Is the empire crumbling before our eyes?

[Flyin' Brian]

44 minutes ago, sek69 said:

Yeah, it's common knowledge the Elite talks Dave, but the moment Punk signed everyone's  immediate reaction (well the one after "holy shit") was "what is AEW going to do about having Colt on the roster".  Everyone knew it was going to be a potential issue, and Punk having a preplanned rant about it that didn't even get sidetracked by the reporter he called on not playing ball stopped it from happening.  Even if the Elite was telling tales to Dave, does anyone think it wouldn't have still ended up an issue having those two in the same company?  

Which is why Colt got moved to ROH. And apparently it wasn’t a problem for months until Page decided to bring it up on a live Dynamite right before he was supposed to drop the title to Punk. Khan had a plan to deal with it that just involved reassigning Colt, so he still has a job, but that wasn’t good enough for Page. Maybe someone else had a problem too, but no one else is willing to put their name to it. And Page cared so little that he apparently didn’t address it with anyone either until he had to lose to Punk then suddenly he had to stand up for the honor of Colt F’N Cabana in front of the live audience.

[KawadaSmile]

And regarding Colt and Punk being in the same environment turning into an issue, don't they have staff members whose job is, also, to deal with that shit? Again, what the fuck does Christopher Daniels do? Is he making money doing absolutely nothing? Isn't he the Head of TALENT RELATIONS?

[sek69]

2 minutes ago, Flyin' Brian said:

And Page cared so little that he apparently didn’t address it with anyone either until he had to lose to Punk then suddenly he had to stand up for the honor of Colt F’N Cabana in front of the live audience.

In a matter where only like 1% of folks knew wtf he was talking about when he did it. 

The one thing that has remained consistent this whole time has been Punk taking either perceived or very small slights and turning them into nuclear warfare. 

[Timbo Slice]

Calling Punk’s rant about Cabana “preplanned” when dude has been stewing on something like that for years is a stretch. 

My point has always been that dirtsheet reports are rarely fact-checked with any type of vigor. The “two sources” rule most folks use leads to conspiratorial reporting where the wrestlers know they can pass off the same story, but never go outside their normal sourcing to get that different point of view. Hence my original statement of The Elite being gossipers extraordinaire bearing fruit when you barely hear anything about Punk in these reports. The awkwardness of the Kenny report only paints a picture of a failed attempt to lead the locker room, and frankly, is why he’s never led a truly diverse locker room in his career. It’s what The Elite need to realize: the influence they think they hold only exists with a few folks, and even then, you strain credibility when you try to be something you really aren’t. “Leaders” don’t pull the shit they have. And I’ll happily admit Punk isn’t one either.

[Jmare007]

I mean, it was preplanned in the sense that he sat in that press conference knowing he was going to ask Nick Hausman and ask him about Scott Colton. Shit, when Hausman told him that he wasn't close with Cabana and they hadn't been for a long time, Punk told him "you blew my spot".

To me this whole thing is about The Elite behaving like children all the time and they crossed paths with someone that can behave like a child too, but in a different way.

Page's line about Cabana than no one but Punk and like 50 people knew what it was about seemed to me that it was Page trying to get under Punk's skin but not in a way he ended up doing. Like sek said, it's about taking a slight jab and not figuring that the other person might just take it like a sign that the war is on.

[sek69]

Yeah it seems like perhaps the Elite thought they could fuck around because up to that point it seemed that being free of WWE had mellowed Punk out, and they ended up finding out. 

[Stiva]

All signs seem to point to Jeff Hardy coming back soon after yet another rehab stint so I guess that explains Matt coming back to TV. Wonder if we finally get the Hardys vs Darby/Sting match 

[The Thread Killer]

My issue is that I don’t think this is as one-sided as some people would like to believe. There is no doubt that “The Elite” have a shit-ton of friends in the AEW locker room who support them, and can’t stand Punk. Fair play, I have no doubt that is absolutely true.

But I also think there is a sizeble contingent in that locker room that does NOT like The Elite, and even if they are not siding with Punk, they are certainly sympathetic to his position in all this. Some people on Twitter are trying to paint that as pretty much FTR and nobody else, but I don’t necessarily think that’s true. A lot of those guys are probably smart enough to realize that if they come out against the EVP’s, it could go very badly for them politically. I have seen it said, and I do believe it, that Punk is the first guy who actually has the juice to stand up publicly to The Elite, but there are plenty of others who would have liked to have done so before all this mess.

Just guessing here, but I am sure there is probably a fairly large third group of guys who really don’t give a shit about any of this and just want the whole conflict to go away so they can work in peace. Those are probably the guys I feel the most sympathy for.

[The Thread Killer]

1 minute ago, Stiva said:

All signs seem to point to Jeff Hardy coming back soon after yet another rehab stint so I guess that explains Matt coming back to TV. Wonder if we finally get the Hardys vs Darby/Sting match 

That should be billed as “Darby Allin and three other guys who probably shouldn’t be wrestling, for a variety of reasons.”

