CM Punk Megathread

Loughc

From punks interview;

CM Punk goes into depth of how he feels about the end of his AEW career:

-CM Punk calls it very irresponsible of the company (AEW) to leave talent stranded at the airport, referring to nobody picking him up in London for All In, leaving him to take the subway.

-CM Punk says when he arrived in London for AEW All In, there was nobody there to pick him up, but he got on the tube and thought it was an adventure and fun. But it was irresponsible of AEW to leave him stranded.

-Punk says he politely asked Jack Perry not to use real glass. But Perry had an issue because he went on to make the comment at All In.

-Punk says Jack Perry came to the back and asked Punk what he's going to do about it. Punk says he did not punch anyone. He just choked someone a little

-CM Punk said Tony Khan’s big idea was a separate show (Collision) and separate everybody

He says he said it would never work and to just release him, Tony refused.

-Punk feels AEW is trying to slander him and ruin his reputation. Says Tony Khan is not a real boss. But a nice guy.

Surprisingly seems fair and not as bitter as people would have expected.

Lord TSC

"He just choked someone a little"

lol, only a light assault.

I say this as someone who relatively likes Punk; he made his career on doing a lot worse stuff than what Perry did, and the fact he was so sensitive over such a "slight" doesn't make him look great. That's not saying Khan handled it brilliantly (though this is only one side), but Punk always just comes across as a lightweight snowflake when his side of the story is told…

(EDIT: AND this appears to contradicts Punk's previous version of events, where Perry shoved him first).

Lord TSC

https://twitter.com/SeanRossSapp/status/1774883975862837571?s=19

Cabana tried to sort things out backstage to avoid a bad atmosphere. Punk refused.

In the same interview, he's moaning that The Bucks wont talk to him and try and settle their beef 😂

Loughc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121963341#Comment_121963341

To be fair Tony seems to be more angry at Jack Perry more over the event so I imagine he had more of a part to play.

J. Marston

It was very interesting almost 2 hour long interview. He's easy to listen to, very engaging but whether or not you believe him as a reliable narrator is another thing.

I thought the NDA would make a lot of stuff off limits but it was only what went on in the locker room during Brawl Out that he couldn't really talk about. He went in-depth on his return, the reaction to him visiting WWE last year (someone in AEW called it a "betrayal" according to him), London and Jungle Boy, Collision and how he never really believed in it working, Tony Khan, the media scrum, Adam Page, Vince and plenty of other stuff.

The Jungle Boy stuff was revealing. Schiavone asked Punk to help deal with him because he was being a prick to people backstage concerning the spot he wanted to do with glass. Punk asked Tony Khan to deal with it and according to him, Khan's reaction was "What do you want me to do about it?" He painted Jungle Boy as an immature little dickhead.

Lord TSC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121963376#Comment_121963376

Don't get me wrong, Perry doesn't come off great either.

But Punk is basically saying here "I tried to tell someone not to do something stupid, when he responded poorly, I assaulted him to show him how mad I was!".

Punk's not the hero in that situation like he's trying to portray. He's an idiot who escalated the situation massively.

Agent Coulson

Multi-millionaire wrestler Phil Brooks say guaranteed money has ruined pro wrestling!

Wrestling was better when wrestlers were paid by the house numbers they drew.

WOW this coming from the guy who say he fights for workers rights.

There was whole load of Walter Mitty in the interview, Interesting to listen too however a worker got to work.

Overall I think it shows what most knew that Phil Brooks the man behind he character is a small petty man who has a wrestling character who is one of the greatest wrestling characters of all time.

Loughc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121963341#Comment_121963341

http://x.com/_richardgallon/status/1774891704560058654?s=46&t=0nWllTifF9rchrV8T2uOEw

Loughc

CM Punk said he paid for his own surgery after Brawl Out. Punk said he had no help and no professional athlete should be treated that way. He said how WWE has handled his triceps injury is "night and day" because they're professional and have structure.

