did a 0.38 rating in the 18-19 demographic, which is an increase from the 0.35 rating last week. Dynamite ended up being #2 on cable for the night.
Tony Khan Reacts
Tony Khan didn’t miss the opportunity to tout these viewership numbers. He made a tweet sharing some stats about the show’s ratings:
“Thanks to you, last night marked the first time since Oct 2021 that Dynamite’s had 3 straight weeks over 1 million viewers! + we made it 15 straight Wednesdays Dynamite ranked in cable’s top 2 shows in the 18-49 demo!”
Thanks to you, last night marked the first time since Oct 2021 that Dynamite’s had 3 straight weeks over 1 million viewers!
+ we made it 15 straight Wednesdays Dynamite ranked in cable’s top 2 shows in the 18-49 demo!
See you TOMORROW for a huge Friday Night #AEWRampage on TNT!
The quarterly breakdown shows that fans were interested in knowing how the company will handle the fallout from the backstage altercation at All Out. Over 1.2 million tuned in for the first quarter of the show and it slowly decreased from there.
Now that it’s confirmed that we won’t be seeing The Elite or CM Punk on TV in the foreseeable future, it’d be interesting to see if the show is able to hold the viewership numbers next week.
An ex-WWE writer is claiming that he’s heard it “sucks backstage” in All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Former WWE writer and actor Freddie Prinze Jr. took to his podcast, “Wrestling With Freddie,” to offer his thoughts on the current backstage environment in AEW.
Prinze stressed that AEW is in desperate need of leadership right now. He added that he has spoken to several people who work for the company, who say that the environment backstage “sucks.”
“It’s bad there, man. There’s no leadership. He was saying stuff in front of his boss that was making Tony cringe and become this shrinking violet, and that’s his boss. So there is no leadership backstage. Things have to be a mess back there.
“They have to find someone that everyone universally respects that can, not have a wrestlers court, but at least, or maybe that’s what they need is a wrestlers court. I mean, one of their EVPs, Adam Page, said he doesn’t need advice. He doesn’t take advice.
“I know a lot of actors that talk like that and they’re in their 20s, and I’m like, ‘Yo man. This is Peter Falk. You like not going to take a minute?’ They said, ‘I’m going to do what brought me here.’ All right, dog. I don’t know what’s going on there. I have a couple of friends who work there who just say it sucks backstage.
“They need leadership or someone from the outside that is in a position of power above the EVPs that ain’t having this or at least can bring people together and say have it, like hash it out right now even if that means you guys gotta throw some punches.
“I’ll drive you to the doctor as soon as it’s over. I don’t know what’s going on there, but if they don’t get their sh*t together, Triple H is going to run away with the wrestling business. Run away with it.”
(via AEW)
There have been several stories coming out of AEW about stars not getting along with one another. One being Sammy Guevara and Eddie Kingston. And of course, the most recent and biggest to date – CM Punk and The Elite.
Punk has been having issues with Hangman Page, and voiced his frustrations with Page in the AEW All Out post-show press conference. During the presser, Punk also took harsh shots at AEW EVPs Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks.
The then-AEW World Champion and former WWE star stated that The Elite “couldn’t manage a Target.”
Two-time WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair has reacted to CM Punk’s recent All Out press conference comments, as well as his brawl with The Elite.
As noted, CM Punk made some pretty strong comments about Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks during his press conference interview after All Out this past weekend.
Shortly after returning backstage, The Elite confronted Punk in his locker room, which led to a brawl.
Speaking on his podcast, “To Be The Man,” Ric Flair offered his thoughts on the entire situation.
In regards to Punk’s comments at the presser, and the AEW World Champion inviting people to come see him if they have a problem with him – Flair loved it.
“I’ve been watching it from afar and it’s very entertaining. If it’s entertainment the fans want, it’s entertainment they’re getting. Punk is giving them a lot of it. We just barely got to say hi [in WWE].
“I was long gone when all the bad blood seemed to appear between he and Hunter, then the lawsuit with the doctor and all that. I wasn’t aware of any of it and saw it like everybody else on social media. I always sided with Hunter on that because I didn’t know the other guy.
“But [Punk] is creating excitement now, and if he’s not afraid to say it – I like the way he said, ‘I’ll walk down the hall and be ready.’ That’s Harley Race talking right there. I don’t know if he’s that tough, but I love that.
“That’s old-time stuff right there. ‘If you got a problem with me, you can find me right there in the building.’ It’s got to be dividing the locker room.’
The Elite certainly took Punk at his word, as they did confront him immediately after his comments, leading to the altercation.
Flair doubled down that he loves that Punk felt strongly enough to speak up on the situation, but was reluctant to take sides in the end, as he has had nothing but pleasant experiences with Omega and The Young Bucks.
