The latest on CM Punk / Young Bucks / AEW Drama
We've spent a lot of time covering the "Brawl Out" situation that occurred in AEW over Labor Day weekend. But as the investigation to the brawl has reached its conclusion, a ton of new information has surfaced in the last few days, since we've learned that AEW is in talks with Punk for a contract buyout.
Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks and Don Callis were all backstage at AEW Dynamite this past Wednesday. And, for the first time since All Out, we saw the Elite mentioned on television in a cryptic promo.
Meanwhile, Punk's camp released a new statement. In a shocking report by Wrestling Inc, Punk's side is now claiming a few key points:
- When The Young Bucks "kicked in" the door, it hit Punk's dog, Larry in the teeth, and at a planned vet visit a few days later, Punk was informed his dog had to get his teeth removed.
- Punk didn't think what he said at the scrum was that big of a deal and things only escalated once the Bucks and Omega came in his room and allegedly accidentally hit Punk's dog.
- Punk's camp said "Punk felt threatened and reacted in a legal way under Illinois' Castle Doctrine laws, which allow for the use of force in defense of a person in their dwelling."
- And the biggest revelation is that Punk was worried going into his main event with Hangman at AEW Double or Nothing that Hangman would "shoot" on him after Hangman's controversial comments in a promo a few weeks before.
Much of this has been widely disputed. Dave Meltzer has reached out to multiple people who were there and all of them dispute the story about Larry. Meltzer has a pretty damning quote from an anonymous wrestler who was there moments after the fight began, “The dog story is a complete lie. When the altercation was happening Punk was a total psycho and could’ve career PF less about the dog. Kenny picked the dog up to save him from being hurt and gave him to Megha. Megha was holding the dog screaming at Punk to stop. Punk didn’t even register that his `baby’ was being held by a stranger in the middle of a fight. It didn’t stop him one bit.”
Meltzer also reports most of the top talent in AEW do not want to work with Punk anymore, saying they can't see themselves sharing a locker room with him every week after he trashed the company and some of their most beloved co-workers.
Meltzer quoted another star who said “Punk won’t be back. His value on screen isn’t one percent worth the hassle and black cloud he causes backstage.”
Fightful reported that Chris Jericho was among the people who said he wouldn't work with Punk anymore. The Fightful report states “Chris Jericho approached CM Punk, unhappy about the Brawl Out fight as well as the nature of the scrum that had just taken place. Jericho told CM Punk that he was a cancer to the locker room, and a detriment to the company.”
As of this moment, Punk is still under contract and negotiating his buy out. The big hold up is the non-compete time, indicating there is interest on Punk's side to go to WWE. While WWE top brass haven't made many comments, our previous report indicated that there might not be as much interest as expected.
It was a hell of a year for Punk, but sadly, it really looks like his time in AEW might be done.
What's on TV this weekend?
Smackdown is on FS1 tonight at 8pm, and features this lineup:
- Logan Paul appears. Roman Reigns is also scheduled.
- Liv Morgan vs. Sonya Deville
- WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Damage CTRL (Dakota Kai & IYO SKY) defend against Raquel Rodriguez & Shotzi
- Omos and MVP appear
- Sheamus vs. Solo Sikoa
AEW Rampage is live tonight at 10pm eastern on TNT with this lineup:
- TNT Championship: Wardlow (c) vs. Matt Taven
- AEW World title eliminator: Jon Moxley vs. "Daddy Magic" Matt Menard
- Tay Melo vs. Madison Rayne
New Japan has a PPV tonight from NYC. I am going to be in attendance, and it should be a lot of fun. You can see the lineup here.
News and Gossip from the Internet
WrestleVotes is reporting WWE is considering moving Money in the Bank back to WrestleMania. With WrestleMania being two nights now, one night could have the women's match and the other night would have the men's match. Money in the Bank is typically a big draw for WWE as an event, almost considered a "big five" event, so it would be surprising to me to see them nix it.
Ava Raine (Simone Johnson, daughter of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) made her NXT debut as part of the Schism group:
There are "some hangups" with Sasha Banks' return to WWE that are still being negotiated, according to Meltzer. No return date is currently planned.
WWE has major plans for a Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reign feud once his current match with Logan Paul wraps up.
Sasha Banks, Naomi, Jimmy Uso and the New Day were all at the Wakanda Forever premiere earlier in the week, and they looked great:
Liv Morgan appeared on the USA Network Chucky series. Here are her scenes:
