In the wake of CM Punk returning to WWE, it was reported that one of his issues with AEW
during the Brawl Out press conference was that he felt he was a bigger star than AEW.
And, apparently, he’s not alone.
And those people are just waiting out their contracts to return to WWE, because - reportedly
- they don’t respect All Elite Wrestling.
On September 2nd 2023, CM Punk was fired from All Elite Wrestling due to various backstage
issues but - ultimately - due to a backstage fight with Jack Perry at All In.
More on that later in this video because it turns out it was Bryan Danielson who led the
hearing!
Just 84 days later, on November 25th 2023, CM Punk returned to WWE after a near-decade
long absence.
I won’t go into all the details about Punk’s return and why it’s so shocking - check
out Oli Davis’ video on that in the video description down below - but suffice to say,
it was quite shocking.
The deal came about at the last minute, it was Punk who reached out and not WWE, Sean
Ross Sapp said on a Fightful Post-Show that the following Raw had to be rewritten to find
time for a CM Punk promo, and then PWInsider reported that the preceding Randy Orton and
Dominik Mysterio match went long so his promo was cut short; but there was also a lot of
talk about his backstage behaviour.
You know, because he was fired from his previous employer for his backstage behavior.
Dave Melzter noted on Wrestling Observer Radio, “there was no major negativity backstage”
at the Raw following Survivor Series.
Wade Keller of PWTorch added that Punk “approached everybody and was ‘very nice’ and ‘humble’
and ‘in a good mood’.”
Although he says one source told him that Punk “knew he kinda had to be”.
You know, because of the backstage behavior in AEW that got him fired and because he’s
spent the last 10 years talking about how WWE was rubbish and nearly killed him.
WWE clearly wanted this CM Punk signing to feel huge - which they should - with reports
that his merchandise has almost already sold out on WWEShop.com, and Sports Illustrated
are reporting that plans are in place for Punk to feud with Roman Reigns.
However, first, Punk will feud with Seth Rollins which Sports Illustrated added “could serve
as the main event for the opening night of WrestleMania 40”.
It’s important to note that Sports Illustrated’s report isn’t that Punk will then feud with
Roman Reigns following Seth; just that - at some point - Punk will have a match with Roman.
Just make sure you make him look strong, Punk.
Punk’s first promo on Raw received mixed reactions, ranging from ‘let it play it
out’ to ‘that was disingenuous bs’, but one thing it was not was a shot at his
former employer AEW.
In fact, social media tried to claim that following the promo Punk did a victory lap
- which is what The Young Bucks did after the Collision broadcast following Punk’s
firing - but Nick Hausman of Haus of Wrestling is reporting this was not the case.
He adds, “Punk is looking to move past the drama of AEW entirely and has no plans to
address any of what happened there.”
Keller adds in his PWTorch report that, while Punk was on his best behavior for his first
episode of Raw, the feeling was ‘well see if this sticks in a couple of month’s time’.
But according to Dave Meltzer, it will be different this time around.
When talking about Punk going to WWE, Meltzer reflected on the All Out media scrum that
led to the major downfall in relationships between CM Punk, AEW, and a lot of the company’s
top talent like Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks and Hangman Adam Page.
Meltzer said at the time, but reiterated upon Punk’s WWE return, “My take on it was:
he does not respect AEW.”
He added that Punk felt, “In AEW, he was a bigger star than everyone”.
And on the difference between AEW Punk and WWE Punk, he says, “He’s going to have
respect for people who ‘made it in WWE’.”
And, apparently, it’s not just Punk as, “A lot of ex-WWE guys are like that.”
Personally, I’ve never understood the ‘ex-WWE’ guy argument.
When WCW closed its doors and WWF signed a bunch of them to WWF contracts, they were
still seen as ‘ex-WCW’ guys and were made to wear t-shirts with WCW written on them.
Some WWF guys didn’t want to lose to ‘ex-WCW guys’ because they weren’t WWF guys who
had made it in the WWF.
But, they were now WWF guys.
They’d been signed to WWF.
They’re now your guys.
If you push the ‘ex-anything’ argument to silly conclusions, you’d say that the
current World Heavyweight Champion of WWE is just an ‘ex-ROH’ guy.
War Games was full of them.
Cody?
Ex-AEW guy.
Sami?
Ex-ROH guy (although he is a different person to El Generico).
Balor?
Ex-New Japan guy.
Damian Priest?
Ex-ROH guy.
JD?
Ex-Progress guy.
Drew?
Ex-WCPW guy.
You see how silly it sounds?
That’s 60% of the match.
If Kurt Angle ever debuted in AEW he’d be labeled as an ‘Ex-WWE guy’ despite spending
more years in TNA than he did WWE.
But to get a more pro-wrestler take on this, I asked ex-WWE guy Claudio Castignoli what
he thought about this.
You can watch that full interview using the link in the video description down below where
we talk about All In, a Kings of Wrestling reunion, the Continental Classic, and his
thoughts on CM Punk going to WWE and talent jumping back and forth between companies.
Back to that Meltzer quote, he said on Wrestling Observer Radio, “A lot of ex-WWE guys are
like that.
And those are the guys who have been very negative in AEW.”
He adds that some of these ‘ex-WWE guys’ are “just waiting to go back to WWE”.
And I don’t think you need to be Columbo to figure out who some of these guys are.
It should be noted that much of what I’m going to talk about is speculation.
It’s putting 2 and 2 together and likely getting 4, but could also be getting 5.
But this speculation is based on reports from the last year or so, which I will reference
as we go.
All the links for these are in the video description.
Andrade El Idolo is the first who comes to mind, following the reports last year of a
backstage fight with Sammy Guevera which led to El Idolo getting suspended from the company.
The issues between Guevara and El Idolo had been made public in interviews by both men,
but the fight was said to be very one-sided and - like an RKO - from outtanowhere, and
Guevara did not fight back.
Dave Meltzer said of the fight that, “Andrade is trying to get fired”, even though he
had been told by his contemporaries that getting into a fight would not terminate his contract.
See: CM Punk and The Elite.
Andrade had also been publicly unhappy about his booking in AEW, which really came to the
forefront when Triple H took over WWE creative - you’re going to notice a pattern here
- and was bizarrely booked in a match with Presten Vance where his AEW contract was on
the line.
This match was cancelled when he was suspended.
Andrade would return to be part of CM Punk’s Collision roster.
You’ll also notice a pattern with this too.
When Triple H took over the creative side of WWE, there was a report that came out that
claimed WWE attempted to do some of the ol’ contract tampering.
Calling guys in AEW who used to work with WWE to see if they could get out of their
contracts and come and work in his new utopia where his NXT children would get their creative
dreams fulfilled.
Swerve Strickland was one of those guys, with Triple H wanting to bring him back for the
Hit Row reunion that, well, never really took off.
Fightful Select reported this news, and added that which was reported Strickland instead
passed on WWE to his legal team as he wanted to stay in AEW.
William Regal, on the other hand, got out of his AEW contract and went back to WWE.
Remember when CM Punk blew Regal off when he came into AEW and called him a ‘WWE stooge’?
Lol.
One of the other names in that reported list of contracted wrestlers was Malakai Black,
who then later publicly announced that he did ask for his release from All Elite Wrestling.
Meltzer added on Wrestling Observer Radio, that Black “obviously” wanted to go back
to WWE.
Black instead stayed with the company, and eventually was moved to be part of CM Punk’s
Collision roster.
Fans have noticed recently that Malakai Black has not had a lot of singles matches in AEW.
In fact, his last singles match in All Elite Wrestling was in June of 2022.
Meltzer explained that many of these ‘ex-WWE guys’ didn’t want to do jobs, aka, they
didn’t want to lose.
He said, “A lot of the people that come from WWE are very leery about doing jobs.
And then it becomes very difficult to book when you don’t really wanna do programs
where you’re gonna lose.”
Black doesn’t quite agree with this narrative, explaining on Instagram in September 2023
that he “doesn’t know” why he’s not had singles matches, and claims it has nothing
to do with his injuries.
But one person who has been painted with the ‘doesn’t want to do jobs’ brush is Miro.
In 2022, Miro had four matches.
Just four.
Roman Reigns looked over and said, ‘dude do some wrestling’.
He eventually returned to be part of - you guessed it - CM Punk’s Collision roster.
He had been off TV for almost a full year, and Dave Meltzer reported via Wrestling Observer
Radio that several pitches were being made to him, but he kept turning them down because
he didn’t want to lose.
In their coverage of Survivor Series 2023, Bryan Alvarez revealed that the reason Miro
isn’t in the Continental Classic - which many thought he would be - was because,“They
don’t want to pin Miro.”
Dave Meltzer added, “They don’t want to ask him to do jobs, and people in this tournament
have to.”
Now we’ve made a lot of connections here and a lot of the same phrases are being used.
‘When Triple H took over creative’, ‘CM Punk’s Collision roster’, ‘Dave Meltzer
said on Observer Radio’.