“There’s two kinds of brawls. There’s one where a guy will start a fight because he knows it’s gonna get broken up because there’s so many people around. I would think this is probably the situation with these guys.
“It’s not like they’re walking into the dressing room to talk to Harley Race or Blackjack [Mulligan]. That would take a lot of thinking and talking and walking to talk to Harley Race about something they didn’t like as an individual.
“The fact that Punk said, ‘I’m in the building if you want to find me,’ or something like that, I like that. It’s probably not what Tony [Khan] or anybody wants to hear, but if he has the courage to say that and he feels that strongly about somebody, then I don’t blame him for saying it.
“I like Omega and I like the Young Bucks. They seem like really easy guys to get along with, but I don’t know them that well. For me, it’s how they treat me as an individual, and they treat me great.
“I was able to be around Kenny when he wrestled [Andrade] in Mexico, and the Young Bucks have been awesome, so I don’t know. CM Punk, I don’t know him. But he said it.”
The fallout from CM Punk’s backstage altercation with Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks has led to significant changes to future AEW storylines. Jon Moxley is among the wrestlers whose creative plans have been thrown into disarray.
Moxley lost the AEW World Title to Punk in the main event of Sunday’s All Out pay-per-view. However, after the backstage incident between Punk and Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks, things were forced to change in a major way.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, there was a longterm storyline in the works for Moxley that had nothing to do with the championship. He was also approved to take time off, as as he alluded to during his promo on Dynamite, when he said he was supposed to be on vacation this week.
As a result of the ongoing investigation into the backstage melee at All Out (and subsequent suspensions that have been levied), AEW President Tony Khan called upon Moxley and Jericho to work Dynamite on short notice.
Another talent meeting that was held prior to Dynamite to address uneasiness in the locker room. Locker room veterans Moxley, Jericho and Bryan Danielson preached unity and reinforced the positive aspects of what has made AEW such a desirable place to work up until recently.
For more on the big shakeup to AEW’s creative plans, check out:
Christian Cage has joined the list of AEW wrestlers who will need to take a long break from AEW programming due to an injury.
The former WWE star competed in a very short match at the All Out PPV. He defeated Jungle Boy with a spear and a killswitch in just 33 seconds. Jungle Boy was attacked by Luchasaurus before the match began.
A lot of people wondered about the length of the bout. After the PPV it was revealed that the wrestling veteran is actually dealing with an injury.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer provided the latest update on Christian recently. He confirmed that the AEW star will be out of action for 6 to 9 months:
“His injury may be the exact same injury as [CM] Punk. So we’re talking again like an eight-month-ish, six-to-nine months of being out.”
CM Punk suffered the injury during his AEW World Championship match against Jon Moxley at All Out. It’s believed that he suffered a torn triceps that will see him stay out of action for the remainder of the year.
Christian has joined the list of AEW stars that are expected to stay out of action for the foreseeable future with Punk and Thunder Rosa.
Chris Jericho was one of the biggest names to join AEW early on. He has been helping the company grow in every way possible since then. Jericho has stepped even more into the leadership role in AEW amidst all the locker room drama. Though despite this, he doesn’t want an official title in the company.
“I don’t need a job title to help the company. I do it every day. Whenever I show up to TV, it’s a constant. Constant working from two o’clock until the show is over. If I’m wrestling or not.” said Chris Jericho, “That’s the way it should be. There’s not a lot of guys that have been doing this as long as I have. In our locker room there’s Sting, there’s Dustin Rhodes and then there’s me.
I’m one of the original AEW guys, probably was very integral in getting the company off the ground in a lot of ways. So I don’t have a problem with giving advice and helping people. It’s what I’m there for. It’s part of my job. Like I said there’s nothing to be written on a business card, you know, Director of EVP or whatever the fuck it is, who cares. I’m Chris Jericho. That trumps all of that.”
You can check out Chris Jericho’s full interview below:
All Elite Wrestling is hitting the reset button amid the fallout from Sunday’s All Out pay-per-view. The World Championship has been vacated. Death Triangle won the vacant Trios Championships on Dynamite. The next few months of storylines are being rewritten due to the company’s top stars serving suspensions.
A tournament of champions is underway to crown a new AEW World Champion. The semi-finals will take place next week on Dynamite. Chris Jericho will battle Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley will face the winner of Friday’s match between Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara. The finals will take place at the Grand Slam edition of Dynamite on September 21st.
Tony Khan books storylines several months in advance, so he’s been forced to scramble and come up with new ideas for remainder of the year. Whatever plans for November’s Full Gear pay-per-view are out the window. A new main event is currently in the works.
(NOTE: the following information contains potential spoilers for the ongoing AEW Tournament of Champions)
Full Gear Main Event
AEW is discussing Jon Moxley vs. MJF as the main event for Full Gear 2022, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. The implication is that Moxley will win the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions. MJF earned a contract to challenge the AEW World Champion by winning the Casino Ladder match at All Out.
