El-P

Xenophobic insult on the PWO board. So not only did CM Punk exposed himself as a complete sell-out by going back to the E, but you exposed yourself too with that one. Nice job. Clap clap clap.

That being said, it's not like Jay Strongbow would have made any friends anyway, considering what was said about him on pretty much every shoot interview by everyone ever.

And then pass it on to Swerve at Double or Nothing. Then to Ospreay at Wembley. There, Coach TK, I booked your main event scene for 2024.

Maybe it was on a later Collision then, all his promos then kinda blend. He sure said it on RAW, although that was right at the cam after the promo and not on the house mic (which is why I guess one could think it was a jab).

Didn't he use the exact same line, or something equivalent, during his Collision Big Comeback Speechtm too though ? I think there was something to that effect already back then.

Nah, I'm not even at 30% of what I can dish out, really. I mean, this is just TOO funny on so many levels. I kinda needed that too on this quite doomy end of year. The jokes are gonna write themselves for ever now about this guy. It's almost too easy.

Wait, what ? Punk was brought back after burying the company during the media scrum and Brawl Out. He was given his own TV show that was supposed to be his own little safe place (which did not lasted because CM Punk himself is not even his own self place), with only guys he wanted to work with. If anything, TK clearly choose to stick with Punk then, despite what the Elite would think about it (and while their contracts were ending pretty soon too, with the risk of them leaving). Then CM Punk jumped the fucking CEO and threatened to not go out to the ring during the biggest show ever... I mean, let's be real now.

The writing was on the wall when he signed an extension to the end of the year. I for one loved QT. Great, super underrated worker, apart from a very awkward shooty promo during the Cody feud was always super fun on the mic, the QTV stuff was midcard gold, his Mexican champion act was pretty fun. The whole angle involving the Bunny in the early days was quite fun too, and one of the only time Bunny was really used well. I'll surely miss watching him. Since he's a Cody guy, he may end up getting a backstage job at WWE or something, although I would very much rather have him actually work as a character in TNA, for my own selfish enjoyment. I sure hope Harley Cameron & Johnny TV gets more serious TV time now though.

Since they love to rename people so much, they really should go for ChatGPTM Punk after *that* promo. He turned into a good little corporate lapdog after one single appearance. I'm actually baffled that anyone would still care about this guy in any way shape or form. I mean, I was tired of him when he did his second "big comeback speech" in two years on the Collision debut, but this (which would be what, his third "big comeback speech" in about two years and a half ? Damn, he's inventing a new pro-wrestling trope, kinda like a reverse Terry Funk of sorts) tired, empty speech about being "home" (holy shit, how can he look himself in the mirror ?) ? Well, at the very least, it's actually hilarious and has totally exposed him as completely shallow. I guess that's actually the only thing that's halfway compelling about him if you made it part of his character, but... The fans gobbling this shit up is the second really hilarious part of this little thingy. They really have no self-respect either.

Put the title on Joe, then pass it to Swerve. 2023 was snakebit.

Yeah, probably won't happen. I could see him throw some digs at the Bucks though and Cody not liking it. Cody is basically the N°2 guy in the promotion now, and I don't see him taking any shit from good ol' Petty Pissed Phil.

Gotta say this though. I've been at best indifferent, at worst negative about the Copeland stuff thus far, but that promo he cut on Collision was fire. FWIW, booking a very much WWE-lored match in Montreal is a good idea, since the audience is gonna be pretty much a WWE audience anyway.

You way underestimate Punk's amazing ability to be an unbearable prick to anyone in no time.

WWE fans were making fun of Punk in AEW like he was "another washed up former WWE star", then because he was a toxic waste that was ruining that pissant company which proved WWE was right about him after all. Then the day he shows up it's like "OMG this is awesome CM Punk ! CM Punk ! CM Punk !" Likewise the discourse about Cody in AEW was that he was a midcarder that never could make it in WWE and was not a star at all, which made AEW a joke. The day he shows up it was "OMG this is awesome ! Cody ! Cody ! Cody !" My best guess is that until Punk provokes something bad involving someone whom they really love, which will probably never happen because his track record has been impeccable, he's gonna be celebrated everywhere. Pro-wrestling fans are the definition of fickle (and even more when dumb-ass tribalism is involved).

I'm talking about guys like Miro, Andrade, Malakai, Mathews, who were fired during the pandemic and obviously have only one thing in mind, going back to the E because it's the big league to them (although Miro may have changed his tune lately with CJ signing too). And really, guys like CM Punk, who obviously had no respect for what was built with AEW. Cody's case is very different. Tons of others like Mox, Danielson, Joe (and Jericho, for obvious reasons) have obviously been nothing but positive. Considering I've been shitting on TK's many bad decisions as far as booking (a more WWE-lite product in many ways) and signings (Flair, yuck, Copeland, yawn) go for a while now, no, there's no implicit assertion from me at all. Also, Collision this week-end looked like AEW had a very much late-WCW moment, with botch galore and production fuck-ups, which makes them look even worse when all the hype is about Punk going back to the E (which is absolutely hilarious for so many reasons, but still).

