It’s the story that’s captivated the wrestling world over the last several days, the story of All Elite Wrestling and their backstage drama. There had been some rumblings of things getting heated over the last month or so, with CM Punk’s Dynamite promo a few weeks ago on “Hangman” Adam Page seeming a little out of place and clearly was a shoot. There was the fallout that came from the alleged Sammy Guevara/Eddie Kingston backstage fight that took place, and the rumors that Thunder Rosa is heavily disliked backstage, resorting to hiding in bathrooms to avoid certain superstars. However, after yet another very well-put-together AEW Pay-Per-View on Sunday, things reached a fever pitch that nobody saw coming. CM Punk’s post-All Out media scrum interview went off the rails quickly. Not only did he deeply discuss the long-standing issues he has had with Colt Cabana (using Colt’s legal name) and how they have not had a friendship or any relationship of any kind for nearly a decade, but he then turned things to Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and “Hangman” Adam Page once again. He said very derogatory things about them all, which I will not repeat for the sake of keeping things family-friendly. The words he spoke resonated so much with the EVPs of AEW that an alleged backstage confrontation took place and has led to mass chaos in the media in the days since the event. What does all of this mean for AEW? Well, let’s see.
AEW has always been the place known for being the alternative to the “same-old same-old” WWE product that has soured so many fans, myself included, over the last 2 decades or so. Moments of hope for WWE’s product often disappeared as fast as they appeared, and AEW sought to change things. For a very long while, they did, and they took advantage of WWE’s laziness and “budget cuts” to bolster their roster, provide fresh and unique entertainment, and keep the wrestling world abuzz constantly. Then…the dominoes started to fall.
The first was Cody Rhodes, one of the founders and cornerstones of All Elite Wrestling, leaving the company, and returned to the WWE earlier this year. That shocked so many and left many wondering why he so abruptly left AEW for some greener pastures elsewhere. Then, with the Vince McMahon drama of the summer, WWE’s leadership changed, with the very key change of Triple H becoming the Head of Creative. Since this took place in late July, WWE’s product has soared to heights it has not seen in decades. Fresh, fun feuds and storylines, championships meaning something again, cool returns of superstars fans never wanted to see leave and giving everyone a sense that they belong on the roster and will serve a purpose of some kind. Fans have bought into this, and slowly shifted the balance back a bit to WWE’s side. There could just be a lot of coincidences here that AEW’s first major stumbles are all occurring while WWE is reaching levels they have desperately needed to get to, but that just seems a bit too unlikely to me. There seems to be a much deeper discomfort and fear growing in AEW that they may not be as popular as they once were, and it may not be their world to run anymore. WWE are competing with them, directly or indirectly, and it’s the first time that they’ve viewed it as a serious competition. AEW seems to be scared, and while they may end up just fine, lots of pieces and cracks are beginning to show. MJF did return, but the story of his AEW situation earlier this year was big news. As mentioned, Cody is gone, and now, with this massive blow-up backstage after All Out, there are many suspended, and both The Elite and CM Punk have been stripped of the titles they just won on Sunday. New Trios Champions have already been crowned, and a new World Champion will be crowned at Grand Slam following a “Tournament of Champions”, with Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, and Brian Danielson still heavy favorites to move on.
All of these things, coupled with suspensions to the likes of Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks, several backstage agents, and others involved in the scuffle, and CM Punk may very well never work in AEW again. One thing is for certain coming off of all of this: AEW needs stability, accountability, and restitution for everything that went down. Death Triangle winning the Trios Titles gives those titles all of those things, crowning a new World Champion at Grand Slam will do the same for it, and the suspensions handed down provide them all a lesson in learning what is right and wrong for employees of Tony Khan to be doing. The last step, in my eyes, is for Punk to unfortunately depart from AEW for good. His return was massive, absolutely amazing and a moment the world will never forget. He is more of a headache and liability than an asset at this point with his ego, his mouth, and his constant injury bug. It will go down as one of the most promising runs that could have been but simply became a “what if?” very, very quickly.
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