Punk's media scrum, Page 54, Muffins, Biting People Bad™

[Nosnorb]

according to PWI the investigation was a "Farce". Guess we will see more of these articles in the next few weeks.

My fave part of the article.

I love the AEW friendly narrative that it was all Punk’s fault because he allegedly threw the first punch. I don’t know about you, but if I just called out three pro wrestlers and said if you had a problem with it, come see me, and then they angrily burst into my locker room uninvited, I would think they were to get a piece of me. I sure wouldn’t let that happen. I would go down swinging too. If you don’t want me to hit you, don’t burst into my locker room uninvited.

Add in the fact that these guys are also officers in the company, they were arguably more wrong than Punk because they should realize that by doing what they did, they give Punk cause to sue the company. No one was right here. They shouldn’t have burst in, and Punk shouldn’t have hit them. If they come back, he should come back and if Tony chooses them over Punk, Khan should be paying him a sizable chunk of the Khan fortune to not wrestle for AEW. And, I believe he will because Punk has all of the leverage here

My dude, The Elite had the company lawyer in tow and the area doors make it pretty hard for people to burst in, but I'll ignore that just like you did for the sake of arguement. So you say you would go down swinging, but say that Punk shouldn't have hit them. So, when the Bucks and Kenny burst into the locker room and were wanting to beat the shit out of Punk, you would have thrown down, but then you say that Punk shouldn't have hit them, which implies that Punk should have just taken a beating. Sure, that makes sense.

Funny how no mention was made of the bite marks on Kenny from Ace, and while the article makes a big deal about how the story about Jericho confronting Punk only came out later, but nothing about the story that Punks dog lost teeth due to The Bucks and Kenny kicking the door down (which is BS as was explained by others in this thread) was put out there just as the Elite were mentioned on TV for the first time since Muffingate.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Nov 5, 2022 3:41:07 GMT -5 Nosnorb said:

according to PWI the investigation was a "Farce". Guess we will see more of these articles in the next few weeks.

My fave part of the article.

I love the AEW friendly narrative that it was all Punk’s fault because he allegedly threw the first punch. I don’t know about you, but if I just called out three pro wrestlers and said if you had a problem with it, come see me, and then they angrily burst into my locker room uninvited, I would think they were to get a piece of me. I sure wouldn’t let that happen. I would go down swinging too. If you don’t want me to hit you, don’t burst into my locker room uninvited.

Add in the fact that these guys are also officers in the company, they were arguably more wrong than Punk because they should realize that by doing what they did, they give Punk cause to sue the company. No one was right here. They shouldn’t have burst in, and Punk shouldn’t have hit them. If they come back, he should come back and if Tony chooses them over Punk, Khan should be paying him a sizable chunk of the Khan fortune to not wrestle for AEW. And, I believe he will because Punk has all of the leverage here

My dude, The Elite had the company lawyer in tow and the area doors make it pretty hard for people to burst in, but I'll ignore that just like you did for the sake of arguement. So you say you would go down swinging, but say that Punk shouldn't have hit them. So, when the Bucks and Kenny burst into the locker room and were wanting to beat the shit out of Punk, you would have thrown down, but then you say that Punk shouldn't have hit them, which implies that Punk should have just taken a beating. Sure, that makes sense.

Funny how no mention was made of the bite marks on Kenny from Ace, and while the article makes a big deal about how the story about Jericho confronting Punk only came out later, but nothing about the story that Punks dog lost teeth due to The Bucks and Kenny kicking the door down (which is BS as was explained by others in this thread) was put out there just as the Elite were mentioned on TV for the first time since Muffingate.

"Punk has all the leverage here"

Yes that's why the story has changed 10 times on his end, his pal got fired, and he too, looks like he will never come back...

[Chiral]

I don’t know about you, but if I just called out three pro wrestlers and said if you had a problem with it, come see me, and then they angrily burst into my locker room uninvited, I would think they were to get a piece of me. I sure wouldn’t let that happen. I would go down swinging too. If you don’t want me to hit you, don’t burst into my locker room uninvited.

[Facetious]

Nov 5, 2022 3:57:50 GMT -5 Chiral said:

I don’t know about you, but if I just called out three pro wrestlers and said if you had a problem with it, come see me, and then they angrily burst into my locker room uninvited, I would think they were to get a piece of me. I sure wouldn’t let that happen. I would go down swinging too. If you don’t want me to hit you, don’t burst into my locker room uninvited.

Literally the brain worms I keep seeing from people.