I thought AEW had serious healthcare for all their wrestlers?

Lord TSC

That screams, “only half the story”.

Tony seemed to adore Punk to the point of creating an entire second show for him….but wouldn’t pay for the surgery? Doesn’t make any sense.

Loughc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121963609#Comment_121963609

yeah that’s fair.

J. Marston

Funny how things change. He went to court with WWE for shíte medical care 10 years ago, now complains about AEW's medical care while back at WWE and praising their medical care.

As for paying for the surgery, he's not an EVP, so maybe he's not on that coveted health insurance that's reserved for them.

Patrick Mahomes

Tony Khan has paid for surgeries for wrestlers who weren’t even under contract to AEW and those wrestlers have all spoken out about how that saved their Financial lives it’s pretty clear Punk isn’t telling the full story on lots in that interview.

Regards,

P.

Loughc

“He ruined his life ruining other people’s lives.”

• CM Punk on Vince

Some line by Punk

Agent Coulson

He paid for Mark Davis surgey when he was hurt on a NJPW show.

He has paid for a number of wrestlers who jobbed on AEW Dark back in the day.

Yeah Tony will always be the bad guy to some fans on the internet.

https://twitter.com/TheJohnSkyler/status/1661559027141165057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1661559029259198464%7Ctwgr%5E66adf6535834a98337cbe2abd076d22ece38fc42%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F411mania.com%2Fwrestling%2Fjohn-skyler-tony-khan-paid-him-while-hurt%2F

https://twitter.com/TheJohnSkyler/status/1661559030479831042

J. Marston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121963665#Comment_121963665

Same shít with all billionaires. Vince put some people through rehab, Dana White gives special bonuses to the odd fighter and Tony Khan pays for the odd surgery.

When the actual proper thing to do is look after all their employees but fúck that, that affects the bottom line too much. The occasional spot of charity will keep the goodwill among the gullible fanboys and is far cheaper.

Jay Pentatonic

Injury aside, I've really enjoyed Punk's WWE return so far, but I wish they entered a clause in his contract for him not to do interviews 😅 Was genuinely surprised how openly he spoke about Perry, Kahn & AEW in general…but I do worry for him whether this'll end up being another lawsuit 🙈

Also it was refreshing to hear him say those post-event media scrum things are cringey. Always thought they were odd.

Necro

Yeah I'm not sure dredging all the nastiness at AEW back up is beneficial to anyone at this stage… apart from Helwani, of course.

Lord TSC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121963956#Comment_121963956

Doing it Mania weekend….using his AEW drama to sell Mania is quite a choice 😂

brianregan09

Well he's injured for Mania he had to make it about himself some how

Ohmeha

I enjoyed the interview for what it was but you just can't buy everything Punk comes out with and cannot find him to be a sympathetic individual. I would love to hear the other side of the story interviews with Tony, Perry, Bucs etc.

Patrick Mahomes

For a man who keeps tell us all he doesn’t like drama he sure creates lots and is surrounded by it. There was never really any leaks out of AEW before he joined and there has been very few since he left. The man is a walking drama queen.

I still love the CM Punk wrestling though.

Regards,

P.

ShagNastii

It is destined to end in tears but the Ariel H interview is fantastic. Punk would have me fooled but he genuinely seems to have matured.

He used to have a full chip shop on his shoulders but he seems to have mellowed big style.

I’m salivating at the potential of a feud with Drew (and/or Rollins) so much great stuff to work with. Hopefully Punk keeps on track and doesn’t get above himself as he does.

J. Marston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121966588#Comment_121966588

I believe him on the Perry stuff for the simple reason that he named names and established some kind of timeline. Schiavone, those backstage producers and a doctor. There was 4 people named who could easily claim he was lying if they wanted to.

On Tony Khan, Bucks, Omega. That's a grey area of he said/they said because no-one can talk about it.

