Ace Steel, an AEW producer, was fined for using explicit language on last night’s All Out go-home episode of AEW Dynamite on TBS.
During All Out Week, AEW officials sent an email to the company’s talent roster in which they discussed a number of topics related to the week and the various events that were taking place. PWInsider notes that one of the points was to exercise caution and refrain from using foul language while appearing on live television this week for obvious reasons.
After AEW World Champion Jon Moxley issued an open challenge for the main event of Sunday’s pay-per-view, Steel later came down to the ring to grab the contract, then took it backstage. Steel later came to the ring and hyped up his longtime friend and trainer to challenge Moxley at All Out, and during the intense promo, he reminded Punk of his motto to get back up after being knocked down.
Steel yelled at Punk, “You f**king get up!” before walking away. The segment continued with Punk issuing a heated promo and taking the contract into the hometown crowd while promising that he will be coming for Moxley and the AEW World Title on Sunday. Fans’ reactions on social media have been overwhelmingly positive toward the promo.
According to reports, Steel immediately returned backstage after the promo and apologized for using adult language. A fine was accepted by Steel, who later paid it.
Today, in their communication to talents, AEW sources mentioned that the fine will be donated to a charity. The company’s communication praised Steel’s quick reaction as an example of how to deal with errors and accept responsibility for them when they happen by accident.
Steel had a pro wrestling career that spanned more than 25 years and was quite successful. In NWA-TNA and ROH, he first teamed up with Punk, one of his former students. Steel was hired as a Performance Center Coach by WWE in November 2019, but he was furloughed in April 2020 due to COVID-19 budget cuts. Steel went back to work for WWE in October 2020, but he was let go on January 5 of this year, along with other employees who were let go as a result of budget cuts at WWE NXT and the Performance Center. Steele joined AEW in March of this year and has been working behind the scenes since then.
In late August, it was reported that Warner Bros. Discovery officials asked AEW to tone down the adult language. However, it was later reported that this came from a quote that was likely taken out of context from a mandatory talent meeting on promos and talents going into business for themselves. The point of this was to emphasize that AEW could get into trouble with WBD if they “fly too close to the sun,” but according to what we’ve heard, this was not an official edict from the network.
