In this WrestleTalk News, new details about the All Out Brawl could completely change
your opinion, Triple H willing to have Punk back in WWE and Oli will be here reviewing
AEW Dynamite.
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Just when you thought you had all the answers, Larry changes the questions.
For a long while now, the perception from many has been that CM Punk was the party responsible
for initiating the physical altercation.
While that is still believed to be the case, a shocking new report from Wrestling Inc’s
Nick Hausman has suggested that Punk getting physical was actually a retaliation to his
dog Larry being injured moments prior to the melee.
According to Punk’s camp, the comments from Punk at the scrum “didn’t seem like a
big deal,” to his inner circle with the situation only escalating when The Bucks ”kicked
in” the door to Punk’s dressing room.”
The Kicking in of the door accidentally hit Punk’s dog, Larry, in the face.
When he took Larry to an already scheduled veterinarian appointment two days later, the
doctor told Punk two of the rescue dog’s teeth were damaged and needed to be removed.
The report on the Elite kicking in the door was previously disproved, which makes this
new twist particularly interesting.
Though it is worth noting that Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio said that in the
seven weeks since the incident no one has mentioned Punk’s dog being injured and:
“The side that was trying to defend him all along never brought that up once and all
of a sudden that’s the story.”
Hausman’s report though also adds that while Punk is not the party responsible for the
previously reported legal hold up in the investigation, he is ready with a defense if he does get
legally charged for the incident in any form.
Punk is reportedly leaning into “Illinois Castle Doctrine Laws, which allow for the
use of force in defense of a person in their dwelling”
If to be believed, this report completely shifts the narrative in favor of Punk and
somewhat justifies his actions at Brawl Out.
Interestingly it may not be the only perception of Punk that has changed recently.
With CM Punk reportedly on the verge of a contractual buyout with AEW, it has been stated
that the stumbling block in those negotiations is over the implementation of a non-compete
clause.
Given Punk’s stature and high price it is easy to assume this is indicating that a move
back to WWE is possible.
However with Punk and Triple H’s checkered past it was assumed unlikely that Punk would
be welcomed back to the company.
According to GiveMeSport’s Louis Dangoor’s recent interview with Wrestlevotes, this was
still perceived to be Triple H’s stance on Punk.
“I was told, I mean, pretty straightforward, that Triple H wants nothing to do with CM
Punk, and even less to do with Phil Brooks.
Well, that’s what I was told and that was July.”
However, this has changed recently with Triple H seemingly more open than before to the idea
of a Punk return.
“I did ask over the last couple of days, and it has softened a little bit from what
I understand.
I still think there’s animosity, I still think there’s a lot of pieces that need
to be picked up between the two of them specifically.
But Hunter, learned from Vince [McMahon] and Vince made amends with everybody.”
While Punk’s future seems to lie outside of AEW at this point in time, the opposite
can be said of the Elite.
Last week’s Dynamite hinted at a potential development as they were name dropped on television
for the first time since All Out.
This week has seen things develop drastically with a mysterious Thanos-like vignette airing
on Dynamite that teases their erasure from the company and its history.
While this points at an imminent TV return very soon, according to Fightful Select the
Bucks and Omega have already made their return to the company backstage for the first time
in nearly two months.
While it was initially reported that the trio were expected backstage “imminently”,
it turns out imminently was closer than everyone thought, with reports developing quickly from
just Don Callis being backstage, to then being confirmed that the Elite were also actually
at the Chartway Center in Norfolk, Virginia in person.
Despite this, it’s still currently unclear when the trio will make their TV return.
Hot Tag to Oli for some Dynamite action.
It’s Thursday, you know what that means…
everyone getting annoyed at me for thinking AEW isn’t as good as it used to be… in
about 5 minutes.
I was ill last week so I didn’t get a chance to address a lot of people critiquing my critique
of there being too many championships in AEW.
I counted 15 title belts onscreen in the 12th October episode, but some people pointed out
that not all of those belts are defended in AEW, like the AAA tag titles, or Shida’s
Joshi belts.
So I’ll remove those from my list to avoid any claims of being disingenuous and just
include AEW and ROH ones.
That brings the total to twelve championship belts… which I still think is way too many.
It is a universally accepted truth that the more there is of something, the less that
something is valued.
The episode began on Claudio Castignoli and Wheeler Yuta taking on Chris Jericho and Daniel
Garcia - a neat pairing of the current ROH champions against the men they beat.
Claudio finished the match with one of my favourite all-time spots.
Murdering everyone.
In one fluid, two minute long sequence, he took out Jericho, hit a swing on him with
Garcia on his shoulders, ran round the ring taking out the rest of the JAS, and then beat
Jericho in the ring - a rare instance of Y2J getting pinned.
This was so good, Claudio regained all the momentum and then some that had dissipated
over the last few months.
