Flyin' Brian

Universally agreed Punk did based on more leaked rumors and reports. Sigh. If there’s ever an official report the maybe I’ll agree with you. Until then it’s all speculation. No one has any real facts about the confrontation , just second and third hand statements that no one has put their name to.

I know it’s a fact that someone leaked to Meltzer that Cabana got moved to ROH because of Punk and he reported it as fact. I know Page mentioned it on National TV. I know he faced no real consequences because of that. I know no one leaking to Meltzer and company have faced no real consequences because of it. I know that no one involved in this is facing any real criticism, blowback, or long term consequences except Steel and Punk. Those are all facts.

I guess I wanted a promotion that was like ‘what if Crockett/WCW/TNA made the right decisions’. A national promotion with something for everyone that was a real alternative to WWE. Who have they really gotten that WWE wanted or had and really wanted to keep? Danielson and Punk are really the only ones that fit that. Everyone else were WWE releases or people they didn’t try very hard to resign. If I’m a WWE star right now, I would be looking at what happened to Punk as a cautionary tale. Everything was fine until it came time for one of the friends to drop their title to Punk, then it’s like they did everything they could to get under his skin and get rid of him. Leak lies to Meltzer and bring it up on live tv. Make sure that your side of the story is the only side that gets out there, then any attempt to tell the opposite side is labeled as reason to get rid of Punk, yet the leaking and the going into business for yourself on tv and Jericho’s website going out of their way to paint Punk as the only one at fault here all gets a pass. Get all your friends and the head of legal that also seems to be on the friends list to go confront Punk in his dressing room in the middle of the night, then again when it gets out of hand the only one taking any of the blame or consequences are Steel and Punk. It really is a master class in backstage politics. No one is going to stick up for Punk in AEW because the same thing that happened to him can happen to them, so the narrative can be that the whole locker room is against Punk and he’s the whole problem. If I’m MJF or anyone else that’s a top guy or could be the top guy that’s not on the friends list I’m just hoping I can get out of there before I get screwed over too. Cody did a lot of weird stuff but he looks smarter every day. There’s probably a reason he didn’t want to be near the World Title in AEW, and Danielson may see it too. If MJF beats Moxley we’ll see what happens to him. WCW made it 13 years as a national promotion on TBS/TNT, TNA/Impact was on Spike for 10, I’ll honestly be surprised if AEW is still around as a national promotion in five more years.

Khan himself said he made the decision to move Cabana to ROH. Punk having anything to do with the decision is a lie and that lie is the root of the whole problem. Khan chose the liars and the leakers, and seems to have no problem with the leaks because they haven’t stopped. Maybe he likes having Meltzer and company in his back pocket, but it’s a red flag for any other talent that’s not on the ‘friend’s list’ that as soon as the people in charge decide they don’t like you they’ll work to undermine you. The Kliq would be doing a slow clap.

Jericho’s flunky at it again. https://www.webisjericho.com/opinion-cm-punk-needs-aew-more-than-aew-needs-cm-punk/

Moxley and Jericho have been there since the beginning. I love them, but they aren’t going to move the needle any further than they already have. Danielson could if he wanted to but he doesn’t want to be the guy. MJF is probably gone when his contract is up. I just find it hard to trust the future of a company that is going to choose Colt Cabana over CM Punk. It would not surprise me as soon as they are able for WWE to bring back ECW with Punk and Heyman in charge, drop it across from AEW on Wednesday night and give Punk a hot mike. And Tony knows it too or he wouldn’t be fighting for this non compete even though he’s getting rid of Punk and doesn’t want him anymore. Everyone got what they wanted, the people still there got their company back. Enjoy it while it lasts.

I was more talking about longevity. They may stick around for a while and do good business like WCW, but unfortunately they are at the mercy of the networks and possibly Daddy Khan for how long this keeps going, kind of like Panda Energy and Dixie Carter. If they survive this Warner Discovery merger there’s no guarantee they will survive the next.

