00:00 AEW stars very upset and frustrated?
00:03 What happened backstage with the CM Punk footage being aired, WWE releases and more?
00:09 I'm Oli Davis, and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:15 We've now had an extra 24 hours to process AEW airing the Shoot CCTV footage of CM Punk
00:26 and Jack Perry's backstage altercation at All In - the incident that led to AEW firing
00:33 Punk with cause.
00:35 And with that extra night's sleep and some distance, and just a bit of time to emotionally
00:39 work through what happened, I think today we can all say, with heads that are a little
00:45 clearer - yep, that was still a terrible idea.
00:48 That was a really, really dumb thing to do.
00:51 Ironically, there's an argument that AEW, by doing this, has largely managed to eradicate
00:57 wrestling fan tribalism.
00:59 Because everyone from AEW hardcores to WWE stans united in thinking this made them look
01:05 second rate.
01:07 So how was this decision made behind the scenes?
01:10 PWTorch's Wade Keller first reported on his podcast that "I've been checking with
01:14 people in AEW and I have been told that this was not something the Bucks were in favor
01:20 of doing.
01:21 It wasn't their idea.
01:22 It was Tony Khan's idea that he wanted this out there."
01:26 He then expanded on this in a written report, giving more context to what he meant by the
01:30 Bucks not being on board.
01:32 One prominent AEW source, when asked if the Bucks were initially on board with the idea
01:36 of airing the Punk footage, said "they were not."
01:39 The source said they didn't know one person other than Tony Khan that was on board with
01:45 this.
01:46 "The source tells me the Bucks were ready to move on and not get into this again."
01:50 Keller continues, though, claiming that once it was clear Khan had made his decision, Matthew
01:55 and Nicholas Jackson pitched ideas onto how to make it part of a storyline.
02:00 Some of those ideas, we've been told by multiple sources, were shot down by Khan,
02:04 perhaps due to legal reasons or wanting to keep their comments in the realm of Khan's
02:08 vision of promoting the Bucks vs FTR match.
02:12 Keller then describes the Bucks as "willing participants" and said any framing of this
02:16 situation as this being something they were forced or pressured into doing against their
02:21 will is not fair or accurate.
02:25 Other sources say they had ideas that didn't make air and wanted to do it differently.
02:30 So it seems by Keller's report the Jacksons were not initially on board, but once Khan
02:34 had made his decision, they went along with the plan without being forced.
02:38 Keller has posted a written summary of his report to clarify this, as he feels parts
02:43 of his initial podcast report were inaccurately portrayed elsewhere.
02:47 Fightful Select then reported that Matthew and Nicholas were both "fine with doing
02:51 the angle".
02:52 I don't know if that necessarily refutes what PWTorch is now claiming in their write-up,
02:56 as they do say that too, just that the Bucks weren't initially on board.
03:00 Fightful do corroborate, however, that this was Tony Khan's idea in response to Punk's
03:05 comments on Ariel Hawane's podcast and the interview shots from WWE at AEW over WrestleMania
03:12 40 weekend.
03:13 Sean Ross Sapp adds that FTR were also on board with the idea, as they thought it would
03:17 add some social buzz to them vs the Bucks at Dynasty.
03:21 Because FTR are really good judges of social media fallout.
03:25 No one's heard of any issues between CM Punk and FTR as a result of this.
03:30 There just might be issues with everyone else.
03:33 Fightful writes that most people in AEW had "tepid reactions" to the footage - Tepid
03:38 Reactions, title of your indie wrestling show - as many saw it as a one-night ratings ploy.
03:43 There was talk, however, of the mood decreasing backstage once the footage had aired, and
03:48 it created dread over the inevitable social media bulls*** it would bring.
03:53 If you're wondering what decreasing backstage mood and dread over the social media fallout
03:57 looks like in human form… it's this.
04:01 It's Tony Schiavone immediately after they played the clip.
04:04 The Wrestling Observer team described stronger feelings backstage, with Bryan Alvarez claiming
04:09 the vast majority of reactions in AEW can be summed up as "Why are we doing this?
04:15 I can't believe we're going to show this.
04:17 Why?
04:18 Very upset.
04:20 Disappointed.
04:21 Is this ship sinking?
04:22 This has got to be rock bottom."
04:24 And Dave Meltzer noted people in AEW were really frustrated that the All In incident
04:29 wound had been reopened.
04:31 Fightful added, though, despite the doom heralding of some commentators, no one in AEW believes
04:37 this is a company killer.
04:39 Meanwhile, over in WWE… the reaction was probably this.
04:44 Fightful reports that many backstage in WWE were talking about the footage being aired,
04:49 but the actual content didn't really shock anyone.
04:51 There's no heat on CM Punk in WWE for it, and a few WWE wrestlers described the video
04:57 as a "self own" from AEW.
05:00 One described it as no worse than anything that happened in the Monday Night Wars between
05:05 WWE and WCW.
05:07 Which I must remind you, though, was a quarter of a century ago.
05:11 Thankfully, Alvarez reports people in AEW believe Tony Khan has "gotten this out of
05:17 his system", where the President allegedly said "it's done, we're moving on."
05:22 I presume he was just talking about the CM Punk stuff specifically, and not the overall
05:26 shots at WWE.
05:27 Because that wasn't the only segment that had WWE living ramp-free in on the episode.
05:32 Immediately following the Punk All In footage, Dynamite had Will Ospreay cut a promo on Triple
05:38 H. Leveque had recently said that free agents who choose AEW over WWE were afraid of the
05:44 grind and just wanted a lighter schedule.