"If you want to talk, you know where to find me!"
*is found, frantically starts swinging*
"POOR PUNK WAS DEFENDING HIMSELF. THE ELITE WERE THE AGGRESSORS"

[Final Countdown Jones]

The accusations that this is a convenient excuse for Tony to politically assassinate Punk and get him out of the company is so laughable that you know it came straight from Punk and you know Punk is the kind of guy who sees loyalty in such binary terms that once you enforce any boundary at all, it's all guns blazing. Punk was so perilously close to all the control and power he wanted, and the fact his gambit blew up in his face has him furious. Like Tony wanted Punk for so long, gave Punk the world, but all of it was a ruse just to get rid of this dead weight he couldn't shake. Like Tony wasn't cleaning Punk's body with his own tongue right up until he went cowboy.

[Lizuka #BLM]

Nov 5, 2022 4:34:57 GMT -5 Final Countdown Jones said:

The accusations that this is a convenient excuse for Tony to politically assassinate Punk and get him out of the company is so laughable that you know it came straight from Punk and you know Punk is the kind of guy who sees loyalty in such binary terms that once you enforce any boundary at all, it's all guns blazing. Punk was so perilously close to all the control and power he wanted, and the fact his gambit blew up in his face has him furious. Like Tony wanted Punk for so long, gave Punk the world, but all of it was a ruse just to get rid of this dead weight he couldn't shake. Like Tony wasn't cleaning Punk's body with his own tongue right up until he went cowboy.

Just based on the behavior of Tony leading up to it, and how easily Punk was forgiven for his going off the rails to call out Hangman stunt a few weeks prior, it really feels like if there was any possible way for Tony to reasonably pin this on the Elite without opening himself up to a massive lawsuit he probably would.

[Kalmia]

Yes, I'm certain Khan was simply looking for an excuse to fire the guy he'd just put his very well-protected world title on. That makes sense.

[Moppy]

I’ve never heard of Dave Scherer before but what an unadulterated torrent of absolute one-eyed drivel he’s written there. PWI should hold themselves to higher standards than that.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

I usually look at PWI as one of the better sources for wrestling news, but if I'm Mike Johnson, I'm firing Dave Scherer after writing that absolute garbage article

As I've said before, this situation has made almost every wrestling news source continue to look like absolute clowns.

[BorneAgain]

That PWI article is another example how some really try to downplay just how potentially damaging Punk's scrum comments were from a PR perspective and why he's getting the brunt of the heat with this. I don't know the intricacies of AEW backstage politics and who's done what in regards to cliques, and so forth but the significant factor is that its just that: backstage. Certain online fans hear about it and you see the occasional mention via internet osmosis (Twitter, TikTok, etc) but its contained a lot within that sphere and doesn't go anywhere. Even Punk's coward comment to Page on Dynamite as petty and unnecessary as it was, could at least be seen as one uncomfortable moment on TV that was moved on from.

The media scrum is something that by its nature is something that has a strong chance of being seen/heard about by journalists, TV executives, and even possibly AEW advertisers. I think even Eric Bischoff noted that its the worst possible platform to be unprofessional on, let alone appearing as if you're verbally bossing around the person you work for. Its certainly not a context where people can easily write off it being some kayfabe thing, especially when Punk is somewhat focusing on a person that hasn't been on TV and thus has no value to any potential angles. I mean even Bret and Shawn Michaels, as bitter as that feud got, did not use WWF press conferences to attack each other and claim that some of the management were complete idiots who didn't know what they were doing.

The entire notion that Khan is using this whole thing as an excuse to get rid of Punk ignores the practical reality that almost any talent in any well known entertainment/sports company that pulled what what latter did at such a spotlighted event would have been turfed immediately. In some ways, going through with an investigation and quietly buying out his contract rather than making any public firing could be argued as Tony still being more deferential to him than he should be.

[Jedi-El of Tomorrow]

Nov 5, 2022 3:41:07 GMT -5 Nosnorb said:

according to PWI the investigation was a "Farce". Guess we will see more of these articles in the next few weeks.

My fave part of the article.

I love the AEW friendly narrative that it was all Punk’s fault because he allegedly threw the first punch. I don’t know about you, but if I just called out three pro wrestlers and said if you had a problem with it, come see me, and then they angrily burst into my locker room uninvited, I would think they were to get a piece of me. I sure wouldn’t let that happen. I would go down swinging too. If you don’t want me to hit you, don’t burst into my locker room uninvited.