Considering how Randy Orton looks from the SSeries pics, they really could have a nice "Wellness policy on a pole" match together.

None of those names fit the "that did not want to be anywhere else." part. Which is the most important part.

Which is probably why they are going off for a while and coming back fresher. But like I said, the Elite has been the most exciting thing in pro-wrestling from 2016 to 2021 and they did change the landscape (and strictly on a personal level, made me evolve a whole lot as a pro-wrestling fan). But they did peak. And with them, so did AEW. And so did my personal interest in the current scene. I mean, I struggle to go through the weekly TV now, despite the regular great matches and tons of workers I do enjoy a lot. No idea if I'm keeping up with it next year. Probably what they do at World's End will play a part. Then again, maybe I'll just be happy to browse through it after the fact in some time, with no care for news, ratings and dramas (with the benefit of hindsight too).

I can't get over how gross that Woo! Energy logo is.

Come on, you know that the crux of the thing was "She wasn't trained right". It's very naive to not read what's being said between the lines. Of course she's basically a two years old rookie doing nothing but squash matches, although her last, more competitive matches, against Statlander and Taya (where the hell is she ?) were her best. As far as improving as a worker, first off I doubt a few weeks at the PC will change anything. She's not gonna work NXT for three years either. She will get thrown into the main event mix from day one she'll be on TV. Also, a big part of her appeal, at least at first, was the Goldy act, which she was doing really well for a while before it got stale (then got kinda fun again at the very end). Maybe she'll improve super fast and be a compelling worker in no time, I dunno, I won't be there to watch it happen anyway. She probably sees herself as the female Brock Lesnar and expect to be booked as such though. And really, I would have her debut at and win the Rumble and face the champ at Mania and put the strap on her immediately, Goldy style, without the risk of having her become just another worker. Considering she's already aiming beyond WWE most probably, there's no time to waist. She's a case of all or nothing, no slow development (AEW was right about this, although she always struck me as very much taylor made for WWE).

Yeah, I saw that. This is hilariously petty. "Yeah, we got Jade, she's a huge star but she also sucks because she comes from AEW, so we have to re-train her from zero now". I mean, I'm sure the long-term narrative is "WWE created Jade Cargill", whatever she'll end up being. I said the best way to debut her was at the Rumble, because it's easy for her to look like a thousand bucks throwing smaller girls around. Maybe that's what they'll do. The hype of the jump is definitely gone though, and now that CM Punk's back, he'll soon overshadow everything anyway like he did in AEW, for better or worse.

With the added PPV revenues, the new TV show (which very ironically was created for CM Punk to have it's own safe place), the success of All In, 2023 is actually the best year for AEW business wise yet, despite the fact ratings aren't that great (Dynamite is doing really good, the other shows not so good) and the live audience have been struggling. TK got White and Ospreay, whom the WWE wanted, and re-signed the Elite, whom WWE also wanted. It's not like they are not putting a good fight. To me it's just kinda disheartning that they are veering more and more toward a WWE-lite product, at least one part of their product does, which really doesn't appeal to me at all and is totally the opposite of what it was built on. Actually, the end of Being The Elite really underlines this death of the original spirit of AEW too, the chronology of which you can really trace down to the formation of the Elite in NJPW, them going to ROH, to the Bucks becoming legit stars through the means of a Youtube channel (complete with selling shitloads of merchandise), making All In a reality, leading up to the creation of AEW. In a way, this era really closes at the end of 2021 when Hangman Page finally defeats Kenny Omega, with the Bucks playing a role by not interfering. After that point, AEW became the home of CM Punkmania, CM Punkdrama, ex-WWE guys wanting to go back and a more WWE-lite part of the product with the MJF/Adam Cole angle and Wembley main event (and overcooked and overbooked angle at the last PPV) and the Adam Copeland stuff. This era of the mid-late 10's up to 2021 is when pro-wrestling become fun and exciting to me again. The past two years, not as much.

Well... that has been the plan for years now. I doubt it will happen at this point, but really now, the big plan for Roman was always the Rock at Mania. And the irony is, CM Punk coming to work I would guess a part-timer schedule and a big-ass match at Mania basically makes him everything he "rebelled" against back in the days. Because he's a petty douchebag prima-donna posturing as a guy with ethics ? The Bret Hart cosplaying spots are gonna be even more hilarious in WWE, all thing considered. Although I find pretty fascinating that guys like him and Dax, who say they adore Bret's work so much, are so into giving barrage of chops, which is the one thing that Bret totally hated.

*facepalm* One big mistake Coach TK made was signing all those ex-WWE people that did not want to be anywhere else. Of course, he probably did not know in advance what he was getting (Swerve & Claudio have been huge plus thus far, Miro & Malakai, not so much). If there's a good reason not to push Malakai Black more than he is/was, well, this kind of stuff is why. And yes, it's completely idiotic to let the AEW talent refer to Punk, like MJF did on Dynamite. Unless of course some drama occurs over there with Punk (which probably won't happen....uh ?), in which case I guess it's only fair game. But you can only punch up when you're really the cool product with the hype, which AEW is not right now and hasn't been in a while.