05:47 This was presumably about AEW's genuine coups this year of signing Okada, Mercedes
05:52 Monet and Will Ospreay.
05:54 So Ospreay shot back, accusing Leveque of only getting to his position because he was
05:58 "grinding" the Boss' daughter - a reference to Triple H's real-life wife Stephanie McMahon.
06:04 PWTorch reported Ospreay was an "enthusiastic participant" in the crafting of what he would
06:09 say on the promo during the production session.
06:12 Apparently the decision to make the comments was made hours before Dynamite aired.
06:16 PWInsider write that Ospreay was the one who came up with the Boss' daughter line, and
06:21 it was not given to him by someone else.
06:23 Fightful Select adds that the promo was Ospreay's idea, and he'd got approval from several
06:28 people backstage.
06:29 Another shot at Punk in his speech was talked about, but that was considered overkill following
06:34 the footage being aired on the same show.
06:36 I personally believe the best response is to let Ospreay wrestle the best matches you've
06:41 ever seen.
06:42 Which will likely get two of next week, as not only will he fight Bryan Danielson at
06:46 Sunday 21st's Dynasty, he'll also wrestle Danielson's Blackpool Combat Club faction
06:51 mate Claudio Castagnoli on the go-home Dynamite.
06:55 With all that intrigue over playing the CM Punk footage, with Tony Khan taking a huge
07:00 reputational risk for his promotion, how well did it do in the TV ratings?
07:06 Nothing to write home about.
07:07 The show did 819,000 viewers with a .3 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
07:13 While that is up from the previous week's 747,000 and a .23, that number was its lowest
07:20 in years.
07:21 The Punk footage episode was AEW's joint second highest demo rating of 2024, but as
07:27 that girl once asked Thanos… what did it cost, mate?
07:31 AEW's biggest success this year was the January 17th episode, which pulled in 891,000
07:38 and a .33 demo, because they expertly promoted a big championship match between Samoa Joe
07:44 and the young challenger Hook.
07:47 Rather than keep Hook a focal point of programming, though, he's just become Chris Jericho's
07:51 latest way to stay relevant.
07:53 So it's concerning SE Scoops is reporting Hook is interested in exploring his options
07:58 when his AEW contract expires later this year, and that WWE will likely have interest.
08:06 Perhaps if AEW focused more on the talent and matches they do have, they could steadily
08:11 rise to those numbers again.
08:13 Which is why it's a promising sign that Jack Perry might be getting over as a result
08:17 of all this.
08:18 With his scapegoat t-shirt selling out on his official website, while House of Torture's
08:23 Crimea River design is currently New Japan's top seller.
08:26 Speaking of top sellers, here's a top sellout - Turbo Jack to say thank you to our brilliant
08:32 Pledgehammers on Patreon.
09:00 But what's best for your business is signing up to WrestleTalk's Patreon at patreon.com/wrestletalk
09:20 where you get loads of exclusive videos like Luke and Oli's long-form 6 episode 150-whatever
09:26 hour deep dive into the Breakup of the Shield, bonus Survival Series episodes and early access
09:34 to Monday Night Raw.
09:35 And the best of you get a shoutout on this very show from Turbo Jack, like the Bald Imbrommy
09:40 Brett Lymphorth, The Magic Man Barra Blayne, $100 Man CD Over, Shield Maiden The Zornis,
09:50 Big Jiggy Josh Marden, Double L Liam Lannard, The Pin, Neckel of Success Luke Kelly, Abominable
09:58 Michael Abbott, Ryan Disco Stewart and where there's a will, there's a Will Campbell.
10:07 While onscreen wrestle releases have become far less common in WWE, corporate personnel
10:12 appear to be in constant flux.
10:14 This is likely still because of the WWE/UFC merger into TKO, where many back office roles
10:19 would have been duplicated and therefore phased out, and the beginning of the Paul Levesque
10:24 era.
10:25 He's in charge now, I don't know if you've heard, putting his own hires in place.
10:29 Thursday the 11th saw two high profile corporate departures amidst a shake-up of one of the
10:35 most important departments in WWE - talent relations.
10:40 SE Scoops first reported that WWE's EVP of Talent Dan Ventrell had been removed from
10:45 his position.
10:46 Ventrell got that job replacing Levesque when Levesque was promoted to Chief Content
10:50 Officer on Vince's first exit in 2022, in a game of corporate musical chairs.
10:56 Dave Meltzer then confirmed Ventrell is no longer with the company, and Fightful posted
11:00 the following memo that was sent within WWE.
11:03 "WWE has begun the process of reorganizing its talent relations group.
11:07 Moving forward, Chris Legental, in addition to his new role in comms, will help us in
11:12 leading this new group.
11:13 Matt Altman, in addition to his role in marketing, will be working closely with Chris to help
11:18 in this endeavor.
11:19 Talent development and recruiting will now report into Shawn Michaels.
11:23 All of talent, which includes talent relations, development and recruiting, will continue
11:27 to ultimately report into Paul Levesque.
11:30 As of today, Dan Ventrell will be moving on from WWE.
11:34 We thank Dan for his tremendous contributions.
11:36 Sincerely, Nick Khan."
11:39 In this, PWInsider added that the Senior Vice President of Athlete ID and Development, Tramp
11:44 Willfinger, had also departed the company.
11:47 Willfinger have been in WWE since 2021.
11:50 A brand new Survival Series is up for you to watch now… and it's way more difficult
11:55 than you think.
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