Agent Coulson

LOL Meltzer saying Punk spoke to him alot when he joined AEW,

https://twitter.com/DrainBamager/status/1775143235649777775

Loughc

To be fair Punk is right AEW cares more about 5 star ratings than making money.

They give away unbelievable dream matches on tv for free where they should be building towards them for a future PPV match.

I genuinely do think Tony Khan is one of the nice guys in wrestling but a wrestling promoter he ain’t. He’s the ultimate dream match booker. It’s like he’s playing a wrestling simulator game with the cheat mode set at unlimited money.

Cherry_Cola

Heard from a few that Perry can be a bit of a prick and experienced it first hand once myself so I can see it being accurate. People tend to forget Perry grew up in a millionaire family himself and probably used to getting his way all the time also.

Ohmeha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121966677#Comment_121966677

Yeah everything Punk stated regarding the build up to both Perry incidents I believe and checks out with other info on what was reported but then he downplays the seriousness of the actual assault flippantly taking no responsibility for what was under his own control, that's why even as a Punk fan I can't fully trust everything he articulates particularly when it comes to talking about his own overreactions and questionable decisions

The Ayatolla

An all time great of the pro-wrestling business. There'll never be another CM Punk. Hopefully he gets healthy and stays on a good run as the man is just pure fire & money. He has so many people on strings today it's actually comical.

Loughc

Bully Ray on Jungle Boy / Jack Perry

“This is not a Punk problem. This is a Jack Perry problem. This is a snot-nosed kid problem. This is a punk-ass kid problem. And I believe every single last word that Punk is saying about Jack Perry. Because I had my own incident with Jack Perry in England a year ago. And there wasn't really an incident, because if there was an incident, Jack Perry wouldn't be around anymore. Jack Perry came off to me as a very disrespectful young wrestler."

Loughc

Bully Ray via Busted Open Radio:

"The opinion of the dirt sheets becomes the opinion of the AEW fan. My God people... nothing screams sheep more than that. Think for yourself. Don't allow nobodies who can't be pro wrestlers, who now write about pro wrestlers influence what you think about a pro wrestler."

Bully Ray on point here. Too much focus put into fictional 5 stars.

Lord TSC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121968783#Comment_121968783

People who don't agree with me, and like wrestling in the way I like wrestling = sheep.

Imagine unironically using Bully Ray for an Appeal to Authority logical argument 😂 Why is it so hard to accept that certain wrestling fans enjoy the alternative product that AEW offers? Not everything has to be done in the WWE style, not everything has to cater to the exact same audience, and this obsessive frustration that AEW exists is absolutely bizarre from some people.

If you don't like AEW, it's not some personal attack on the type of pro-wrestling you do like. WWE and AEW can exist together simultaneously. AEW's existence doesn't delegitimize your existence as a wrestling fan.

I say this as someone who thinks WWE is in an amazing place right now, and who thinks while AEW is not as hot as it was, is still pretty damn amazing overall.

Imagine being a wrestling fan and complaining about dream matches and "fictional 5 stars". How dare wrestling fans enjoy great matches with great wrestlers? How dare a company that isn't WWE put on matches with guys who aren't in WWE?

I feel there's some who seem to take it as a personal insult that AEW has managed to carve itself out an alternative to WWE for people who want something else. It's literally been decades since it's been this good to be a wrestling fan, and yet some people seem genuinely upset and angry that the alternative exists for people. If it's not your thing, fine. Don't watch. But obsessing so much about something you don't like is bizarre.

(And yes, that goes for people who seem to hate WWE and obsess about it too. It's not healthy, and it's not adult at all).

Patrick Mahomes

Bully Ray of all people lol

Regards,

P.

Loughc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121968905#Comment_121968905

not sure how you got all that from a Bully Ray quote stating AEW is over reliant on the opinion of dirtsheet writers.

