CM Punk addresses Colt Cabana, AEW EVPs and Hangman Adam Page at post-All Out presser

Definitely needs to be questioned

If it’s a work, it’s horrible.

As an aew fan, I’m probably biased. I don’t want to think they are this dumb but I can’t close the door on it I suppose.

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Probably not an accident

Does it actually matter if it’s a work or not if it produces additional must see content and gives everyone stuff to discuss for the next few news cycles?

The “work / shoot” debates are exhausting. Is it interesting / entertaining?
If yes, great.
If no, they’ll get what they deserve (loss of interest and bad business)

The irony is this stuff benefits the industry built around covering this stuff. And was likely caused by the industry built to cover this stuff.

We could have skipped to the juicy stuff if ppl just named their sources or asked Punk for comment directly weeks ago. I’d be curious if anyone previously ever reached out to Punk for comment as one would do when the reporting done has been lately based on unnamed sources the last few weeks.

Sadly, this cycle of pumping “news” stories won’t go away, so AEW and wrestling talent may lean in more and more til they burn themselves. Its fun to watch devolve into chaos and everyone will get what they deserve in the end.

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They got worked with the airline ticket nonesense. Alvarez and Sapp were each calling out each other

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Why is it horrible if its a work? It would be a story. It isnt something super serious if its a work, that we cant just sit back and enjoy it.

I dont believe it is a work, but I do hope it becomes one.

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I don’t know if he came off as bad - it was entertaining and if the Elite and Hangman are ignoring advice of senior wrestlers and going into business for themselves maybe they do need someone to call out their BS. Without knowing the whole story it’s hard to say whose right or wrong here.

Makes you rethink the whole Cody not getting along with other EVPs a bit doesn’t it

Ok, that is one part of it, which is debatable, because numerous people side with Sapp and back him up.

We as fans dont really know shit. People just pick sides based on who they like and dont like and then talk shit about the other side.

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Sounds like Political Coverage @Rated_R_Poster which is precisely what Wrestling Media have become. It’s almost comical if not scary how fast Wrestling Media in a short time turned having 2 companies into having a Red and Blue and how the for-profit journalism really only tries to move clicks/subs/content and will cycle news stories feverishly without naming sources or getting comments from all parties just to further the fuel to keep selling the stories their tribes want to consume. And nothing sells more than dirty laundry.

I’ll go one further - they act like holier than thou experts and critizing or questioning their work results in them calling you stupid or dumb. The elites in wrestling “journalism” make it so cringe sometimes. The fact none of them knew how to handle a subject in a Q&A ready to spill more than ever before….it was almost too easy to ask him real follow ups about what he was ranting on.

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If they are trying to pull off the most closely guarded and successful work in wrestling history, good for them. But I have no interest. What’s the end game? “Reality” angles never work for me when the pay-off is still two guys cooperating to have a fake wrestling match just like everybody else. Only difference is you’ve now highlighted that every other match on the card is extra phony.

It will lead to good matches, and I’ll enjoy those. But trying to have an “expanded universe” in 2022 — especially in a promotion built on having zero pretense about these guys all cooperating to put on a show — is off the mark and catering to the most hardcore fans whose money is already in their pockets.

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I agree with this. For example, I am generally a Meltzer defender, but Twitter has broken him. Same for a lot of these guys. They can’t handle being a part of the “mainstream“ rather than just dealing with the super hardcores to spend money to subscribe to their product.

Also, when your sources are “the boys” in a business full of very large and very fragile egos, there’s a lot more tiptoeing around than you see in most realms of journalism.

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How much business did UFC get from the success of The Ultimate Fighter? How many new fans did that turn into UFC fans? If the reality show thing is actually happening…

And a reality based angle just lead to 10K Chicago fans chanting for MJF at the close of a show that featured Punk winning the championship.

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I can appreciate someone liking this type of thing but I find it annoying and unfun.

This probably won’t make sense but there’s something different about wrestling insults in storyline. These felt…not great.

