In this WrestleTalk News, CM Punk deleted Instagram rant shoots on Meltzer, Jericho
and AEW, WWE star officially gone, and a shocking star steps in to face Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania,
plus loads more.
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Despite not having been on national television for absolute months now, CM Punk’s ears
probably haven’t stopped burning because the wrestling news cycle absolutely cannot
get enough of that delicious Punk gossip.
They’ve got a Punk fixation.
But if he didn’t want people gossiping about him then he’s not exactly making it easy
on himself by rage replying on social media and then swiftly deleting, something he did
last night in a brief spat with Dave Meltzer.
Meltzer had been asked about why the build to CM Punk vs Jon Moxley at All Out had been
so short and noted:
“Because Punk agreed to it, then AEW got a legal letter saying he wasn’t down with
it and wasn’t doing it and they didn’t know if he’d come until Tony put his foot
down.
There are a lot of nice things I can say about him, and you can absolutely argue his position
on Moxley was correct, but you can’t argue he willingly did what he was asked in that
scenario.”
Punk took umbrage with this, his default setting, and told his side of the story in Instagram
in a now deleted post:
“SIGH.
I wasn’t cleared to come back to wrestle yet.
[The] plan was to wrestle at the ppv.
I sat and listened to [Moxley’s] Rocky three idea.
I explained how I’d never seen a Rocky movie [and I] thought the idea sucked but if the
boss wanted to do it whatever.
He said he wouldn’t lose to me.
I’d never experienced someone refusing to lose to me.
I just laughed.
I asked Tony if this was what he wanted.
He said yes.
He’s the boss so I said okay but I’d need to be cleared first.
They kept saying it could just be a squash so I didn’t need to be cleared.
I scoffed at that.
My health is more important.
Dave Meltzer is a liar.
Jericho is a liar and a stooge.
There were plans but plans always change but I’ll never put a company above my health
ever again.”
The seemingly random shot at Jericho isn’t Punk firing wildly into the air, but suspected
to reference the fact that Y2J is believed to be one of Meltzer’s sources and could
have fed him a bogus story as it’s been reported that Jericho is one of the AEW voices
very much against Punk returning to the company.
Regardless Jez himself responded to the drama with a Matt Hardy DELETE gif which prompted
a “I’m too old for this sh*t” follow up post from Punk.
The sheer fact that drama don’t end certainly makes it feel like Punk won’t be playing
in AEW any time soon, though maybe he will be…
As it’s been reported that AEW could be switching venues for this year’s All Out.
Apparently the company will not be leaving Chicago, but instead are in talks to upgrade
their venue from the NOW Arena to the much larger United Center according to Fightful.
AEW sold out the United Centre previously for the live episode of Rampage billed as
The First Dance which saw CM Punk return to professional wrestling.
Suspicious much…
While no one will actually confirm what is going on with Punk in AEW, over the fence
in WWE we finally have actual confirmation that Naomi is no longer with the company.
After disappearing from screens since walking out of Raw alongside tag partner Sasha Banks,
who is now in NJPW as Mercedes Monet and current IWGP Women’s Champion, little was known
about Naomi’s status.
Whelp that’s all changed as the star made her first public statement on the matter under
a post advertising her appearance at WrestleCon next weekend.
A fan asked “are you even still in WWE” to which Naomi replied “no frien’”
That’s that settled then.
Much of the chatter surrounding the seemingly planned Bray Wyatt vs Bobby Lashley match
has been unsurprisingly about… well Bray Wyatt.
What’s up with Bray?
Creative frustration?
What’s this mystery illness?
Is he done in WWE again???
All questions we’ve been asking… but let’s instead spare a thought for the All-Mighty
for a second shall we?
I mean, Bobby had to carry the heavy load of this rather tepid feud on his own for weeks
while Bray’s status grew more and more unclear.
And what was his reward?
Potentially missing WrestleMania.
While that would be incredibly unfortunate I think we’ve always assumed that WWE would
squeeze Lashley in somewhere on the card.
However at this point it’s looking likely to be an impromptu, on the night kinda deal
rather than a brand new build…
given we’re… oh would you look at that only eight days away from the ‘Granddaddy
of them all’.
I mean we know that Lashley himself is keen, with his social media post that came amongst
the Bray rumors stating that “he worked to hard be denied” his Mania match.
So, what of WWE’s plans then?
I mean who’s left at this point?
Is it a new free agent?
Jay White?
Matt Cardona?
Well… how about Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Yep.
You heard me.
According to Wrestlevotes via GiveMeSport, WWE has a “backup plan” in place regarding
Lashley, and said plan may well involve another name who’s been constantly linked to a Mania
match in Steve Austin.
So you could say WWE are looking to kill two birds with one Stone…Cold.
Am I right?
While Austin competing in Hollywood makes sense, the Texas Rattlesnake’s recent comments
have suggested that it wasn’t to be this year, with Austin telling NBC Los Angeles
that his “days in the ring were done” also telling The Wrestling Classic earlier
this week that he had yet hadn’t received a call from WWE and “doesn’t expect to
be there” in regards to Mania.