As I’ve stated multiple times before I enjoy the wrestling in AEW I think as a pure wrestling spectacle it’s in ring work is fantastic but they have a terrible business model. As a fan of wrestling I want AEW to succeed as it offers more to the industry as a whole. Without AEW there’s no Cody Rhodes storyline this weekend at Mania arguably the best story currently in pro wrestling.

I honestly believe if Tony focused more on PPV builds than weekly bangers for free to impress a small demographic AEW would thrive more.

Steve Austin used to always say don’t give anything away for free on tv you can make a buck from it down the road on a PPV.

Patrick Mahomes

Also Bully Ray speaking on a “Dirt Sheet” radio show that pays him makes it even funnier.

Regards,

P.

plibige

I think the frustration is, and I'm not sure I can explain this in a way that diehard AEW fans will accept is, although AEW is an alternative, its not the alternative a lot of people hoped for.

As is clear from the pattern of viewing figures and general interest in wrestling over the last 25 years, WWE has not catered to a mainstream audience, or been able to connect with the zeitgeist of pop culture. It has its moments and some people break through but it's a niche interest. And that is fine for some people, but for other more casual fans like myself, we do miss the days when it was so popular and mainstream that it was nearly office talk.

A big disappointed for people is that we (wrongly) assumed that AEW was planning on fixing issues we saw in WWE that could help turn the product mainstream again. The casuals like myself can appreciate a good match, but a storyline, a big build, a must see event and a character that is larger than life is what we crave.

It's totally fine and I accept that AEW caters to a niche "super indie" audience. There is a small market for high quality matches, and obviously with Tony willing to back it as a passion project regardless of its losses it can be sustained in a sort of sugar daddy model.

But the wrestling business has to this point been about drawing, selling out arenas, selling ppv's and merchandise and creating a product that makes people want to come back and see what happens next. CM Punk obviously thought AEW was trying to do that, and quickly reasoned there was no desire to try adapt the product to attract the casual viewer. And that is where the frustration is for a lot of fans.

I as a casual fan, know exactly what I am going to get from any random AEW ppv or weekly show, I'm going to get the fast paced indie style matches, high quality matches. A lot of people I've never heard of not connecting with the audience and an Internet audience that tells me these people are important. And to be honest that bores me, I've no interest in that. I've watched enough AEW ppv's to know they aren't for me. And that is fine that others like them, but we are allowed criticise them. There is a view that it's disappointing they cater to a narrow audience that like what they like and don't want anything to change.

But the audience isn't growing, it's not making any gains in the mainstream, its not for the casuals and Punk is right, the goal seems to be 5 star matches in empty buildings. And if that makes people happy, great, but others are allowed be disappointed that this is the current alternative.

Agent Coulson

AEW never hid what it was going to be from the very first All In, AEW was about something different to what was on offer in North America.

Pro-wresting was thriving outside of North America in Japan, Mexico and Europe untill WWE came and did the very best to destroy those market places, It pretty much killed wrestling in the UK.

AEW brought the best of Indy, Japanesse & World pro-wrestling together at ALL In and created All Elite Wrestling in North American and wrestling Entertainment fans expecting it to be anything other than what it is are now the ones complaining now that isn't what they wanted as an alternative to WWE Sports Entertainment,

Fan of pro wrestling outside of WWE were never going to be in the majority and they are not however AEW still caters for those fans and that is a good thing.

To say Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, The Young Bucks, Hangman Page, Okada, Penta, PAC, Orange Cassidy to name few wrestlers The women of Joshi the Luchadores never connect with an audience again shows fans only looking at it through WWE Sports Entertainment eyes.

Pro Wrestling & Sports Entertainment are still very niche markets in the greater sence of Sports and Entertainment yet they can still draw billions of dollars from TV and Streaming which shows both are attractive.

20 years of WWE's complete dominance of the TV market place has also created at the very least two generation who think WWE Sports Entertainement is pro- wrestling and nothing exists outside that version of Sports Entertainment which is quiet sad.

