Here's more wrestling for may 31st 2022
And your headlines for Afternoon include
WWE Used Interesting Marketing Technique In Las Vegas During AEW Double Or Nothing
Why AEW Didn’t Hold Casino Battle Royale Match At Double Or Nothing?
CM Punk Rips ‘Silly Battles’ He Fought For 10 Years In WWE
CM Punk Addresses Botched Buckshot Lariats At AEW Double Or Nothing
"Your Character Has Run Its Course" - Reason Why Vince McMahon Released Former WWE Smackdown Star
Seth Rollins Allegedly Spotted Watching AEW Double Or Nothing 2022 Media Scrum
Mustafa Ali Explains Why He Publicly Asked For His WWE Release
Former Paul Heyman Client Spotted On Raw Two Years After WWE Release
Ric Flair’s Last Match Was A Quick Sellout! And More!
We’re starting off with AEW Double or Nothing 2022, the promotion’s biggest event of the year so far, and saw plenty of wrestling fans show up.
Not only did AEW know the show would be packed, but so did WWE, who decided to advertise their upcoming Money in the Bank Premium Live Event in a unique way.
As photos online confirmed, WWE hired out a rolling billboard to promote their July 2nd event, right outside the T-Mobile Arena where Double or Nothing took place.
WWE have just had to downsize from Allegiant Stadium to the MGM Grand Arena, as not enough tickets had sold for the stadium, forcing the move to the much smaller 12,000 seat venue.
It’s unclear how effective this marketing technique was, but it sure raised some eyebrows for AEW fans who didn’t expect to see Cody Rhodes at Double or Nothing 2022, even if he
via an electronic billboard for Vince McMahon.
AEW Double or Nothing 2022 had a staked card, but it didn’t have a big battle royale, despite the match stipulation being a staple for the company’s Pay Per Views.
It turns out that there was a good reason for this, as during the Double or Nothing media scrum, Tony Khan explained why a casino battle royale didn’t take place:
It would arguably get more wrestlers on, but I don’t think it would spotlight people as much and it’s a longer match. Historically, a lot of entrances and you talk about a match that could burn the crowd
out on a night where we’re trying to do that. Doing 21 entrances isn’t necessarily the way to go. Also, I didn’t want to have somebody come out, the winner of the match could tip what was going to happen in
the main event.
It could have been somebody that was a good matchup for either person. I also thought it was probably better to have Darby and Kyle do a great match at the length they did, which was a kick ass
and hot match versus sticking them in with 19 other people where, anybody else, a mixed trios would have made sense there, the other matches on the card were all in good spots. Death Triangle and
House of Black, with Fenix coming back, they deserved a good trios match. They kicked ass versus jamming the six of them in there with Darby, Kyle, and a bunch of people.
The potential winner of the match could’ve given fans a tease as to who was going to win the main event, as if someone who’s been at od ds with CM Punk had won, it would’ve spoiled the ex-Superstar’s title win.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see how AEW stacks their storylines in the CM Punk era, but its clear that the company had already been thinking long and hard about plans, hours before Punk won the title.
Of course the biggest highlight of the night was CM Punk’s World Championship victory, which saw him dethrone Hangman Adam Page in the show’s main event.
This marks Punk’s first title win since leaving WWE, and the former Superstar couldn’t help but reference his former employer.
Speaking to the press, Punk was asked about his years he spent in WWE, which he does not remember fondly in the slightest:
the 10 years I spent in WWE were wasted because I feel it is management, owner, booker, whoever’s job it is to get the most out of the talent – I reached the potential that I could’ve given the limitations
they constantly put on me… It felt like 10 years of fighting silly battles and standing on my own d***. I feel here, there’s no limitation put on myself.
This is hardly the first time an AEW star, or even Punk, has spoken out against WWE, and we’re sure it won’t be the last, and time will tell how his reign as Word Champion goes from here.
The Punk Vs. Page match saw both men use moves associated with the other, which did lead to a botch when Punk attempted the Buckshot Lariat.
Punk didn’t just botch the move, but he botched it twice, and on both occasions, the former WWE Champion failed to land the front flip over the top rope that sets up the move.
The second time Punk followed through with the lariat regardless, though the crowd was less than impressed.
On the post-show scrum, Punk admitted that it sucked that the botches happened, but called it “the fun thing about pro wrestling” saying that not everything has to look 100% all the time.
He added that despite the many times he rehearsed the move prior to the show, it had to be the time he was on TV that he botched it, but it didn’t take away from what was a fantastic match
between two great wrestlers
One name fans are hopeful to see in AEW is Bray Wyatt, who hasn’t competed since his release from WWE last year.
It’s since been reported that Wyatt’s alleged ‘attitude issues’ left WWE no choice but to cut him, and now we’re learning more about what happened behind the scenes.
