In this WrestleTalk News, CM Punk receives multiple offers for wrestling? Vince McMahon
Investigation closed and Oli will be here reviewing AEW Dynamite!
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Former AEW World Champion CM Punk has rarely been away from the news over the past two
months despite us hearing nare a peep from the man himself this whole time. While there
has been no official declaration of how the whole Brawl Out thing played out, given the
vignette for the Elite last week and Colt Cabana’s AEW return this week, it doesn’t
take much to figure that things didn’t end favorably for Punker.
According to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer and WrestlingInc’s Nick Hausman
AEW are unlikely to bring Punk back to AEW, but given his stature and price-tag what options
will he realistically have elsewhere?
Well, according to Fightful Select Punk has “multiple offers”. It was previously reported
that Punk had acting opportunities on the table, more specifically for a follow up to
his appearance on Stephen Amell’s Heels show on the Starz network.
However, while it has seemed unlikely, it has been reported that WWE and Triple H would
be open to a Punk return. Adding to this Fightful also stated that another source close to Punk
believes that Punk himself may have “caught the wrestling bug again”.
Given Punk’s current injury status we are unlikely to get a clearer picture anytime
soon however, given how Punk’s AEW run ended it’s possible he may feel he has unfinished
business.
Last night on Dynamite an ex-WWE talent made their ‘shock’ AEW debut. Stop me if you’ve
heard that one before. Jeff Jarrett showed up on Dynamite in a surprise
invasion angle, attacking Darby Allin after his match with Jay Lethal. Given Jarrett’s
very recent employment with WWE (leaving in August), initially as a producer but later
as Senior Vice-President of Live Events, this appearance would have been newsworthy enough,
but the real juiciness came after Dynamite came off the air.
Speaking on Twitter, Tony Khan announced that Double J was not only All Elite but he was
also now officially the Director of Business Development for the company.
As Khan mentions in his post, it looks like Jarrett will be in charge of expanding AEW’s
live event schedule in the next calendar year, picking up from the role he very briefly had
for WWE in the summer. It’s a bold move from TK, having been a
long while since Jarrett carried such an important position in a wrestling company. TNA/Impact
and I guess Global Force Wrestling were the last example as such, but we all know how
that played out. AEW certainly needed a shot in the arm but few expected the answer to
spell J E double F. While AEW backstage stories continue to unfold,
it seems like we can now wrap a bow around the other biggest wrestling news of the year.
According to WWE’s official quarter three financial report the Vince McMahon misconduct
investigation has officially closed, with the overall cost approximately totalling to
a staggering $19.7 Million.
Now before you start to panic, Fightful Select has broken in to clarify that while the investigation
is over, it does not spell out a return to the company for Vince. A spokesperson from
WWE told Fightful that Vince was officially “done, done” and "would not be returning
to the roles that were taken over by Triple H and several others."
A separate source also told Fightful that while "they initially had reservations, hesitations
and fears regarding McMahon's departure and him possibly quickly coming back, that's no
longer the case."
So yeah, while Vince still holds controlling stock in WWE we can all breathe easy (as can
Karrion Kross and Hit Row and pretty much anyone else Trips
has brought back). Phew.
It’s Thursday, you know what that means! My review of AEW Dynamite… in about 5 minutes.
And you know what, I’m going to be a more positive Oli today. I’m going to look past
the fact the promotion has too many belts, has a lack of focus and a weird CM Punk sized
hole. I’m Happy Oli now! Oh f***, Jeff Jarrett is back.
I’ve got mixed feelings about the Double J. He is an incredibly charming man. The one
time I met him, he has a way of talking to you like your suddenly his best friend. I
was obsessed with him during his babyface TNA run in the late 00s. And I think he’s
a great promo. Nobody does Jeff Jarrett better than Jeff Jarrett.
Unfortunately, Jeff Jarrett leaves a trail of business destruction in his wake. The booking
of TNA, GFW, the whole I like gooooold sales scheme. He’s got a wealth of experience,
yes, but he also doesn’t seem to learn from failure. That his onscreen debut is coupled
with a prominent backstage role for AEW could backfire down the line.
Concerns I will immediately forget, however, when Jarrett eventually faces off with Sting.
But how did we get here? In fittingly TNA fashion, via a very convoluted route.
Jay Lethal beat Darby Allin thanks to both Satnam Singh’s impenetrable chest off Darby’s
bullet dive - which is the best thing that man has ever done in wrestling - and a mystery
man dressed as Sting taking Darby out behind the referee’s back.
That man was revealed to be… Cole Carter - which funnily enough got the exact same
confused anti-pop as Singh’s debut earlier this year. It also didn’t make any sense
with Jay teasing the previous week a figure from Darby’s past, and appears to drop Lethal’s
tension with his own faction. Thankfully the Jarrett surprise made us all
forget the weird reveals and inconsistencies. Because this was a freaking weird episode
of Dynamite. Next up we got the second Elite comeback tease
- this time playing a clip of them winning the trios titles, which was then removed from
an edit timeline and replaced with Death Triangle winning the belts. Obviously setting up The
Elite vs Death Triangle for the Trios Championships soon.