I enjoy the spectacle of WWE Sports Entertainment, However I absolutely adore Professional Wrestling that is offered by AEW, NJPW, Stardom, AAA, CMLL, GCW, Rev-Pro, OTT etc etc they are the real alternative to Sports Entertainment.

TNA/Impact/TNA is the true alternative to WWE's Sports Entertainment over the last 20 years not the Pro- Wrestling companines.

Patrick Mahomes

WWE & AEW don’t need full houses to make money like Punk is talking about they are making hundreds of millions a year for TV rights selling out venues would never come close to making that kind of money.

Punk doesn’t think guaranteed money is good for wrestling and wrestlers should be paid on the house they draw but I can bet you one thing he wanted guaranteed money from both AEW and WWE when he signed his contracts

Regards,

P.

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121969352#Comment_121969352

WWE & AEW don’t need full houses to make money like Punk is talking about they are making hundreds of millions a year for TV rights selling out venues would never come close to making that kind of money.

They might not need to but you'd think they'd want to have full houses, or at least half-full houses. Every person that buys a ticket can also purchase merch, food, drinks etc. A properly run business would be targeting that kind of growth surely? Starbuck management wouldn't say 'sure we're making a fortune on coffee, don't worry if we're not selling the snacks'. They'd find a way of enticing their customers to purchase the snacks at the same time.

J. Marston

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121969310#Comment_121969310

That's hilarious. The biggest load of horseshíte is people saying WWE and AEW are different products like pro wrestling and sports entertainment.

WWE is pro wrestling and entertainment. It always has been.

AEW is pro wrestling and entertainment. It always has been.

Certain types like to portray AEW as purely pro wrestling because I dunno, it makes them feel superior, like they're watching a semi-real sport? Fúck knows the reason.

From day one, AEW has been doing stuff like, off the top of my head;

Magical teleporting Matt Hardy.

A match with a giant cocktail at ringside.

Stadium Stampede.

A boxing weigh-in.

Shaq wrestling, Snoop jumping through a table, Tyson falling asleep at ringside.

The Brady Bunch parody.

Cinematic matches.

More recently, Toni Storm's gimmick and MJF/Cole's shtick.

And the pièce de résistance of sports entertainment, two wrestlers performing a Broadway musical number.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grzbDJdiwLo

And I've probably forgotten countless other wacky moments. Hate to break it to some but you're watching sports entertainment every week. The Olympics are coming up if you want to watch pure wrestling.

El Gato De Negocios

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121969507#Comment_121969507

The non exploding ring of death was the highpoint for me.🤣

I don't have much time to watch wrestling these days but I enjoy AEW and I'm enjoying the WWE product at the moment.

We are absolutely spoiled as wrestling fans these days. 25 years ago we had to wait for several days before we could watch the latest episode of RAW or Nitro and even at that you required some form of paid TV subscription.

Today, we can literally pick up our phones and watch a plethora of high quality wrestling in an instant. I think people are taking that for granted and the AEW vs WWE fanboy crap is as lame as the likes of the PlayStation vs XBOX fanboy crap.

Just be thankful there are now enough alternatives available to scratch whatever particularly wrestling itch you have.

Agent Coulson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121969439#Comment_121969439

Starbucks is actually a very good example actually of a corporate company like WWE out to kill the competition when a smaller minority of people prefer to drink their coffees from around the world and in independent coffee houses that provide that enjoyment where they enjoy the coffee without being overloaded with Corporate sell sell mentality you will drink what we serve and like it without question.

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121969614#Comment_121969614

I think you're ignoring my point. Presume you're doing it on purpose to get the usual dig in though so carry on.

Agent Coulson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121969626#Comment_121969626

Maybe your ignoring the fact that there are different tastes and you only like one taste however each to their own continue enjoying you flavour.