Speaking on the Café de Rene podcast, Simon Gotch discussed the former Universal Champion, and the stark warning he was given by Bray:
I got told early on by Bray Wyatt, who was always very kind, he said, ‘Don’t ever talk to Vince.’ An observation similar to what you made about me, Rene, he had said, ‘Vince will not like your
personality,’ and it would not behoove me to go in and speak to him directly
Gotch was released from WWE on April 5th, 2017, three days after WrestleMania 33, and knew as soon as he picked up the phone what was about to happen:
“You get calls from [ex-WWE Executive Mark] Carrano for one of two reasons, and I knew I wasn’t getting called up to the main roster because I was already on it. So I picked up the phone, t
talked to him for a few seconds. The phrase he used was, ‘Vince feels your character has run its course and we would like to exercise the release clause in your contract.’”
Gotch may have taken Bray’s advice, but it couldn’t save him from McMahon’s cuts in the end, as he, like countless Superstars, was wished the best of luck with his future endeavours.
More from AEW’s post-show media scrum, as Tony Khan had plenty he wanted to speak about, including some comments made by Eric Bischoff.
Earlier this month, Bischoff and CM Punk laid into each other, with the WWE Hall of Famer even calling the new AEW World Champion the biggest financial flop in wrestling history.
Bischoff’s reasoning is that the ratings for AEW are now no different than they were before Punk joined, despite an initial boost when he first showed up.
Responding on the post-media scrum, Khan refuted Bischoff’s claim, saying that no-one has ever come in and made more of a positive impact financially than CM Punk.
It’s safe to say that Tony Khan has a very high opinion of CM Punk, so expect a lengthy title reign for the Chicago-Made star, despite what Bischoff believes.
AEW Double or Nothing also saw the finals of the Owen Hart Foundation Men’s and Women’s Tournaments, which saw Adam Cole and Britt Baker emerge triumphant.
After the matches, there was a speech by Owen’s widow Dr. Martha Hart, and Tony Khan wanted to make sure that she had plenty of time to speak.
According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, Khan bought an extra hour of programming so Martha could speak for as long as she wanted.
It was noted that Dr. Hart went through about 38 minutes of that extra hour, which contributed to the 4 hour 39-minute run-time of Double or Nothing 2022.
Fans were astounded by how long the show went, with many comparing it to a lengthy WWE Premium Live Event, but Tony Khan spared no expense to make sure Martha had enough time to
speak about the Rocket Owen Hart.
Tony Khan, CM Punk and many more stars of AEW had plenty to say on the post-Double or Nothin Media Scrum, but there was an interesting name who decided to tune in.
During the stream, it appears that WWE’s very own Seth Rollins decided to check things out, as his Twitter handle joined the stream and even appeared on screen.
The former WWE Universal Champion joined during a moment with Khan and Punk, and we can only imagine what he made to Double or Nothing 2022.
It makes sense that Rollins is interested in AEW, as several of his closest friends in wrestling, including his fellow Shield alum Jon Moxley, now work for the promotion.
With that said, Rollins is one of the biggest stars WWE has right now, and has loyally defended the promotion from criticism for years, so while he wanted to check out AEW’s programming, don’t
expect the Architect of the Shield to be All-Elite just yet.
In January this year, Mustafa Ali publicly requested his release from WWE, claiming he had a message too big and too important to tell in the company.
That request was swiftly declined by Vince McMahon, and while Ali eventually returned to TV following over half a year away, he hasn’t forgotten about the message he has to tell.
Speaking on After the Bell, Ali was asked about the public nature of his requested release, and spoke for the first time about trying to get out of his contract:
“I’m very comfortable talking about it. I believe private convers ations are meant to be private. The reason it went public is beca use that private conversation went nowhere…The only reason it
got to that point is because there was no other option. It’s incredible the things that you’ll do when your back’s against the wall and you’re fighting for survival, and I wouldn’t have done something unless I
believed in it.”
Ali may be back on WWE TV, but his booking hasn’t exactly been an improvement on his work before his hiatus, so we’ll just have to see what is ahead for Mustafa Ali and WWE.
Over the years, Paul Heyman has managed some of the greatest ever, including Brock Lesnar, CM Punk and most recently, Roman Reigns.
In 2013, Heyman took on Curtis Axel as his next project, and while their relationship didn’t work out, Axel has since returned to WWE, two years after being released in 2020.
During the go-home episode of RAW to Hell in a Cell this week, Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins had a tense promo segment, resulting in a brawl, and one of the people who separated the
the two was none other than Axel. It was an interesting cameo from the former Intercontinental Champion, who returned to WWE as a
producer last month, and perhaps more on-screen appearances are in the future for the third-generation wrestler.
And we’re ending today with Ric Flair’s last match, which will happen during Summerslam weekend in Nashville, and there’s certainly a demand to see the Nature Boy.
Starrcast’s official Twitter confirmed that the show which will feature Flair’s last match sold out in under 24 hours, though it’s not clear how many tickets that actually means.
Nevertheless, it’s still an accomplishment for the 73-year-old legend to be a draw and sell out the show, in a fitting way for his legendary wrestling career to come to an end.