So who quite knows, although it’s also worth adding that WWE seems to have a backup plan
to their backup plan, with LA Knight being another potential opponent for Lashley in
Hollywood.
Interestingly, Knight was also reportedly being pitched to Austin as a potential opponent
so it’s all kinda wrapped up in this big wrestling pretzel, and greco roman ouroboros.
While we’re on the topic of WrestleMania, which again is only EIGHT DAYS AWAY.
There may be another major WWE star making their return at some point over the weekend.
Following the shocking news yesterday that Alexa Bliss had been diagnosed, then thankfully
treated for a form of skin cancer, the reason for her recent absence seemed more clear.
However, she did also just appear on the Masked Singer TV show, so fair to say she’s had
a lot on her plate.
And yes, she’s seemingly not content to slow down anytime soon, as speaking to CinemaBlend
she hinted at potentially getting involved in the Hollywood proceedings:
“I will be in L.A. for WrestleMania.
I will be at the arena.
Who knows what that leads to?
Because, you know, in WWE, you never know what’s going to happen.
It’s the company where you always expect the unexpected.
We’ll have to see.”
Bliss would also clarify her recovery from cancer, stating that her recovery time following
her treatment was thankfully, brief, saying:
“Oh it’s short.
Like, I got my stitches, I don’t know if you can see my stitches right here.
Those come out in a week.”
So there you go, with news yesterday that Randy Orton was also rumored for a Mania return
it seems like a lot of familiar faces will be back on our screens soon and that’s just
lovely.
With
WrestleMania and
the Raw after WrestleMania usually presenting a chance for WWE to debut ‘new’ faces,
naturally a lot of speculation surrounding who could be showing up has been rife in recent
weeks and months.
As mentioned earlier, the constant names seem to be both Jay White and Matt Cardona, however,
there is one free agent that has seemingly flown under the radar as of late, that being
the former NWA Champion Nick Aldis.
Despite seeming, on paper at least, a natural fit for WWE, Aldis has been enjoying the single
life since his NWA departure late last year, and no don’t panic Mickie James, not the
actual single life I just mean he’s not been tied down to any wrestling contracts
is all…
ANYWAY, while Aldis has taken the occasional indie booking it seems he’s holding off
on his next big move, however it seems like there is one man in WWE who is hoping to see
Aldis in Stanford soon, that being fellow Englishman Wade Barrett.
Speaking to Metro, Barrett would heap praise on Aldis, comparing him to the legendary Harley
Race, and spoke of his desire to see him move to WWE.
Barrett said:
"I think first of all, he's a fantastic talker, he's got a great look, he's a really good
representative for this industry in general, and I love his classic throwback in-ring style.”
"He's a guy I've got a lot of respect for, I think he'll have gonna have success whatever
he ends up doing, whether it's on the independents, whether it's going back to NWA, or to any
other company –- or hopefully one day, come over to WWE.
I think he's got a lot he can contribute.
In terms of supporters, I'm certainly on board as a supporter of Nick Aldis one day coming
to WWE."
As for Aldis, it’s worth noting that HE IS set to be in LA for Wrestlecon between
March 31 and April 2nd… so…
Raw after Mania anyone?
Could happen.
While free agent names such as White, Cardona and Aldis have been linked to WWE, what about
a guy that is currently under contract with WWE’s competitor AEW?
‘The Machine’ Brian Cage has been linked with an AEW exit and potential WWE move for
a while now, throughout 2022 he was barely used on AEW TV until the latter part of the
year, however, he has had much more AEW TV time in recent months as well as being heavily
featured on ROH, currently reigning as one third of the Trios Champions with The Gates
of Agony as The Embassy.
Despite Cage’s current title reign, his AEW deal is reportedly set to be up at the
end of the month, with Cage reportedly signing a short-term extension to see him through
the ROH Supercard of Honor show on March 31.
And surprisingly, despite his seemingly impending exit AEW were reportedly pitching creative
ideas to The Embassy backstage at this week’s Dynamite according to Fightful Select.
Cage has as of yet, reportedly not signed a new deal with AEW, despite one reportedly
being on the table, so perhaps this is a way of AEW trying to shoot their shot to tempt
him into staying?
Or maybe Tony Khan just likes using soon to be departing stars in his creative plans…
I mean we have seen that before with William Regal and potentially FTR.
Lastly just another quick note from this week’s AEW Dynamite, and you may have noticed in
the customary sole women’s match between Toni Storm and Skye Blue that there was no
sign of Britt Baker or AEW Women’s Champion Jamie Hayter in the post-match fracas.
While Baker’s absence is unknown (likely due to Hayter not being there), Hayter was
reportedly missing from the show due to her being back home in jolly old England.
With the reason for her homecoming being, according to the Wrestling Observer’s Dave
Meltzer: to do with her visa needing renewed.
Thankfully according to Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, “it all worked out fine”
in regards to Hayter’s visa and is not expected to miss a lot of time because of the situation.
However, Meltzer could not confirm as to when Hayter would be returning
to AEW TV.