But I’d still watch it.

[sek69]

The wildest part of that is depending on Darby's activities that day, Sting might be the one in the best physical shape. 

[Embrodak]

2 hours ago, sek69 said:

In a matter where only like 1% of folks knew wtf he was talking about when he did it. 

The one thing that has remained consistent this whole time has been Punk taking either perceived or very small slights and turning them into nuclear warfare. 

I mean Punk was also trying to become a babyface champion, having the current babyface champion say you’re actually secretly a piece of shit hypocrite behind the scenes if that wasn’t an agreed-upon direction for Punk’s storyline is actually pretty unprofessional, even if the specifics don’t translate to anybody but Page and his goofy friends.

[sek69]

25 minutes ago, Embrodak said:

I mean Punk was also trying to become a babyface champion, having the current babyface champion say you’re actually secretly a piece of shit hypocrite behind the scenes if that wasn’t an agreed-upon direction for Punk’s storyline is actually pretty unprofessional, even if the specifics don’t translate to anybody but Page and his goofy friends.

I get it, but that's when Punk has to be the bigger man and handle his business backstage and not seize the opportunity to use the build to a PPV as a chance to call someone a bitch who's not involved in what you're out there to set up. I suppose on paper both are unprofessional, but a vague reference and a direct "you aint got the balls" callout are entirely different levels IMO. 

I get he had time to stew due to injury, but maybe if Punk just goes to Page backstage like "what the fuck was that?" or maybe bring it up to Tony, all the rest of this doesn't happen. If he wants to be the locker room veteran leader he seems to see himself as, he went the exact opposite way he should have in handling this. That's what kills me about all this, dude wants to be a respected voice all the youngins come to for advice while also turning potential teachable moments into opportunities to shit on his co workers. Even if he's 100% right in his frustration you gotta be better than that. 

[Embrodak]

2 minutes ago, sek69 said:

I get it, but that's when Punk has to be the bigger man and handle his business backstage and not seize the opportunity to use the build to a PPV as a chance to call someone a bitch who's not involved in what you're out there to set up. I suppose on paper both are unprofessional, but a vague reference and a direct "you aint got the balls" callout are entirely different levels IMO. 

I get he had time to stew due to injury, but maybe if Punk just goes to Page backstage like "what the fuck was that?" or maybe bring it up to Tony, all the rest of this doesn't happen. If he wants to be the locker room veteran leader he seems to see himself as, he went the exact opposite way he should have in handling this. That's what kills me about all this, dude wants to be a respected voice all the youngins come to for advice while also turning potential teachable moments into opportunities to shit on his co workers. Even if he's 100% right in his frustration you gotta be better than that. 

Oh I don’t deny that Punk has been an asshole about all this, that much is clear to pretty much everybody.

[Embrodak]

6 hours ago, strobogo said:

It makes sense that the people who tried to break up the fight would get less of a suspension than the ones actually fighting. I wouldn't read too much into that particular aspect of the story. I do have to wonder how the fuck Ace wasn't immediately fired and charged after using a weapon on a co-worker/superior and biting another. Perhaps it's some corporate deal to have to go through the entire investigation process before any of that,  but that shit is fucking wild.

I think there’s concern that Punk will walk if they fire Ace, and I don’t think Tony’s convinced he wants to do that yet. Also it may be that if Ace came in the room after everything started and thought his friend had gotten jumped by three guys, there’s some plausible deniability in terms of his mental state? I must admit I’m perplexed that the hammer hasn’t come down on him, myself.

[Embrodak]

Hope Tony has made some TV industry contacts if NBC Universal buys Warner Brothers Discovery.

[Jmare007]

Would the US government really let that merger happen? Yes, I know money is the key to everything but merging NBC Universal with WB Discovery feels like going too far even for the loose notion of anti-monopoly laws in the States.

And It truly amazes me how WB keeps getting passed around like this, lol.

[Embrodak]

4 minutes ago, Jmare007 said:

Would the US government really let that merger happen? Yes, I know money is the key to everything but merging NBC Universal with WB Discovery feels like going too far even for the loose notion of anti-monopoly laws in the States.

And It truly amazes me how WB keeps getting passed around like this, lol.

From everything I’ve read, Disney buying 21st Century Fox should also have been illegal, but here we are. In political economic terms, the rate of profit is so low that a lot of economic activity only becomes worth doing if it’s done at a truly vast scale.

[Flyin' Brian]

17 hours ago, sek69 said:

In a matter where only like 1% of folks knew wtf he was talking about when he did it. 

The one thing that has remained consistent this whole time has been Punk taking either perceived or very small slights and turning them into nuclear warfare. 