There was also a file on the edit timeline though, titled ES_ES_0051_05401_IMPACT-Hard-Solid_Force_APM.wav.
This isn’t my first rabbit hole, Elite. I’m fresh off a month of Bray Wyatt QR codes!
This is obviously a clue. So if I type that into Google I get…
A full sport exhaust system for a Fantic Caballero 125 - 4T Scrambler motorbike.
What does it mean? Jon Moxley then took on The Firm’s Lee Moriarty
in a championship contenders match. Unfortunately the crowd got distracted near
the climax of the match by sports man Lamar Jackson taking a seat in the front row, where
a chant of MVP broke out. Until this was cleared up on commentary, I was very confused and
thought the MVP was somehow in the audience. Moxley won, Ethan Page beat him up afterwards,
presumably setting up a match for them. There was no MJF on this show, which feels like
a missed opportunity given the cliffhanger last week.
Renee Paquette interview Saraya, where she didn’t reveal if she’s medically cleared
yet, because there’s one last doctor she wants to consult next week. I imagine that’s
a cute set up for her beating up the Doctor Britt Baker to reveal she can actually wrestle
a match. In a
time of great in-ring wrestling, you have to do sports entertainment to really stand
out. Like the Bloodline segments on SmackDown, The Acclaimed’s family drama is some of
the most enjoyable stuff on TV right now. The latest in-ring promo skit was to celebrate
Daddy Ass’ birthday, which was more of a fun way to say: LOOK AT ALL OUR NEW SCISSORING
MERCH FOR YOU TO BUY! See, AEW aren’t just a t-shirt company.
They do foam fingers too. Anthony Bowens continues to shine, delivering
the excellent line that his planned surprise guests cancelled because they were upsest
Billy didn’t go to their reunion - a brilliant reference to the DX celebration on Raw last
month. The Acclaimed were about to be officially
adopted by Billy Gun, I love you pro wrestling, when his birth sons the Ass Boys interrupted,
and W Morrisey took out everyone in the ring. FTR made the save, but still got over how
they’re coming for the Acclaimed’s tag titles… eventually… sometime in the fall
next year. Chris Jericho’s surprise former ROH Champion
contender this week was Colt Cabana! Hey, guys, I’m starting to think AEW might’ve
sided with The Elite here. Colt wrestled with serious intensity, but
ultimately lost thanks to Jake Hager interference. The JAS went to beat up ROH announcer Ian
Ricobanni aftewrards, but the Blackpool Combat Club made the save.
Orange Cassidy beat Luchasaurus and Rey Fenix next in what felt like a match 11 year old
me had booked with all my favourite toys. The in-ring dynamic worked great. Fenix and
Cassidy did high spots, to be cut off by the evil unstoppable monster Luchasaurus.
In a great weaving of multiple storylines, Jungle Boy then took out Luchasaurus with
an amazing running crossbody through a table off the stage, and PAC tried to get Fenix
to cheat with the hammer, because he just hates Cassidy so much, which led to Cassidy
retaining. And then Shibata showed up because he’s
going to have an actual match with Cassidy on Rampage. WHAT IS HAPPENING!?
Continuing the crazy surprises, ACCUSATIONS! Rick Ross is a fantastic promo.
He was there to talk up Swerve Strickland, but Keith Lee wanted to talk about all Swerve’s
heel shenanigans, like maiming a dude’s hand. Lee toasted them in the end. I think
he’s turning heel. After weirdly passing 40 consecutive wins
on Dark, Jade Cargill got the big 41st victory here - effectively squashing Marina Shafir.
Nyla Rose and Vickie Guerrero did commentary from the top of the ramp, which didn’t work
as well as I think they thought it would. More surprises: the House of Black haven’t
somehow gotten out of their AEW contracts! A very cool vignette played of Malakai Black,
Buddy Mathews and Brody King being drowned and burned by Julia Hart, to then seemingly
rise from the dead. What could Malakai speaking to the Father of the Black Light possibly
mean? Let me rabbit hole that too. A link to the same full sport exhaust system
for a Fantic Caballero 125 - 4T Scrambler motorbike.
And in our fourth championship match of the night [BITE FIST] Samoa Joe tapped out Brian
Cage in the Koquina Clutch after a fun hoss fight of a main event. The Gates of Agony
jumped Joe afterwards. Oh, it’s the Embassy, my mistake.
Wardlow made the save, but Powerhouse Hobbs took him out and posed with the belt.
What did you think of Dynamite? Let me know in the comments.
That was a crazy episode. Jeff Jarrett, Shibata, Cole Carter, Rick Ross - ACCUSATIONS! The
House of Black returning. This was the right kind of chaotic weird. It’s a shame MJF
didn’t get to follow up from last week, but overall this was a wild ride. This week’s
Dynamite is 84%. Who will win at Crown Jewel this Saturday?
Watch mine and Tempest’s predictions now…