Look alright, I know, it’s another CM Punk-led news video.
I do mean this completely genuinely, I had every intention of sitting down to write the
script this morning and was very much looking forward to not talking about him because I
hadn’t seen any news about him at all, aside from some minor speculation about a comment
on a social media post he responded to.
And then this happened.
I’m Pete Quinnell, welcome to the WrestleTalk News.
You genuinely couldn’t write this story if you tried.
In the latest turn in the CM Punk story, there’s a chance he might be getting sued by AEW.
We’ll get to that shortly, but first as a quick reminder of what’s been happening
recently: Punk was seemingly lined up to be returning to AEW in conjunction with the launch
of their new Saturday show.
He was even supposed to be the face of the announcement, with his name being initially
linked to the press releases and graphics about the show, before being hastily removed,
on occasion after they had gone out.
The reported reason for this change of plans was that there was some disagreement between
Punk and AEW regarding Ace Steel - where Punk was seemingly under the impression that Steel
would be joining Punk when he returned to TV, while AEW said…no.
That ain’t happening chief.
Though Steel was already reportedly working for AEW for months already, just remotely.
Just an extra wrinkle in the story.
So that’s where we had left off, with Punk and AEW trying to come to some sort of agreement,
with Ace Steel being the sticking point.
And now, in a Twitter Spaces hosted by BackupHangman on Twitter, Raj Giri of WrestlingInc joined
and said this: “So AEW sent a legal notice to Punk yesterday.
Either he needs to comply or they’re going to file a suit against him.”
Now, it’s worth noting a few things here.
This was something mentioned in a Twitter Spaces and was not an actual report in an
article or anything.
What legal notice this actually was is also unclear.
And the details of what Punk needs to comply with were also not stated.
However, let’s get into speculation territory because we can assume a few things.
Let me get my speculation hat on.
If Punk is under AEW contract, one would assume that he is contractually obligated to wrestle
for them at some point.
While it’s been beneficial for probably most or all parties for Punk to be off screen
for a while, if AEW is saying he’s required to wrestle and he doesn’t have a reason
not to, like an injury or family emergency or mental health break or something, then
one also would assume he probably has to.
Again, speculation.
The phrasing of ‘complying’ is very interesting once again, because when combined with all
the previous reports surrounding this situation, one would assume that this is in regard to
AEW’s Collision launch, which was supposed to be in Chicago, but may be moved to Daily’s
Place in Jacksonville because there may not be a Punk involved.
Complying may mean agreeing to what AEW has said with regard to Ace Steel, Punk’s creative,
or any number of other factors, we can’t know for sure.
But one thing is for sure if Giri’s statement here is true, which, it’s important to note,
might not be: if Punk doesn’t do what AEW wants, whatever that might be, he is getting
sued.
That is a twist in the tale I for sure didn’t see coming, and I don’t know about you,
but if I was under threat of being sued by the company I work for, then I might not be
too enamored with them and maybe putting a live mic into a famously outspoken man on
TV may not be the best idea.
In short, it’s a messy, messy situation, and who knows how Collision and AEW as a whole
are going to shake out with all this.
I have no idea what’s happening anymore.
I’m along for the ride as much as you are.
But it’s alright though, because if this ends the relationship between Punk and AEW
and he ends up leaving, there’s always WWE right?
For a little while now, it’s been reported that WWE is currently in the midst of a ‘hiring
freeze’, which is seemingly why we’ve seen a sharp stop to the returns to the company,
even after big shows where debuts would usually happen like the Raw and SmackDown after WrestleMania
and the Draft.
But the no-hire time may be over, as according to BackupHangman himself on the same Twitter
Spaces as mentioned earlier, the early word from within WWE is that “the hiring freeze
is over”.
Now while this was also something said on a Twitter Spaces, this was very much framed
as a ‘scoop’, even being called that before it was said.
If true, we could be seeing some more people joining WWE before long, and with the lead
up to SummerSlam soon, there’s every chance there will be a push for some big names.
There were some notable names that WWE reportedly missed out on because of the hiring freeze,
such as Jay White and Nick Aldis, so perhaps there will be a renewed push to capture names
before they head to competition.
And perhaps once they join the company, they could feud with top names like Bianca Belair
or The Street Profits.
They’d have to be a babyface act though, because Belair and The Profits might be going
heel before long.
According to Better Wrestling Experience on Twitter, WWE has plans to turn Bianca Belair
and The Street Profits heel, with the likely timeframe being this summer.
This is interesting for a couple of reasons.
One is because neither Belair nor The Profits have been heel on the main roster so far,
so that’s fun.