Page in his promo said he had been waiting months to come out and destroy Punk face to face about what he had been doing in the back, which was apparently daring to offer Adam Page and other wrestlers advice because Punk was not involved in the decision to reassign Cabana to ROH. Page would have known this if he had asked Tony Khan about it during all those months. It looked like Page was taking a small or perceived slight and turning it into nuclear warfare against Punk by saying that he had to defend AEW from him. The crowd was cheering for Punk and turning against Page in that segment, which also might have played a part in Page choosing to go all shooty and turn a fight over the title into one for the heart and soul of AEW and making it personal. 

[Flyin' Brian]

12 hours ago, Embrodak said:

Hope Tony has made some TV industry contacts if NBC Universal buys Warner Brothers Discovery.

I’d imagine so being an NFL owner if nothing else. NBC has the Sunday Night package, so there would be familiarity there. It’s interesting to think that some networks might court AEW as an inroads to getting an agreement for NFL games with the Khan family being a possible gateway. 

[The Thread Killer]

Jericho recently mentioned that before the Turner deal came together, AEW had offers on the table from Showtime (?!) and Amazon Prime Video. I would personally love to see a major promotion get a deal with a streaming service like Prime. Let’s face it, streaming is the future and network and cable TV are eventually going to become non-entities. 

I am an MMA fan, and ONE FC just started a streaming deal with Prime and it’s awesome. They just did their first show a few weeks ago, the production was great and if you miss it or want to see it again, you can just go back and watch it no problem. And Prime is available on all platforms.

Contrast that with AEW Rampage for example. That’s on TNT, which we can’t get here in Canada. It’s not available  on any other channel. So if you want to watch Rampage in Canada, you have to stream it on the TSN website…but the TSN app is shitty, the VQ is inconsistent at best, and the app isn’t available on SmartTV’s or Gaming Consoles which means you have to watch it on your phone or tablet and try to cast it to your TV which buffers like crazy and is a giant pain in the ass. I often don’t bother.

I would love to see AEW either start their own streaming service or go with a service like Prime. Especially because I would like them to get off their butts and get moving on a ROH show and make the ROH library available.

[cheapshot]

1 hour ago, The Thread Killer said:

streaming is the future and network and cable TV are eventually going to become non-entities. 

For sports, I still feel Cable TV has a good future ahead. 

[Jimmy Redman]

2 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

Jericho recently mentioned that before the Turner deal came together, AEW had offers on the table from Showtime (?!) and Amazon Prime Video. I would personally love to see a major promotion get a deal with a streaming service like Prime. Let’s face it, streaming is the future and network and cable TV are eventually going to become non-entities. 

I am an MMA fan, and ONE FC just started a streaming deal with Prime and it’s awesome. They just did their first show a few weeks ago, the production was great and if you miss it or want to see it again, you can just go back and watch it no problem. And Prime is available on all platforms.

Contrast that with AEW Rampage for example. That’s on TNT, which we can’t get here in Canada. It’s not available  on any other channel. So if you want to watch Rampage in Canada, you have to stream it on the TSN website…but the TSN app is shitty, the VQ is inconsistent at best, and the app isn’t available on SmartTV’s or Gaming Consoles which means you have to watch it on your phone or tablet and try to cast it to your TV which buffers like crazy and is a giant pain in the ass. I often don’t bother.

I would love to see AEW either start their own streaming service or go with a service like Prime. Especially because I would like them to get off their butts and get moving on a ROH show and make the ROH library available.

Is AEW Plus on FITE not available to you? That's exactly what you get.

[C.S.]

 

[The Thread Killer]

15 minutes ago, Jimmy Redman said:

Is AEW Plus on FITE not available to you? That's exactly what you get.

Unfortunately, no. I do have FITE and I use the app all the time (especially for AEW PPV’s) but for some bizarre reason, AEW is only available on FITE for “international” users and for whatever reason, Canada doesn’t apply. I suspect it’s because Dynamite is broadcast on TSN in Canada, but I am not sure. We don’t get the “Battle of the Belts” specials either.

Come to think of it…I could probably get around that restriction with a VPN which I have been meaning to start using anyways. 

[strobogo]

3 hours ago, Flyin' Brian said:

Page in his promo said he had been waiting months to come out and destroy Punk face to face about what he had been doing in the back, which was apparently daring to offer Adam Page and other wrestlers advice because Punk was not involved in the decision to reassign Cabana to ROH. Page would have known this if he had asked Tony Khan about it during all those months. It looked like Page was taking a small or perceived slight and turning it into nuclear warfare against Punk by saying that he had to defend AEW from him. The crowd was cheering for Punk and turning against Page in that segment, which also might have played a part in Page choosing to go all shooty and turn a fight over the title into one for the heart and soul of AEW and making it personal. 

That whole promo played out exactly the same as the Eddie and MJF feuds, both of whom cut very similar promos about Punk being disliked, unwanted, and a hypocrite. It didn't even come off as some shooty shit, it seemed like it was part of a slow burn Punk heel turn.