https://x.com/davemeltzerwon/status/1734648014193467815?s=46&t=JWp1FDcxOniaaPmFyvmyrg
If this comes to fruition, I believe Tony Khan choosing the Bucks and Jungle Boy over Punk is the biggest fumble in wrestling history.
Not only has he given the competition a Mania main eventer, but now blew the TV deal.
Yikes
Literally nothing about that references WBD.
This could mean Fox is interested, or USA is back a the table for RAW. It could mean other streamers are in the mix.
Furthermore, what about their experience would make WBD interested in working with CM Punk again? The guy didn’t provide numbers for Collision. He screwed over the Upfronts at the last minute too.
Also, IF AEW was to leave WBD, there would be no shortage of potential suitors who would be all over a dependable show, that would come at a fraction of what WWE would cost.
The vague tweet by Dave was absolutely meant to draw up excitement and lead people to believe it has to do with AEW. This is the absolute worst behavior amongst wrestling journalists.
That is a clickbait post by Meltzer. “Things are changing greatly.”???
It screams “I might know something you don’t know” but is too afraid to actually say anything concrete. How are things changing? Price wise? Buyer wise? Who has he talked to either at the networks or within WWE? TUNE IN TO FIND OUT. And listen to 2 hours of meandering talk where absolutely nothing confirmed gets said but they play a lot of ads.
This is horrible tweet from supposedly the best “journalist” in the business.
Meltzer is so afraid to not know something. You either have a story from a good source, and so be it if you’re wrong (and you tune out the jags who try to dunk on you for it because they don’t know what journalism is), or you don’t have a story from a good source, so you shut your mouth until you do. Those are the options.
Exactly!!
Don’t know why people waste their time with this stuff.
To be fair I use to read the football rumours every day only for about 3% to actually come true. It’s good fun if you just go along with it all but ultimately it’s all a waste of time
I look at hockey reporters and their speculations as well like Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman but at least it pays off. Here with Dave it may not be the most responsible but I’m not angry about it. Don’t want to harp on him too much as he gets stuff right more times than not and that Pollock is a Meltzer disciple.
Is there something I am missing? All I see is a Tweet that says:
“Things are changing greatly. Let’s just say things changed greatly with Raw negotiations from a few weeks ago. And Punk is a huge part of the selling point.”
It doesn’t allude to WBD at all. Punk is adding valie for the next TV negotiations and is a huge selling factor for executives. It could mean anybody if its Amazon, Disney, etc. Nobody should be too angry about this tweet.
Exactly what I was thinking. I don’t get how a vague Tweet about WWE is somehow being interpreted as a shot at AEW and/or WBD.
It’s Dave being Dave but Collision was sold to WBD with Punk. No deals have been signed or announced so AEW with WBD is far from a done deal.
It all really hinges on what happens with the NBA, but now WWE has a guy considered a difference maker who was handed to them on a silver platter by TK
I think Dave knows exactly where people will jump to - such as the first post on this thread.
The majority of people will interpret this the very same way. It’s the majority of responses are people taking this news to mean AEW is being thrown off WBD.
This is pure speculation.
The only person who seems to have reliable sources within WBD, Andrew Zarian, who broke Collision existing among other stories, has stated that early 2024 should see a deal announced.
Also, WBD wanted to add Collision to their schedule. Not the other way around. Nothing was “sold on Punk”.
That was before TK handed the competition a big star. In the words of Vince - plans change, pal.
…again, WBD knows better than anybody, how little a difference maker Punk was by the end.
Anyway, you seem to be dead set with this narrative that Punk was run out of AEW but a well organized conspiracy of folks - and now they’re going to pay for it. I really don’t think that’s the reality of the situation, as more and more has come out.
We will see. You’re speculating just as much as I am. I do know that Punk is now in WWE and Rollins is doing business with him. It’s going to draw big money. If AEW had the proper leadership they could have done the same but they don’t.
I want them to be a solid number two but there is way too much evidence that Tony and the EVPs are lost. If they can score this TV deal then great, but this year has lost them a lot of faith with me.
Haha, you made a whole thread, speculating on the meaning of a vague tweet!
WWE is going to do big business regardless of who is on top. They’ve had four years of network television reach, and as a result are doing their best business in two decades. It’s not hard to understand the correlation. WWE would be doing just as well with or without Punk.
In fairness, isn’t speculating to a degree the entire point of this discussion board. It’s one thing if a reporter does it, but for fans to speculate it’s just talking about what we love with others that also love it. None of us work for WWE, or AEW or These networks. I don’t see the big deal.
I also think it’s worth realizing that Punk never wanted to be in AEW to begin with.
Allegedly he reached out to WWE in summer 2021 to gauge interest and was shot down.
Previous to that he hadn’t seriously taken AEW’s offers up.
I think within the year of him being there, he went from thinking he could steer the ship and was upset when he found resistance to his ways of doing things.
By All Out 2022, he clearly wanted out. He went nuclear at the press conference.
By January 2023, he was allegedly exploring options to get out of his deal and come to WWE.
When Collision was announced, he continually threw up road blocks and caused drama. It’s been well reported that he was the one speaking to media (SRS, Meltzer, Mike Johnson, and Nick Hausman have all outed him from one degree to another). He’s terminally online and has always been one to try and stir the pot.
By the time he came back this summer, if it wasn’t one thing it would have been another. By the time All In happened, it was unavoidable.
Even if TK had pulled everyone into a meeting and tried to push forward, Punk’s behavior and personality clearly would have found another way to be unhappy.
Punk’s mind was likely made up with two factors:
Those two factors made it clear to Punk that he’d never have the kind of power he believed he would within AEW.
He wanted out. He got his way out. He’s gone. I’m personally happy the last few weeks of AEW has clearly felt like a refocused product that is trying to lean into what brought them to the dance in the first place.
And now, Punk is playing the role of WWE Superstar perfectly, and is happy to be “home”.
Also, let’s pump the brakes on how much of a game changer Punk is ratings wise.
Considering aside from an initial bump, his appearance for Raw did very little.
And I feel like this is just more in my argument - WWE will be successful in spite of their ratings. In spite of their roster. They’re a machine that’s too big to fail with a fanbase that loves everything they do.