Add in the fact that these guys are also officers in the company, they were arguably more wrong than Punk because they should realize that by doing what they did, they give Punk cause to sue the company. No one was right here. They shouldn’t have burst in, and Punk shouldn’t have hit them. If they come back, he should come back and if Tony chooses them over Punk, Khan should be paying him a sizable chunk of the Khan fortune to not wrestle for AEW. And, I believe he will because Punk has all of the leverage here

My dude, The Elite had the company lawyer in tow and the area doors make it pretty hard for people to burst in, but I'll ignore that just like you did for the sake of arguement. So you say you would go down swinging, but say that Punk shouldn't have hit them. So, when the Bucks and Kenny burst into the locker room and were wanting to beat the shit out of Punk, you would have thrown down, but then you say that Punk shouldn't have hit them, which implies that Punk should have just taken a beating. Sure, that makes sense.

Funny how no mention was made of the bite marks on Kenny from Ace, and while the article makes a big deal about how the story about Jericho confronting Punk only came out later, but nothing about the story that Punks dog lost teeth due to The Bucks and Kenny kicking the door down (which is BS as was explained by others in this thread) was put out there just as the Elite were mentioned on TV for the first time since Muffingate.

Punk may have hit the Young Bucks with his car, and then ran them over repeatedly, but they were crossing the street. Also they dented his car. Punk had no choice but to run them over.

[Gerard Gerard]

Nov 5, 2022 6:27:05 GMT -5 BorneAgain said:

That PWI article is another example how some really try to downplay just how potentially damaging Punk's scrum comments were from a PR perspective and why he's getting the brunt of the heat with this. I don't know the intricacies of AEW backstage politics and who's done what in regards to cliques, and so forth but the significant factor is that its just that: backstage. Certain online fans hear about it and you see the occasional mention via internet osmosis (Twitter, TikTok, etc) but its contained a lot within that sphere and doesn't go anywhere. Even Punk's coward comment to Page on Dynamite as petty and unnecessary as it was, could at least be seen as one uncomfortable moment on TV that was moved on from.

The media scrum is something that by its nature is something that has a strong chance of being seen/heard about by journalists, TV executives, and even possibly AEW advertisers. I think even Eric Bischoff noted that its the worst possible platform do be unprofessional on, let alone appearing as if you're verbally bossing around the person you work for. Its certainly not a context where people can easily write off it being some kayfabe thing, especially when Punk is somewhat focusing on a person that hasn't been on TV and thus has no value to any potential angles. I mean even Bret and Shawn Michaels, as bitter as that feud got, did not use WWF press conferences to attack each other and claim that some of the management were complete idiots who didn't know what they were doing.

The entire notion that Khan is using this whole thing as an excuse to get rid of Punk ignores the practical reality that almost any talent in any well known entertainment/sports company that pulled what what latter did at such a spotlighted event would have been turfed immediately. In some ways, going through with an investigation and quietly buying out his contract rather than making any public firing could be argued as Tony still being more deferential to him than he should be.

The attempts from the pro-Punk camp to focus only on the backstage element of All Out is incredibly cynical, but it does at least indicate a tacit awareness that the events of the scrum itself are indefensible.

[Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story]

Nov 5, 2022 5:39:26 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

I usually look at PWI as one of the better sources for wrestling news, but if I'm Mike Johnson, I'm firing Dave Scherer after writing that absolute garbage article

As I've said before, this situation has made almost every wrestling news source continue to look like absolute clowns.

Dave is the founder of the site, don’t think Johnson can fire him. That’s my understanding at least. It also makes the article look crazier.

PW Insider has always been a Punk pub. There’s a reason he chose Johnson to do the Starrcast 3 interview. They’re buds. I’m not surprised at all by the article, but it’s a bad look.

[Sephiroth]

Totally over this situation. My two cents, were I in TK’s place:
First things first, after the fight I pull Punk and The Elite to an empty room and tell them “Either go out in the lot and settle this right now or learn to live with each other because this do any of us any good.” Fir good measure, “ I don’t like testing you guys like children, but if that’s how you’re going to act it’s what I’ll do.”

After that-everyone is off the road for a while. Everyone gets hit with a fine. Punk is stripped of the title, The Elite are stripped of their tag titles. Everyone is suspended from social media fir a while-violators will get additional fines. Merchandise revenue is subject to short term renegotiation. Whoever threw the first lunch is off tv longer and gets an even heavier fine. Once all that is done, to Punk: “I respect you and I your work and I think there is a lot we can do together. So I’m giving you a second chance-but don’t you EVER pull something like that again!” To The Elite: “Guys I thought we were friends I thought we had a good thing going, why would you do this to me? I don’t want to lose you and I value your input but your executive privileges are off for a while until I feel like I can trust you again.”

