Tony Khan terminates CM Punk's AEW contract

[Tom Guycott]

Originally Posted by Sting Fan (1)I don't get this whole idea that anyone in this situation had to make nice and attend any sort of meeting. A way forward was seemingly found that kept all parties somewhat happy and from that point surely it was moot. (3)Since the incident at the press conference the Elite have kept quiet from what I have seen. Not a word out of Hangman or Omega (until Omegas Pepsi bit the other day) and the Bucks have been pretty low key as well. Punk meanwhile went into business for himself (off air) post show on Hangman, the very thing that apparently started this whole beef when Hangman did it. If you trace this right back to the start it feels like a probably poor judgement call by Hangman in his promo led to a pretty unfortunate set of circumstances at the PPV post match probably exacerbated by Punk being pissed off about his injury and since then it kind of feels like Punk shadow boxing the world. (2)To this day I don't even think Hangmans promo was that out of line. If the answer to all of this now is "Shut up, get over it and make money" why wasn't that the answer back then when it was on Punk to be the bigger man? I remember hearing Hangmans promo and thinking it was solid work building things between the two of them. I was watching Young Rock the other night and couldn't help but Imagine the internet explosion if Rocks refusal to work HBK came out in the full on internet era, that would have been immense.

(1) The idea is that whatever the issues were between the factions could be aired out rather than letting fester or allowing the rumor mill to run at high gear. Apparently, the only person at any point who supposedly at least tried to bridge the gap on a personal level and should be credited was Kenny.

(2) Between Hangman's promo, the idea running rampant about Punk "keeping Colt Cabana off TV" or "trying to get him fired" or both when the company was already basically barely using him as it was (hell, I personally thought they were ghosting him like Chavo Guerrero said Tony ghosted him), and anything else about snide asides and cast aspersions have been there since he showed up.

(3) You can be "low key" and still be the asshole. The BTE recorded the night CM Punk came in was full of eye rolling and jerking themselves off. At the time, you wanted to give the benefit of the doubt that it was them "working". But bookended with the "victory lap" and sprinkled with the passive-aggressive shit in between. The guy already doesn't like the idea of being disrespected, so you turn around and poke fun of him multiple times in a match - when he isn't there, mind you. Or cover him up on the truck - again, when he isn't there.

I believe there was a comment made by Hangman at one point where he basically said CM Punk "isn't the angel here"... but the problem is that does a lot of implication that the other side - his side - were the angles. And as much as I'm on Punk's side on this whole mess, there were no angles. You can't say everything is all this one guy's fault when there's way too much stacked against him to begin with. There is no reason why a bunch of guys should act pissy and jealous that one guy is a bigger star even to the niche they created for themselves. And as much as there always seems to be the burden placed on "Phil should be the bigger/better/calmer man", no such caveats or burderns seem to be placed at the feet of the self-proclaimed "new four horsemen" or anyone who is their close personal friend or even in their immediate professional orbit.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Originally Posted by Tom Guycott And as much as there always seems to be the burden placed on "Phil should be the bigger/better/calmer man", no such caveats or burderns seem to be placed at the feet of the self-proclaimed "new four horsemen" or anyone who is their close personal friend or even in their immediate professional orbit.

Yep.

And everyone is all "WELL PUNK ASSAULTED THE BUCKS WHY SHOULD THEY TALK TO HIM."

Well, first, they busted into his dressing room. Second, this is pro wrassling. It's a sports environment. Motherfuckers get slapped and knocked around behind the scenes. A lot of testosterone. A lot of butting heads. I don't necessarily condone it 100%. But this is what happens. We've heard about these fights in the WWE. Hell, Jericho was lauded for snapping on a front facelock and neutralizing Goldberg. He also almost fought Brock at Gorilla.

Let's then not ignore the fact that Bob Holly beat the shit out of people in the ring and backstage. JBL too. But we celebrate them.

I'm not about full-on bullying but I'd say Punk and Steele taking on the Bucks and Omega at once isn't really bullying. It's a brouhaha.

And since these guys are pro wrestlers, and they're EVPs, they shoulda sat down and hashed it out. But they're a bunch of sly, passive-aggressive cowards who've already hit their popularity ceiling.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by Ol Dirty Dastard Yep. And everyone is all "WELL PUNK ASSAULTED THE BUCKS WHY SHOULD THEY TALK TO HIM." Well, first, they busted into his dressing room. Second, this is pro wrassling. It's a sports environment. Motherfuckers get slapped and knocked around behind the scenes. A lot of testosterone. A lot of butting heads. I don't necessarily condone it 100%. But this is what happens. We've heard about these fights in the WWE. Hell, Jericho was lauded for snapping on a front facelock and neutralizing Goldberg. He also almost fought Brock at Gorilla. Let's then not ignore the fact that Bob Holly beat the shit out of people in the ring and backstage. JBL too. But we celebrate them. I'm not about full-on bullying but I'd say Punk and Steele taking on the Bucks and Omega at once isn't really bullying. It's a brouhaha. And since these guys are pro wrestlers, and they're EVPs, they shoulda sat down and hashed it out. But they're a bunch of sly, passive-aggressive cowards who've already hit their popularity ceiling.

People don’t get how serious the bursting into a personal locker room is. People justified it because they allegedly had Megha Parehk with them. That could be interpreted as breach of contract right there, ESPECIALLY if you have legal with you.

Buck fans want to say Punk “asked for it” by saying come to his dressing room. He actually said confront him in the hallways, but comprehension ain’t their strong suit. Still, they wanted a fight with him then…got upset when they got one? Sounds like they bought into the “guy sucks at UFC, probably couldn’t whoop me” line and got clowned for it. Lots of hurt pride.

You move on from that. The more credible sources covering this stuff seems to suggest Punk has been the more mature party. He’s also not the one with the EVP title. That the digs, passive aggression, avoidance and general bullshit didn’t stop is on Tony Khan and The Elite being shitty people for their roles.