Another is because fans have been a bit more vocal about their displeasure with Bianca’s
Raw Women’s Title reign up to this point, meaning a heel turn could very much freshen
up the reign.
Also, while they’ve been very sporadically seen together, it’s more common for The
Street Profits and Bianca Belair to be separate entities on-screen, and if there’s plans
for both parties to turn heel, there could be something in the air for a more permanent
on-screen team-up.
More factions!
One more thing - I guess this means they won’t be splitting up The Street Profits anytime
soon?
Which I don’t think was reported but more fan speculation, but still an interesting
note.
See, look at all the interesting things that can come out of one little tidbit of news.
Another person we could be seeing more of is Cameron Grimes, as according to Fightful
Select, Grimes is a popular man backstage, with “several people” pulling for him.
Several WWE higher ups, including Triple H, are reported to be fans of his work, with
one longtime WWE employee reportedly mentioning that he thought that Grimes was a “slam
dunk” call-up.
So the future sure does look bright for Grimes, boy I really hope that does start soon.
So far he’s beaten Baron Corbin in seconds and said he’s happy to be there.
Any day now, I’m sure he’ll start doing something.
Just be patient, he’ll do it.
I’m sure.
On the subject of doing something, we’ve been waiting for one Drew McIntyre to do something
for a little while now.
Drew has reportedly been in something of a dispute with WWE for a bit now, with him blacking
out his social media profiles and being absent from TV.
This reportedly has been over his creative direction as well as his contract status,
with his contract supposedly up in 2024 like literally everybody else in wrestling, but
the Drew Drought may be over soon.
And by soon I mean like, today.
Drew was in fact drafted to Raw in the WWE Draft despite his absence though, and in the
latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer wrote that Drew’s return was now
essentially dependent on creative being what he wanted, and now the wait may be over.
On tonight’s Raw, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are due to team with a mystery partner to
take on Imperium in a six-man tag match, and while that’s nothing concrete in and of
itself because it could be literally anybody, WWE tweeted out an announcement of the match,
asking people who should be the mystery partner.
This announcement was then retweeted and quickly un-retweeted by one Drew McIntyre.
Now it’s worth noting that Drew hasn’t tweeted at all since WrestleMania, so this
would technically be him breaking his silence on social media, which seems like very curious
timing indeed.
And now our congratulations go out to Willow Nightingale, who has been crowned the first
ever NJPW Strong Women’s Champion at last night’s/this morning’s NJPW Strong Resurgence
PPV.
Nightingale beat Mercedes Moné for the belt, and while the match is being lauded by fans,
there was an unfortunate injury partway into it, necessitating the finish to be brought
forward.
PWInsider is reporting that Moné suffered a broken ankle, meaning she’ll likely be
sidelined from in-ring action for around 2-3 months.
This would effectively rule her out of a fan-speculated appearance at Forbidden Door in June, and
on the off chance she was being considered for All In in Wembley as well, this may very
well have an impact on that too.
We wish Moné the best in her recovery.
But Nightingale wasn’t the only women’s AEW wrestler on the show, as there was a rogue
appearance by one Toni Storm, who appeared to try and assist her real-life partner Juice
Robinson in his Street Fight match against Fred Rosser.
Elsewhere on the show, the Blackpool Combat Club team of Jon Moxley and Wheeler Yuta along
with their pal who’s just happy to be there Shota Umino beat the CHAOS team of Kazuchika
Okada, Rocky Romero and Tomohiro Ishii, KENTA became the new NJPW Strong Openweight Champion
by besting Hikuleo, and Will Ospreay defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to advance in the #1 Contender
IWGP United States Championship tournament, meaning Ospreay will be heading to Dominion
in the tournament final against Lance Archer.
Who’s the current champion of that belt again?
Oh yeah, Kenny Omega.
When’s Dominion again?
The start of June?
And isn’t there a little show called Forbidden Door that’s supposed to be at the end of
June.
Huh, funny the timing on that.
Curious.
On the subject of Billiam Ospreay, he’s been quite open with the fact that his contract
in New Japan expires in 2024, just like literally everybody else in wrestling.
Speaking with Fightful, Ospreay spoke on the likelihood of him leaving New Japan altogether,
where he said: “I find myself in a really lovely position
with New Japan where I’m very happy doing what I’m doing.
Obviously I’m a fool not to hear people out…I want them to be ready for what might
be my termination of my contract.
Who knows?
I love to imagine that we are going to work something out, but I’d be a fool not to
hear everybody out.”
Where would you want to see Ospreay go if he did leave New Japan?
Let me know in the comments below.
And while you’re down there, why not check out the latest 3-Count episode, where Luke
and Oli predict what everyone will be doing at Night of Champions in three words or less.
Here’s a clip.