And finally, with problems backstage laid bare, I’d turn to veterans like JR, Schiavone, Regal, Sting, Jericho, and Dustin and ask them “ Is there anything you can do to help?”

[Dub H]

Punk/Ace really are full in the PR Attack Squad. Its kinda sad.

[Dub H]

Nov 5, 2022 7:25:10 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

Totally over this situation. My two cents, were I in TK’s place:
First things first, after the fight I pull Punk and The Elite to an empty room and tell them “Either go out in the lot and settle this right now or learn to live with each other because this do any of us any good.” Fir good measure, “ I don’t like testing you guys like children, but if that’s how you’re going to act it’s what I’ll do.”

After that-everyone is off the road for a while. Everyone gets hit with a fine. Punk is stripped of the title, The Elite are stripped of their tag titles. Everyone is suspended from social media fir a while-violators will get additional fines. Merchandise revenue is subject to short term renegotiation. Whoever threw the first lunch is off tv longer and gets an even heavier fine. Once all that is done, to Punk: “I respect you and I your work and I think there is a lot we can do together. So I’m giving you a second chance-but don’t you EVER pull something like that again!” To The Elite: “Guys I thought we were friends I thought we had a good thing going, why would you do this to me? I don’t want to lose you and I value your input but your executive privileges are off for a while until I feel like I can trust you again.”

And finally, with problems backstage laid bare, I’d turn to veterans like JR, Schiavone, Regal, Sting, Jericho, and Dustin and ask them “ Is there anything you can do to help?”

That would bne one way to make Punk come off with a slap to the wrist and punish the Elite for being assaulted and make sure they quit the company.

[Hurbster]

CM Punk - crabwalking to glory.

[Mozenrath]

Nov 5, 2022 3:57:50 GMT -5 Chiral said:

I don’t know about you, but if I just called out three pro wrestlers and said if you had a problem with it, come see me, and then they angrily burst into my locker room uninvited, I would think they were to get a piece of me. I sure wouldn’t let that happen. I would go down swinging too. If you don’t want me to hit you, don’t burst into my locker room uninvited.

It's sort of like the notion that Colt being booked was to spite Punk, primarily or solely, but also trying to hold the opinion Punk had no involvement in AEW not booking Colt, willingly oblivious to the fact those are mutually exclusive ideas.

Doublethink's some strong stuff.

[Sephiroth]

Nov 5, 2022 7:29:45 GMT -5 Dub H said:

Nov 5, 2022 7:25:10 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

Totally over this situation. My two cents, were I in TK’s place:
First things first, after the fight I pull Punk and The Elite to an empty room and tell them “Either go out in the lot and settle this right now or learn to live with each other because this do any of us any good.” Fir good measure, “ I don’t like testing you guys like children, but if that’s how you’re going to act it’s what I’ll do.”

After that-everyone is off the road for a while. Everyone gets hit with a fine. Punk is stripped of the title, The Elite are stripped of their tag titles. Everyone is suspended from social media fir a while-violators will get additional fines. Merchandise revenue is subject to short term renegotiation. Whoever threw the first lunch is off tv longer and gets an even heavier fine. Once all that is done, to Punk: “I respect you and I your work and I think there is a lot we can do together. So I’m giving you a second chance-but don’t you EVER pull something like that again!” To The Elite: “Guys I thought we were friends I thought we had a good thing going, why would you do this to me? I don’t want to lose you and I value your input but your executive privileges are off for a while until I feel like I can trust you again.”

And finally, with problems backstage laid bare, I’d turn to veterans like JR, Schiavone, Regal, Sting, Jericho, and Dustin and ask them “ Is there anything you can do to help?”

That would bne one way to make Punk come off with a slap to the wrist and punish the Elite for being assaulted and make sure they quit the company.

I’d argue trying to salvage something from Punk before severing the relationship altogether would be worth a try, given the money already sunk into him. I’d also argue letting The Elite off with a slap on the wrist is a sure way to leave them feeling emboldened to future bad behavior and to kill locker room morale. So no easy choices to make.

[polarbearpete]

Nov 5, 2022 5:39:26 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

I usually look at PWI as one of the better sources for wrestling news, but if I'm Mike Johnson, I'm firing Dave Scherer after writing that absolute garbage article

As I've said before, this situation has made almost every wrestling news source continue to look like absolute clowns.

I think it’s Scherer’s site. Johnson is just the one with better sources.