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121969650#Comment_121969650

Nobody was talking about tastes, we were talking about whether wrestling companies required big crowds and whether it effected business if they didn't get them. Even independent coffee shops will look to maxamise revenue if they are being run like a proper business.

plibige

Don't think I agree with a lot of what you said there, first and foremost the revisionist history of AEW always being open with what they are. I don't think that is at all true, they may have always produced the same type of wrestling but they did say they were giving us an alternative which is not true at all. All we got was ROH/PWG on weekly television. They kept telling us it was a revolution so people on the outside expected something new and exciting, and we just got the lads off the indies doing what they always did on a bigger platform. And it's totally fine to like that, but it's not an alternative to what was available and its certainly not what was promised.

I agree WWE did kill a few markets especially the UK and that's truly a disappointing for the industry.

I never said the wrestlers you mentioned never connected with an audience, that was a slight of hand strawman argument trick you pulled there. I said they have never connected mainstream, and they haven't. They are big in their niche audience, and that's fine. But it's not without criticism. Wanting someone to be bigger and break through is a valid criticism, AEW haven't had a star like that.

Yes PRO wrestling is niche, but it wasn't always and I feel like people settle for "what else do you expect" which limits the companies potential.

It's great that you love those companies, but it's also fair to say that they don't cater to an audience that want storyline, character and stars. That doesn't mean I am a wwe fan, it's actually much the opposite, it's someone disappointed that the only company creating angles and narrative is wwe and that's a pity. There's plenty of indies producing good wrestling.

I think it's okay to be disappointed like what CM Punk said, that they aren't trying to draw a crowd and put on a spectacle, just a 5 star match

plibige

Don't think I agree with a lot of what you said there, first and foremost the revisionist history of AEW always being open with what they are. I don't think that is at all true, they may have always produced the same type of wrestling but they did say they were giving us an alternative which is not true at all. All we got was ROH/PWG on weekly television. They kept telling us it was a revolution so people on the outside expected something new and exciting, and we just got the lads off the indies doing what they always did on a bigger platform. And it's totally fine to like that, but it's not an alternative to what was available and its certainly not what was promised.

I agree WWE did kill a few markets especially the UK and that's truly a disappointing for the industry.

I never said the wrestlers you mentioned never connected with an audience, that was a slight of hand strawman argument trick you pulled there. I said they have never connected mainstream, and they haven't. They are big in their niche audience, and that's fine. But it's not without criticism. Wanting someone to be bigger and break through is a valid criticism, AEW haven't had a star like that.

Yes PRO wrestling is niche, but it wasn't always and I feel like people settle for "what else do you expect" which limits the companies potential.

It's great that you love those companies, but it's also fair to say that they don't cater to an audience that want storyline, character and stars. That doesn't mean I am a wwe fan, it's actually much the opposite, it's someone disappointed that the only company creating angles and narrative is wwe and that's a pity. There's plenty of indies producing good wrestling.

I think it's okay to be disappointed like what CM Punk said, that they aren't trying to draw a crowd and put on a spectacle, just a 5 star match

Patrick Mahomes

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121969439#Comment_121969439

That’s not the gotcha you think is. Anyway looking at the rest of your posts it seems you are a poster who thinks posters who question your post or disagree with your post is having a dig at you so no point of continuing discussing anything with you.

Regards,

P.

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121969984#Comment_121969984

It's not a gotcha, I'm just wondering why a company would not want to maxamise it's revenue? You're the one that brought it up, I would have thought you'd have a reason?

Agent Coulson

Tony Schiavone on Punk bringing him up in the interview.

“I really don’t give a sh*t about it. I’m not going to get into this. I know what he said and let him continue to talk if he wants. That’s all I got. I don’t give a sh*t. That’s all I can say. I can’t get into that. It would be stupid for me to get into that. I have no idea what he said with the exception of someone who told me, ‘Oh, he brought up your name and here’s what he said’, and I went, ‘So what. So f**king what.’

Reads like Tony isn't impressed with Punk bringing him into all his bollix.