Like the elite are immature babies who are spreading rumors and hangman was made to look like a petty idiot.

I read Meltzer did social media training to craft an online persona geared at generating engagement and amplification. (Sorry, don’t have the source but you can trust me bro)

It’s not an accident. That is their business model. And nights like last night line their pockets. It’s not a flaw, it’s a feature. It’s going to get worse and worse.

Punk literally called this out. Then called Alverez out. I genuinely wonder if a single request was made for Punk at anytime in the last few weeks to say something on the record, or if the Journalists never bothered to reach out for the comment just ran with what was being fed. Hs anyone claimed they tried to get comment from him prior to last night?

You know, how like every written news story about somebody in publications say “so-and-so could not be reached for comment / so-and-so declined comment.
There’s something you almost never see in all these reports :thinking:

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This

Maybe I’m just streets behind and stuck in the past but this is not what I want out of wrestling.

The easy answer is for a fan like me to just watch the TV/ppvs but so much of my wrestling fandom is based on stuff like podcasts and social media.

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This :point_up_2:

Wrestling, consumption, and coverages all changed. Is it surprising with half of fandom from the avid fans taking place online and social media being the number one source of exposure for talent and companies that this has devolved into chaos? It was always destined for this.
WWE has not leaned in. AEW has clearly leaned in. Who knows what will work and play long term. But it’s entertaining. Whether consumed on TV or through amplified socials.

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If it’s a work, that’s not the type of wrestling character I enjoy, I’ll go back to Maximum Male Models and Sami Zayn.

The ultimate destination here is that CM Punk is going to be a heel.

Even in Chicago you could tell he wasn’t it over as he normally is. As such, if this rant helps get him over as a heel, even if it’s not a work, it can become one.

I agree some of the reporters didn’t really ask propwr follow up questions and I think a lot of the reason is that they get people like Kenny and the YBs as guest on their show, they don’t normally get CM punk, so they don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them.

How professional and ethical of them :joy:

Maybe it’s just me having spent 4 years at Media and Journalism school but would it be too much to ask to have Wrestling Industry Reporters stop with the unnamed sources? This is stealing right out of MSM playbook and look what civil discourse has turned into in America.

I want to respect these types but it’s a tough ask to do so when the info is not quoted attributed to anyone specifically. I find that so egregious in all Reporting and that it’s allowed to go on unchecked by peers.
Ultimately resulting in whatever place we’re at now as a consumer and fan base and audience.

Doesn’t excuse Punk but whether real or not this feels inevitable in hindsight whether this story (or another one) where a talent was going to go rogue and ultimately fans are the ones left wondering who to believe. This coming from a fan and consumer of both the company content and other content about it. So it’s one perspective and worth nothing but I wish this got brought up more that it’s not just AEW pushing/blurring lines but people doing it as a business model

Maybe wrestling is better off consumed as strictly for entertainment and shoulder content should just be review based (which is why I like Post). Sad to say it for the ppl in that Scrum last night but on rewatch this morning they all just feel like props for a company. Media-Wrestling relationship, first with VKM and now this is broken in my opinion. Everyone’s lost the plot.

For me, the reason why I don’t see this being a work is because this doesn’t feel like a storyline that is working fans, but it would rather be a storyline that is working the media and the Locker room and creating a false narrative that AEW has a toxic locker room. It’s the same reason why the Sasha/Naomi situation would have been a bad work.

Not to mention, the guy getting the promo cut on him (Colt) isn’t even getting anything from “the work”. Now, if Colt comes out to confront Punk ok TV, then I get it. But nothing like that seems to be the case, and I don’t see why colt would want to be the focal point of a Punk heel turn, especially when it’s pretty known that they aren’t friends and it’s really bringing out personal stuff.

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Occam’s Razor

What the most likely explanation?

Is this some 8D chess elaborate work that nobody asked for or was punk extra grumpy and just went off?

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