But this time, we can actually get the ‘return to WWE’ quote from someone else.
Because his bloody wife said it was going to happen.
When the reports of Miro not wanting to lose and kept shooting down pitches for him to
return to television, CJ Perry - who also is now in AEW - told a local radio station
in December 2022 that, “I’m sure [Rusev Day] will make a return in WWE at some point…Let’s
be honest, we know that everyone always returns back to WWE at some point.”
Isn’t that right, Phil?
I don’t think it’s crazy to look at the names Malakai Black, Andrade, and Miro and
not tie the red string together and say, ‘they probably don’t want to be there’.
They were all considered to be the ‘problem kids’ that got put together with the other
‘problem kid’ in CM Punk for Collision.
Optics count for a lot.
Meltzer says that while Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee turned down the contract tampering
calls, “a lot of the guys wanted to leave.
The guys who sign there, if they’re guys who really want to be [in WWE], and just got
fired and everything but can’t wait to get hired back – I don’t know that those guys
have been that beneficial.”
But not all Ex-WWE guys have this mindset.
We already saw the clip of Claudio Castignoli telling me about his thoughts on the ‘ex-WWE’
guy mindset, and Meltzer noted when talking about ‘ex-WWE guys’ not wanting to do
jobs and lose that Bryan Danielson is an exception to that rule, who has gone out of his way
to put over ‘AEW-guys’ like Daniel Garcia and MJF.
He will likely also take a few losses in the Continental Classic.
And their Blackpool Combat Club running mate Jon Moxley doesn’t have this mindset either,
and seemingly didn’t want to say anything about CM Punk’s return to WWE when asked
by Comicbook.com because, well, you don’t want to hear his thoughts.
He said, “You don't want to know what I think.
I didn't see it.
You do not want to know what I think.”
Fightful Select reported that Bryan Danielson was actually part of the disciplinary committee
that ultimately decided to terminate Punk’s AEW contract.
Sean Ross Sapp writes, “When asking sources on the AEW roster about his inclusion, one
called him an ‘appropriate moral compass who exemplifies objectivity’ and said that
he effectively headed up and was the face of the disciplinary committee.”
Fightful Select add that Danielson addressed the AEW locker room after Punk’s firing
and, “cited the positives that CM Punk brought and his longstanding friendship with Punk,
but said that it was the decision that had to be made.”
Danielson himself tweeted on November 28th - just a few days after Punk’s return to
WWE - “My dad always told me, “The right thing is often the hardest thing to do.
It won’t always make the most money.
It won’t always be the most popular.
But it’s still the right thing.”
Sean Ross Sapp added on Twitter that he was told Danielson told the AEW locker room this,
almost verbatim.
So what have we learned today?
When AEW launched, it was seen as a place where guys go to ‘get pushed properly’.
A lot of guys and girls saw that AEW was this hot new product and had a lot of excitement
about going over to his new company for some fresh match ups.
And those who got fired by WWE, found a new home where they could work and get paid.
Fans were excited for Miro, Malakai and Andrade getting pushes in AEW because they never got
those same opportunities in WWE.
But that mindset also has to go both ways.
If, like Meltzer claims of CM Punk, you think you’re a bigger star than the promotion
you’re working for and you only respect those that ‘made it in WWE’, it’s going
to create dissension, tensions, and problems.
Some of those ‘ex-WWE’ guys have seen stop-start pushes, lack of TV time, minimal
stories.
Black, Miro, Andrade.
But some other ‘ex-WWE’ guys have become major players on TV.
Swerve, Moxley, Danielson, Adam Cole, Claudio.
And to go back to that ‘ex-WWE’ guy argument, maybe it’s less about an ‘ex-WWE guy’
mindset and more of a ‘I’m a bigger star’ mindset.
And, likely, we won’t see the same AEW dramas from CM Punk in WWE because he respects those
that work there, and won’t have the ‘I’m the bigger star’ mindset.
As we’ve always been told time and time again, no one is bigger than WWE.
And everyone comes back.
Meltzer noted when talking about Miro not wanting to do jobs, “If I’m Tony Khan
at this point, given everything that’s happened, and the wife of one of the wrestlers goes
and says, essentially everyone goes back to WWE, it’s kinda like, why waste my time
pushing this guy, I’ve got 100 guys on the roster who want to be here, and now you’ve
got these guys who wanna be in WWE.”
So ask yourself: what would you do in this situation?
And while you’re asking yourself that question why not click and watch Oli’s deep dive
into the history of CM Punk and WWE and why he might have sold out by going back.