CM Punk told ESPN, on the eve of his return to AEW, that a big-money series of matches playing off the real-life saga involving him and The Elite won’t happen, which, if that’s true, Tony Khan is the biggest money mark in the history of pro wrestling, and deserves the dismal thud of a failure of his pro-wrestling venture that is sure to come.
“I know pro wrestling is absolutely the most bizarre form of entertainment on Earth, but to me, I treat it like a business, and I treat it like the television show that it is,” Punk said in the much-anticipated interview, the mere existence of which was the source of much wailing and gnashing of teeth among those in a particular corner of the AEW locker room.
That corner would be the one occupied by the company’s titular executive vice presidents, Kenny Omega and Matt and Nick Jackson, whose behind-the-scenes machinations involving Punk’s return have achieved legendary status.
To that point, if it can be said that Punk treats wrestling like a business, then it would also have to be said that Omega, the Jacksons and their buddy, Adam Page, treat it like a grade-school playground, albeit a really nice grade-school playground, given the millions that Khan has invested in his effort to build a competitor to WWE.
It all started last spring when Page, then the AEW world champ, cut a shoot promo ahead of his title defense against Punk at “Double or Nothing” in May alluding to the belief among those in The Elite camp that Punk had done something to get Colt Cabana, Punk’s one-time best friend, turned lawsuits-filed-against-each-other enemy, fired from the company.
Punk denies the claim, and told ESPN that the nature of the promo made him leery of getting into the ring with Page.
“And I proceed to have what I think is a garbage match because I’m trying to protect myself on stuff instead of actually just working and trying to put on the best performance I can,” Punk said. “I’m keeping an eye out. He chopped me in the mouth one time, and I’m just like, ‘OK, did you do that on purpose?’ You chip my tooth, and I’m like, ‘All right, should I give him a receipt?’ It changes the dynamic. It poisoned everything for me, and it made it all really, really ugly, and that was what set all of this off, and here we are over a year later, and ain’t s— been done about it.”
The tensions ratcheted up a level when Punk got his receipt in a shoot promo on an August episode of “Dynamite” in which he called out Page.
Then, after Punk defeated Jon Moxley in the main event of the “All Out” pay-per-view in September, during which he had suffered a torn triceps injury that would sideline him for nine months, the s— absolutely hit the fan in the post-event media scrum.
Punk ripped into Cabana and Page, accused Omega and the Jacksons of “spreading lies and bulls—” about him in the wrestling media, and said the EVPs “couldn’t f—ing manage a Target.”
Punk told ESPN that he apologized to Khan in the aftermath of the scrum, but that wouldn’t come until after what has become known as the “Brawl Out” – a locker-room confrontation between Punk, his long-time friend Ace Steel, and Omega and the Jacksons that led to all involved getting stripped of their AEW championships and serving out lengthy suspensions.
Punk’s perspective on the fallout from the “Brawl Out” is that it shouldn’t have been treated as the “big deal” that it has become.
“This has happened in the last 10 months in hockey, in basketball, in baseball, in just about every sport, and it’s covered, and it’s gone the next day,” Punk said. “I think because I have injured my tricep, and I’ve been out for so long, I think it has been exacerbated. I think it’s been exacerbated by people spreading lies about the whole thing. And when, in reality, my attitude is, well, s— happens.”
The logical thing to do, from a wrestling perspective, would be to try to marshal whatever real-life heat there is to this story to make money for all involved.
I’m reminded here of the old Jerry Jarrett dictum: “personal issues draw money.”
Promoters and top stars, for time immemorial, have had to go to great lengths to try to create the illusion of “personal issues.”
This one seems ripe for the taking.
A sign of how childish Omega and the Jacksons are being on this comes up in the ESPN article when it was reported that “Punk said he has not had any conversations with Omega or the Jacksons since the incident, although he has tried.”
“He said when he has reached out, he has gotten messages from lawyers saying, ‘Do not contact this person.’ Punk said he is unclear whether those responses came at the request of legal representatives of Omega and the Jacksons or a third party.”
Seriously?
As talented as they are in the ring, if Omega and the Jacksons can’t figure out that being executive vice presidents of a pro-wrestling company means doing things that can actually get the company to make money, it’s time for the person who gave them those nice job titles to cut bait.
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Chris Graham