This seamlessly flowed into a frustrated Danielson promo to Renee Young backstage.
This episode of Talking Smack is very angry.
Where’s all the jokes about fisting?
Yuta, Danielson and Claudio all argued, and vowed to settle their frustrations after the
show.
It provided the depth to the Blackpool Combat Club that they’ve been missing.
But then we got my first issue.
A video package played of the Elite starting AEW, with them getting erased from each shot
Infinity War style.
It’s obviously the start of their return, with AEW choosing Omega and the Bucks over
CM Punk.
It was intriguing, but also way too inside baseball.
I fear the handling of the whole suspension brawl incident, not establishing any reasons
in kayfabe, and just keeping it all as a nebulous void that wrestling journalists have had to
fill, will play into the worst of the Elite’s insider referencing tendencies.
Thankfully, Swerve in our Glory vs FTR then had match of the night.
This was a difficult one to book.
AEW found themselves in a corner, with the organically over Acclaimed winning the belts
at the same time FTR should become champions.
While there was no perfect solution, I think they chose the best long term option.
Swerve in our Glory won thanks to the Gunn Club holding Cash back and Swerve hitting
a low blow on Dax.
This lets Swerve and Lee conclude their trilogy with The Acclaimed, giving Bowens and Caster
the definitive rubber match victory, while semi-protecting FTR for the next title shot
- also elongating The Acclaimed’s title run, as it’s far too soon to lose the belts.
The layers of drama, with The Acclaimed and the Gunns at ringside - a Checkov’s…
Ass Boys.
Yep, that’s the best name for it, worked great for the match, elevating some fantastic
near falls.
MJF then cut a babyface promo so babyface, it makes you think he’s not a babyface.
He said Virginia so many times, even Mick Foley’s there going, ease up on the cheap
pops, buddy.
He told Stokely Hathaway not to interfere in the main event…
I’ll go into conspiracy theories at the end.
Bryan Danielson was back to his furious best against Sammy Guevarra in a great match, making
Sammy pass out to win.
This, combined with the opening tag win, really makes Blackpool Combat Club feel like a force
to be reckoned with.
Jamie Hayter beat Riho in a well-worked size difference match, but the crowd never fully
invested because of the lack of a proper character development and storyline.
Toni Storm appeared to challenge Hayter to a title shot afterwards.
Eddie Kingston’s here!
He says he’s totally fine.
I definitely believe him!
And the main event was the randomly announced Moxley vs Penta world title match!
The booking appears to be a panic move, either as a ratings ploy, or a make-do for the botched
title match the previous week.
But if you’re going to do a hotshotted title match, it should always be Penta!
He looked incredible here, with his and Mox’s styles working great together.
But as soon as Mox won, the evil Firm jumped him.
Blackpool Combat Club were chained in their locker room, so MJF had to come down to make
the save.
MJF fired Hathaway, so the Firm turned on him, with Ethan Page hitting an awesome Ego’s
Edge, and W. Morrisey putting Max through a table outside.
So it’s all a rouse, right?
MJF’s promo earlier felt like he was doing an impression of a babyface.
It was especially jarring because of how one-dimensional it felt following last week’s psychologically
complex promo with Regal.
So is this bad storytelling, or a heel masterplan?
Considering MJF’s track record putting on the best wrestling storylines for several
years, we should probably give him the benefit of the doubt.
Because what is the greatest trick the devil ever pulled?
Convincing us he didn’t exist.
Is Max demented enough to pay the Firm to beat him up?
Suckering us, Mox and Regal into his lies, to actually use the Diamond Ring at the pay-per-view,
turn uber heel, and win the belt?
If so, I definitely want a ‘how will they co-exist’ few weeks with Mox and MJF tagging
until then.
That said, even in the good version of this, that’s in serious danger of being overbooked.
If they do the double cross, it’ll be a hard thing to pull off to the extent that
this world title storyline, and Max’s character, requires.
And if they don’t, The Firm being the big bad and MJF just turning babyface feels subpar.
What did you think of Dynamite?
Let me know in the comments.
I thought the first hour of this show was excellent.
A great blend of pro wrestling and storyline development.
But while I’m intrigued with the AEW world title feud, in its current moment, I’m not
loving it.
My larger problem with the show was, again, what was missing from it.
The Elite promo, like I already mentioned, and also having zero update on the condition
of Hangman Page.
I think we were all deeply affected by the ending of last week’s show.
AEW initially handled themselves really well, posting a statement on Twitter.
But not addressing it on-air here or Rampage creates another nebulous cloud of anxiety
over the promotion.
It’s deeply frustrating how AEW totally ignores anything that goes wrong onscreen.
It erodes that idea of transparency, trust and respect with the fanbase that this company
was founded on.
This week’s Dynamite is 76%.
It does look like AEW is choosing the Elite?
But should they have done more to keep CM Punk?
Watch on to find out more.