Tony seemed to feed that. He made sure to gloat over beating NXT Tuesday night. At this point though, is that really an accomplishment?

They can’t stay over 1 million consistently. Plus being bumped all over the schedule for baseball and basketball doesn’t help. Who’s their biggest name?

I'm beginning to think AEW is a lost cause. Another flash in the pan or at best TNA 2.0. National television deal, great roster, but can't seem to get out of their own way. Good enough to beat NXT but will probably never be able to challenge main roster WWE. It's sad too, because the potential was there. They don't want to be anything more than what they are. It's been fun for a while, maybe they will survive this Warner Discovery merger, but eventually if they don't grow they'll get tossed aside. WWE wins again.

You were right, with Jericho letting crap like this be posted on his website and Facebook page. AEW isn’t going to get any better if this is still how those in charge and with power and influence are going to act. Just more petty bs. https://www.webisjericho.com/newly-reported-information-suggests-cm-punk-is-finished-with-aew/

I went to the theater. I really liked Halloween 2018, even if I did think that H20 did it better. But Kills and Ends have been pointless. I liked Ends better than Kills but it was all over the place. Greene's refusal to embrace anything supernatural about Michael especially makes this movie make no sense. Saying that he's just a man makes the whole thing fall apart. I started a thread in the Pro Wrestling Mostly folder if anyone wants to discuss there.

His matches are mostly good. The Darby match I remember especially. I don’t know if I like where they are going with his character now though. He needs to do something in this Moxley feud that shows he’s ready for that spot. This stuff with Regal and treating him like a kid vs ‘I’m a man’ is too much like what just happened with Page. If he wants to be treated like a man show us that he is, don’t tell us, otherwise that is acting like a kid.

Again, it gives me hope for the future that most of the younger people watching television would rather watch wrestling than political talking heads.

AEW Dynamite was the number 8 cable show on the night for Tuesday, behind only MLB and the NBA. AEW beat NXT, but more importantly more people watched AEW than either Tucker Carlson or Hannity. Warms my heart and gives me hope for the future.

I don’t see any reason why Punk, Omega, and the Bucks aren’t all allowed to come back if they were all mentioned on Dynamite last night.

Wrestling is dangerous. Some people get injured falling off a 15 foot ladder through two tables. Some get injured because of the person doing the move to them doing it incorrectly. Sometimes it’s accumulated wear and tear. Sometimes they knock themselves out in the ring taking a bump off a clothesline. It happens. I am glad that AEW learned from the Matt Hardy debacle and treated this as seriously as it possibly could have been.

Glad Page is ok, that’s the most important thing. I definitely don’t want to be like anyone that was giddy when Punk got hurt and saying he was fragile and should retire. Any debate about Page I have I’m going to shelve until he’s back and healthy again.

Fans should start chanting CowMAN shit, because he’s a man, see.

MJF needs to do something big after that though.

He’s a man, he’s a Hangman.

Since Cleveland is out I’ll take a Yankees Padres World Series.

Smart to put people in charge that aren't going to run to Meltzer and complain about every little thing, or blame stuff that happens in the company on people they don't like for whatever reason when those people aren't the ones in charge and making the decisions in the first place.

Watching this movie for some reason what came to mind is Vince Russo booking WCW. I'm not a fan of the trend in filmmaking that has gone from making a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end that makes sense to it being all about the cool moments, the swerve, the twist, with very little thought given to how it all fits together or making everything leading up to and coming after those moments mean something. Four writers didn't help, but it's like they all came up with stuff they wanted to do and then went 'aw crap, I guess we have to fill in the time around all that'. It's a mess of a movie that makes no sense. I didn't hate it like Halloween Kills, but I didn't like it either. If anyone else has seen it and wants to dive into deep spoilery discussion I'm here for it. Please make this movie make sense.

Other than the fact that having the word 'interim' in there makes it seem like they aren't a real champion. Sounds like a placeholder until the real champion gets back. In the end they may be the same thing but the perception because of the wording is different.