Last night, a rather bizarre video package aired and made news on social media, as it showed The Elite trio, Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks dissolving during clips of their previous success in AEW. This seems to imply that the group that was suspended after a backstage brawl with CM Punk following the infamous All Out media scrum will make their return to the promotion.
The vast majority of the discussion around the locker room altercation was already thrown around by almost everyone with a Twitter account or a podcast so there’s no need to retread the background of the riff between the parties involved or who might’ve started the series of events that led to punches being thrown. The video package comes about a week after it was reported by The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer that Ace Steel, Punk’s trainer and longtime friend that was involved in the fight, was released from the company, and that the real-life Phil Brooks was in negotiations for a buy out of his contract, which would be the end of his AEW tenure.
Depending on who you ask, CM Punk’s return to the sport after a seven-year absence was either a major note in the history of the business, with some calling it prehaps the greatest return in the history of the industry, or others that will cite his comeback as a bust. As I wrote in an article last week, CM Punk’s stint in the Khan-owned organization was mostly a mixed bag. It undoubtedly gave the company some buzz and more exposure, with the anticipation of Punk’s return as a reason for more fans to sample the product, but at the same time, the numbers more or less remained the same. Dynamite averages around a million viewers a week, which was the case before his arrival, and the company also sold out its pay-per-view before he inked a deal with the company because there are only four AEW PPVs a year and there are a core group of fans that will travel to those shows. That’s not to say that Punk’s appearances were moot, but rather that his run in All Elite didn’t translate to some monumental shift in the landscape of the industry. As much as Tony Khan might want to put himself in the same league as WCW in the 90s, Punk’s memorable return in his hometown wasn’t on the same scale as when The Outsiders showed up on Nitro.
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(via @AEW)pic.twitter.com/nPzFb1FcFB
— B/R Wrestling (@BRWrestling) October 27, 2022
After the brawl, it was reported that there would be an investigation of the situation, and Tony Khan made an appearance on television to announce that the world title, as well as the trios titles, were vacated. Who knows how legitimate the investigation was or exactly what happened, but the bottom line is, The Elite are on their way back to TV while CM Punk is in talks to get a buy out of his contract. Assuming that Punk threw the first punch, it might’ve been rather textbook for Tony to decide to bring The Elite back to television. That being said, CM Punk walked into the promotion for a big money deal, not necessarily because he believed in the project, which is completely fine. It’s also worth mentioning that Punk said at the media scrum that if anyone had a problem with him, they could take it to him so he can’t be too surprised when someone actually did. On the flip side, The Elite, much as it’s implied in the name of the organization, were a part of the foundation of the company when it launched a few years ago. Between social media and the platform they had with Ring Of Honor at the time, The Bucks were very popular. How far they could’ve continued at that stage is somewhat debatable since it seemed like they did all they could do in ROH, and Sinclair Broadcasting wasn’t going to make huge investments to elevate the reach of the company. On the other hand, Kenny Omega had a top spot in New Japan and took a chance on a new commodity. In short, The Elite are Tony’s crew and there’s nothing wrong with that. Every booker has a group of performers that they view as key to their overall plan for the product.
Still, there’s a legitimate question to be asked, does AEW really need The Elite?
Don’t get me wrong, this is taking nothing away from the skills and marketing ability that created enough buzz that Tony Khan was willing to invest in pro wrestling, largely based on the success that the trio had in both America and Japan. That said, aside from the name, are The Elite necessary as far an on-screen characters for the organization? The Young Bucks’ style isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but their ability to maximize their popularity prior to the launch of All Elite with limited television exposure in the United States is definitely an accomplishment. However, one of the major criticisms of their style and a criticism of the high spot style in general is, the routine can became stale if it’s done on a regular basis. The Bucks’ incredible athleticism is always impressive, but their matches are more about signature moves than any specific narrative. It’s much easier to use that approach on the indies because fans usually aren’t watching all of those matches within a short time frame, but the format of weekly television exposed some of the flaws on The Bucks’ style. As far of their status as EVPs in the company, I’m not sure it’s a wise decision to have full-time performers work in the office. Why exactly didn’t they put over FTR for the AEW tag titles a few months ago?
As far as Kenny Omega, even without the hype from Dave Meltzer during his series of bouts with Okada, the former AEW champion is undoubtedly a very talented athlete. Again, similar to The Bucks, Omega isn’t for everyone and there are some valid criticisms of his work, but his athleticism is undeniable. That said, the 39-year-old grappler is obviously near the latter stages of his career, and considering the extended time he took off to attempt to heal from a variety of injuries, you have to wonder, how long does can he continue his in-ring career? At the very least, based on the laundry list of injuries, it doesn’t seem like it would be wise for Khan to invest too much stock into Omega as a guy to built the company around since there are several underutilized talents that could use the valuable TV time to attempt to get themselves over with the audience to a level that would allow them to be a key piece of the puzzle in the future.
In short, as unthinkable as it might sound on the surface, All Elite Wrestling doesn’t need Omega or The Bucks to be successful. If anything positive resulted from the infamous media scrum that made the company look bush league, it’s that key players were able to prove how valuable they are to the company. Chris Jericho, Bryan Danielson, and Jon Moxley are an all-star team. The Acclaimed, MJF, and other young talent proved that there’s potential for the company in the future. Granted, they are returning to the organization, but all things considered, it would more just as well or possibly a better if they worked in backstage roles instead, which is actually a good thing since it proves there’s legitimate depth to the roster. The core AEW audience still watched the show without The Elite on the broadcasts so that offers some level of proof that the organization would be fine if they didn’t return to television.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Twitter @jimlamotta
