C.S.

What are the stories here? If Fish had a meltdown, letting him go must've been the easiest decision Tony Khan ever made.

I was openly mocked here on PWO for saying that letting go of Cody was the worst mistake AEW ever made and would have disastrous consequences. Granted, I never envisioned all of this, but I knew it was a massive error in judgment for Tony to let go of someone that valuable, that good, that business savvy, and that media savvy. Cody >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Kenny and Bucks on every conceivable metric, and it has never been close. Six months later, I have been proven right and then some. I'm not patting myself on the back. I fully realize what Cody's downsides were in AEW, but all of those could have been rectified with stronger leadership.

Yes, this is a riff on @flyonthewall2983's WWE thread of the same name, but it's also become kind of necessary. I am rooting for AEW and hope most of this is a clever work designed to get everyone talking and/or these situations can be resolved. I'll certainly be tuning into Dynamite this week, that's for damn sure! With that said, there's a ton of drama going on right now. - MJF no-showing a fan-fest, cutting a heated promo on Dynamite, missing months of action. - Eddie Kingston and Sammy Gueverra getting into a physical altercation backstage after Sammy body-shamed Eddie during a promo. - Punk and Scott Colton's long-standing litigious issues. - Punk and Hangman Page "going into business for themselves" in promos and Hangman feeling he doesn't need to take advice from veterans. - Punk's belief that the EVPs (Kenny and Bucks) are leaking salacious stories to Meltzer and other "journalists" (quotes intentional) with Jericho also openly criticizing these leaks. - Punk (and maybe Ace Steel) reportedly getting into a physical altercation with the EVPs (the Bucks and maybe Kenny) while the scrum was airing, and Tony not finding about it until after. (Someone somewhere compared this to the famous clip of George W. Bush reading a storybook to an elementary school classroom while the towers collapsed on 9/11.) - Malakai Black possibly asking for his release and/or walking away. - Heat in the women's locker room involving Thunder Rosa, and Tony openly burying Rosa with an ill-advised and irrelevant comparison to Punk. - Tony sitting there numbly at the media scrum looking like he's ready to burst into tears at any moment while Punk happily munches on delicious pastries and I raid my own empty fridge desperately looking for a midnight snack. And I'm probably forgetting a few. Oh boy...

Punk transcripts here: https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2022/09/05/cm-punk-openly-slams-aew-evps-hangman-and-colt-cabana/ https://www.cagesideseats.com/aew/2022/9/5/23337439/cm-punk-tirade-colt-cabana-hangman-page-young-bucks-all-out-media-scrum-aew-drama-tony-khan But trust me, it's much better to hear it than read it!

A former cocaine user on another board - can't remember if it was Cageside or Reddit - said Tony clearly wasn't on cocaine but on adderall.

Tony Khan has the weirdest facial expressions and eye expressions.

Jericho seems to confirm an MJF babyface turn.

Now Jericho is lecturing the AEW roster about using profanity like they're wayward children.

Punk is dropping f-bombs, shooting on Colt, EVPs, and Hangman Page at the media scrum. This is CRAZY!

Imagine getting the top WWE guy of the past ten years in Danielson and having him lose to a perennial WWE midcarder/gatekeeper like Jericho. Danielson is too unselfish.

Nothing about this pre-show has convinced me to fork over $50 for the PPV. This has been the drizzling shits so far. It started off on the wrong foot with Sammy and Tay getting attacked by what looked like a toy car - WTF? - and then a disgusting public display of affection involving a bleeding Sammy making out with Tay. Eddie Kingston will make up for it, and I'm sure the main show will at least be a fun if overlong and overbooked night of wrestling, but I'm happy saving my money. Edit: Now Kip Sapian is arguing with a fucking cardboard box. Al Snow and Chavo Guerrero Jr. may have been able to pull off such silliness, but Kip Sapian is no Al Snow and he's not even Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Awesome main event, but Bate should have won IMO. I looked her up, and I'm shocked that she's younger than me. I was convinced she was in her 60s.

My guess is Damon Kemp (Gable Steveson's brother) was the one who attacked Roddy in the lawsuit waiting to happen extreme security hazard known as the NXT parking lot?

The Creeds need bushy '80s mustaches.

Is that MJF???

This thread is like an early pandemic wrestling show. No one's here.

Damn fun match. Nice intensity from Melo and Chet near the end.

The fans are chanting for the AEW video game.

Starting with Melo vs. Ric O. Chet.

NXT Championship and NXT United Kingdom Championship - Unification Match: Bron Breakker © vs. Tyler Bate © NXT Women’s Championship and NXT UK Women’s Championship - Unification Match: Mandy Rose © vs. Meiko Satomura © vs. Blair Davenport NXT North American Championship: Carmelo Hayes © vs. Ricochet NXT Tag Team Championship and NXT UK Tag Team Championship - Unification Elimination Match: The Creed Brothers (Julius Creed & Brutus Creed) © vs. Josh Briggs & Brooks Jensen © vs. Pretty Deadly (Kit Wilson and Elton Prince) vs. Gallus (Wolfgang and Mark Coffey) NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship: Katana Chance & Kayden Carter © vs. Doudrop & Nikki A.S.H.

I think people are overreacting to MJF's absence - assuming it's all a work, which I personally believe it is. This is a marathon, not a sprint. He will instantly be molten lava hot the second he comes back, with these past few months receding into the background as just a blip on the radar.

The asshole fan with the "Better Dad Than Chris Benoit" shirt should have been ejected from the arena. My thoughts exactly.

WTF is happening right now?

They just repeated the Claymore into spear spot. The finish has to be the same spot again, but with Drew finally connecting with the Claymore... ...right? Edit: Maybe not.

Prediction: "The Cure for Insomnia" Karrion Kross interferes, both men are laid out, Austin Theory cashes in.