As we saw on Wednesday’s Dynamite, the chess pieces are already being put into place for this eventual showdown.
AEW Full Gear takes place Saturday, November 19th from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
Claudio Castagnoli had a crazy first week in AEW. He made his debut at the Forbidden Door PPV defeating Zack Sabre Jr. and went on to compete in the Blood and Guts match only days later. Castagnoli gave fans a number of memorable moments during his very first week, including a giant swing on Chris Jericho from the top of the Blood and Guts cage.
The former WWE star recently appeared on AEW Unrestricted podcast. Speaking about the giant swing he delivered from the top of the cage, Claudio Castagnoli mentioned that it was Chris Jericho’s idea:
“He suggested it. He was like ‘We need to do it at the top of the cage.’ I’m like, ‘Sure, let me go up there and see’ Because it was my first time in that cage or especially on top of that cage. So the place where he suggested, I was like ‘Yes, that is possible,’ but in my mind his body would be almost over the cage for a second there. He was like ‘It’s fine I trust you.’ I am like ‘Yes, I trust myself too but accidents can happen.’ The highest priority is that my opponent is safe.”
‘Alright, We’re Done’: Claudio Castagnoli
However, the roles were reversed as soon as they got onto the top of the cage. Per Claudio Castagnoli, this time it was Jericho who was concerned about the success of the spot and wanted to be done with it:
“When we went and did it though. As soon as I did like one rotation I was like, ‘oh yeah, this is fine. We’re good. I can do this for a long time.’ But that’s when then Chris on the other hand was like, ‘No, no, we’re done. This is good. This is good.’ Because all he saw was obviously you know, being 20, 30 feet up in the air, seeing the crowd below him. He was kind of like, ‘Alright, we’re done.'”
Thankfully both the stars were unscathed coming out of the spot. You can relive the amazing moment from Blood and Guts below:
CM Punk will not be returning to All Elite Wrestling any time soon, if ever. Punk was on top of the world after defeating Jon Moxley to reclaim the AEW World Championship in the main event of Sunday’s All Out pay-per-view from Chicago. It would all come crashing down soon after that.
Aside from all the drama resulting in his post-show media scrum appearance, SEScoops has learned that Punk was injured during his match against Moxley. He’ll require surgery which will keep the 2-time AEW World Champion out of action for the remainder of the year.
Six to Nine Months
Punk tore a muscle in his arm after hitting a tope suicida (suicide dive) on Moxley mid-way through the bout, as first reported by Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. It’s unclear if the injury affects his triceps, biceps, or pectoral muscle, but he’s expected to miss 6-9 months of ring time.
Meltzer added that Punk’s injury and guaranteed layoff time made Tony Khan’s decision to strip him of the AEW world title a no-brainer. It’s possible that Khan will decide Punk is not worth the trouble he brings.
“Punk’s out for eight months, or whatever it’s going to be, six months/eight months, whatever. If he’s not let go, and a lot of people don’t want him back.”
Dave Meltzer.
The Fight
Punk has been stripped of the AEW World Championship, in part due to his comments at the All Out media scrum and his participation in the backstage fight.
In his report, Meltzer noted that Punk didn’t feel respected, as his philosophy when it comes to wrestling differs from how the Elite do things.
Meltzer said that Ace Steel’s side of the story is that he grabbed and bit Kenny Omega, because Omega was trying to pull CM Punk off of Nick Jackson.
Steel also mentioned wanting to protect his wife, who was also in the room at the time.
Last night’s AEW Dynamite was the first show since All Out 2022, and the first after what happened following the Pay Per View.
During the post-All Out media scrum, CM Punk had explosive comments about AEW EVPs Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks, as well as Colt Cabana and ‘Hangman’ Adam Page.
Backstage, Punk and his trainer Ace Steel engaged in a fight with Omega and the Bucks.
Talent Meeting
With AEW under scrutiny, a talent-wide meeting was held prior to last night’s episode of Dynamite.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reports that Chris Jericho, Bryan Danielson, and Jon Moxley led the meeting, which included wrestlers, referees, coaches, and announcers.
It was reported that Chris Jericho has been commended by the talent for his professionalism and demeanor following the CM Punk/Elite controversy.
This meeting comes weeks after an AEW talent meeting last month to address reports of issues within the company.
What’s next?
During this week’s AEW Dynamite, Tony Khan confirmed that CM Punk has been stripped of the AEW World Championship and that the Elite have been stripped of the AEW Trios Tag Team Championships.
The Death Triangle won the vacant AEW Trios Tag Titles during Dynamite with a win over Best Friends and Orange Cassidy.
A new AEW World Champion will be crowned at the Grand Slam Dynamite on September 21.
Both Claudio Castagnoli and Brodie Lee came from nothing and became big stars in wrestling. The two shared a lot of steps in this journey and Castagnoli has a lot of fond memories of working with the late star.
The AEW star shared some of these memories during his appearance on AEW Unrestricted podcast. He was asked about his experience of having the first ever Steel Cage match in the history of Chikara with Brodie. Replying to it, the BCC member first recalled how Lee used to stay with him everytime he visited the Philly area:
“Oh, it was awesome. Back then, Brodie came down from Rochester all the time to the Philly area for Chikara and Ring of Honor. Towards the end of my Ring of Honor run he was there. Every time Brodie came into town, he stayed at my place.
I remember one of my first paychecks from Japan, I bought a new bed. I could finally afford it. I saved my old mattress though, so he could sleep on it. Because he would just sleep on the couch. So then he had like his own bed.”
‘We Always Had A Laugh’: Claudio Castagnoli
Claudio Castagnoli then mentioned how they had a lot of fun working together. The cage match between the two was no different:
“We always had a laugh. We always had fun when we had our matches because we would always try to do something crazy.
To have the steel cage match, the first ever was a lot of fun. He still accused me every time he’s got the chance to of whipping him into the cage too hard and thus, he got color which was a big no no at the super PG Chikara. He would remind me every single time that I made him bleed. It was because I was shutting him too hard. Not so sure about that.”
Last night’s AEW Dynamite was the first show after All Out 2022, but the Pay Per View has been overshadowed by what happened after.
In the post-show media scrum, CM Punk had some explosive comments about AEW EVPs the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega, accusing them of spreading false information about him.
Punk also took aim at his former best friend Colt Cabana, as well as ‘Hangman’ Adam Page.
The Fight
In addition to comments, Punk was involved in a backstage fight at the All Out post-show media scrum.
Several reports have stated that Punk was the one to throw the first punch, hitting Matt Jackson, while his trainer Ace Steel would hit Nick Jackson in the eye with a chair.
Steel is also reported to have bit and pulled the hair of Kenny Omega.
AEW Dynamite
The Bucks, Omega, and CM Punk are four of the biggest names in AEW, but none were featured on last night’s Dynamite.
AEW’s production team also worked quickly to remove Punk and the Elite from the opening video package, which had featured all four men prominently until this week.
During his announcement that the AEW World Championship and AEW World Trios Championships had been vacated, Tony Khan did not reference any of the suspended individuals by name.
New AEW World Trios Champions were crowned during Dynamite, with a new AEW World Champion set to be crowned during the Grand Slam special edition of Dynamite in two weeks on September 21.
Ricky Starks is considered a future world champion by many and so fans were left surprised over his quick loss to Will Hobbs at All Out.
Fightful Select provided some update on the situation and addressed some rumors that have been going on about the status of the AEW star.
They confirmed that the rumors of the former FTW champion being injured are not true and he is ‘healthy and good to go.’
In midst of all the backstage drama going on in AEW, some speculated that Starks might have asked for his release too. There were other rumors that said that he has signed a contract extension with the company recently but both are incorrect.
The All Out match between Ricky Starks and Will Hobbs originally had more time allotted to it. There is no word on why it was cut short. The current working plan is for Hobbs to get a push after his victory.
Ricky Starks won the FTW championship by dethroning Brian Cage in July 2021. He defended the title a number of times in the following year before dropping it to Hook in July this year at Fight For The Fallen.
During a post-match interview with Tony Schiavone, fellow Team Taz member Will Hobbs snapped and attacked Starks. The two have been feuding ever since.
The main event of this week’s Dynamite from Buffalo saw the crowning of a new champion. Danial Garcia beat Wheeler Yuta to become the new ROH Pure champion.
After the match, Yuta’s BCC teammate Bryan Danielson came out to congratulate Garcia. Chris Jericho also came out and stood at the ramp.
Once the cameras stopped rolling, Danielson hyped up Danial Garcia’s hometown crowd over his title win.
When the new ROH champion started celebrating with Bryan, Chris Jericho asked ‘What are you doing?’ The Buffalo crowd then chanted ‘You’re a wrestler’ to Garcia.
Garcia seemed torn between Jericho and Bryan for a moment but he shrugged and continue celebrating his title victory with Danielson. This led to Jericho storming back up the ramp while shaking his head in disapproval before leaving.
Rapper WESTSIDEGUNN who is also from Buffalo then came out in the ring to celebrate with Danial Garcia. Garcia cut a promo and said that it’s a big night for both AEW and wrestling and sent the crowd home happy.
Garcia wasn’t the only new champion crowned during the night. AEW also crowned new Trios Champions after the suspension of The Elite.
