CM Punk Responds To AEW Debut Rumors | WrestleTalk News

CM Punk Responds To AEW Debut Rumors | WrestleTalk News

On this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite, the debuting Paul Wight, formerly known as the Big Show in WWE, sent the wrestling world into speculation overload as he revealed that at AEW Revolution this Sunday, AEW would be unveiling a brand new “Hall of Fame worthy” signing.

The more logical among us speculated names such as Kurt Angle, Batista, or Mick Foley. However a popular option, as commented on yesterday’s news episode by Safa Rehan and Alec Paiva, was that he would reveal it to be none other than himself, turning heel in classic Big Show fashion after debuting as a face.

However, Tony Khan seems to have put a dent in that particular option, as he spoke on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, confirming that what Paul Wight was actually Paul Right:

“A major star in the world of wrestling—a huge, huge star—is going to come and sign a multi-year contract with AEW on Sunday at the Pay-Per-View. So I can confirm what Paul (Wight) said is true.”

Khan also revealed that the reason they are signing so many legends for Elevation is so they can work with the younger talent to get them ready for TV.

As with any surprise related to AEW, fans automatically went to the CM Punk train of thought, including our own Mr. Davis, the bloody mark:

But not so fast young Davis, because Punk himself has publicly, and repeatedly, denied it’s him that will be going to AEW on Sunday.

Taking to Twitter in one of his semi-regular Q&A sessions, Punk denied he would be the one appearing on Sunday in the opening tweet:

“Let’s try this again. Q&A time! Use hashtag #askpunk and no, it’s not me.”

But of course, that’s exactly what someone who was appearing on Sunday would say, so again, Punk responded to a fan who had to clarify whether or not there was a possibility of him appearing with “100% not me”.

And as it’s not him, he was asked who would be the best acquisition for AEW in his place, to which he responded “I think they should focus on who they have.” Which is not how you build WCW 2.

He was also asked whether he gets frustrated having to repeatedly shoot down rumours about himself any time AEW teases a surprise of some sort, to which he said “Nah I get it. It ain’t all about me!”

But what if it is, sleuthing internet fans did notice a similarity between a tweet Punk put out and one of Tony Khan’s.

Khan tweeted: “I just had a long talk with a good friend & I’m going to make a significant change to one of the matches for #AEWDynamite tomorrow night Live on @tntdrama!”

And on the very same day Punk posted a tribute to Eddie Guerrero saying: “Was just talking to a close friend about all he taught me and we were breaking it all down. “

What if they’re each other’s close personal friend?

MAJOR WWE Title Change Plans Cancelled

WrestleMania season is a time to reap the rewards for all of those storyline seeds you’ve been sowing throughout the year to create some of the most exciting wrestling matches you can muster.

Unless some seeds someone else has been sowing get in the way of those plans.

Babymaking segway, I’m talking about Lacey Evans.

In an interesting new report from Fightful Select it was revealed that Lacey was set for a huge road to WrestleMania before the announcement of her pregnancy took her out of action.

First and foremost she was set to defeat Asuka at Elimination Chamber and win the Raw Women’s Championship, an idea which can get in the bin in my humble opinion.

She was then to continue her feud with Charlotte Flair under the guise of bonking her dad until at least WrestleMania, likely culminating in a huge match at the show, blonde on blonde action for the honor of a Hall of Fame blonde it’s Vince’s wet dream.

Sadly, instead of that we’re getting the rematch between Asuka and Charlotte from Mania 34, and something tells me we’re going to get Chaz another run with the Raw Women’s Title.

Championship Match Announced For Fastlane

But before we get into that proper we’ve got Fastlane to get outta the way on the road to WrestleMania.

And currently blocking the exit is a pile up around the Women’s Tag Team Championships – because many people assumed after their match on NXT this week that Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez, who literally had a rematch clause baked into the finish, would get a shot at Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler at the show.

Well, we are getting a rematch, it’s just from Elimination Chamber as WWE have announced that the team of Jaxler will take on Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks at the pay-per-view in two weeks.

The Bossiest teams last shot at the titles was overshadowed by various shenanigans with Reginald the sommelier, which lead to the Smackdown Women’s Champion being pinned on PPV two months before Mania.

As ever the theme is ‘how will they coexist’ but ‘this time it’s coexistier’ as Belair officially challenged Banks to a match at Mania on Smackdown and Sash had the temerity to say she was the best and you were second best hahahaha.
If none of that was getting you excited for this match up consider this, this is also the third match between these pairings and continues the trend of the Women’s Tag titles being used as a heater for singles feuds.

WWE Planning Two-Night TakeOver?

One silver lining could be that Kai and Gonzalez might get their second go round at a different show.

NXT Takeover Mania edition is just around the corner, currently booked in for Thursday April 8th, two days before the first night of WrestleMania kicks off on the Saturday.

And apparently WWE officials are considering something they’ve never done before the show, according to Mike Johnson for PW Insider the company are considering holding their first ever two night edition of the event.

Saying: “There has been talk of the show being the first-ever ‘two night’ Takeover, with part one airing on WWE NXT TV on the USA Network on Wednesday 4/7 and then Part Two continuing the next night on the WWE Network, but with a month to go, that idea could change or evolve.”

That would certainly leave plenty of time to book a Kai and Gonzalez vs ShayNia rematch for one night of the PPV.

With reports also circulating that NXT is moving to Tuesdays after Mania this could also be the final edition of NXT on a Wednesday night so going out with a bang would be the way to go.

Kurt Angle Criticises WWE Booking

We’ve already discussed it here but WWE’s booking heading into Mania feels a bit like “what?! Really?!” this year” and for the last few years there’s definitely been a last minute air to the direction they are going in with their biggest show.

And we’re not the only ones to notice it, former Raw GM and one of the greatest wrestlers of all time Kurt Angle also spotted the trend during his time there.

On his podcast, the Kurt Angle Show, he talked about what it was like creatively in the company during the busiest season of the year.

“It was really hard to guess who was going to wrestle who, things weren’t structured out as neatly as in prior years. They usually have the WrestleMania cards by December at the very latest, this one it wasn’t ready for quite some time. I don’t think they put together the whole card entirely till the week before [WrestleMania 35].”

If you were wondering why the builds these days seem rushed or truncated then there is your answer right there, stories back in the 90s and early 2000s had a little more room to breath because they were decided earlier.

AEW Champion To Concede Title?

Let’s hop the fence and talk AEW now, as they have a huge show coming up this weekend in Revolution and it’s a blockbuster weekend for Darby Allin who teams with his long lost father Sting against Team Taz.

While career-wise teaming with the Icon is a big moment, it’s actually a night off defending the TNT Championship for Darby as his next competitor will be decided during the face of the revolution ladder match earlier in the night.

The showdown with this new number 1 contender would then be set for Dynamite next week, but adding a bit of drama and a bit of a caveat for Allin who has a tendency to do quite dangerous stuff, especially in street fight type matches was Tony Khan.

Who said on the AEW Unrestricted podcast that if Allin is unable to defend his TNT Title for any reason come next Thursday he will be forced to forfeit the belt.

Could be nothing but it could also be sowing the seeds for something that happens during the street fight, Team Taz have recently carted Darby off in a body bag, so if they kidnap him again ahead of Dynamite there is definitely some will he/won’t he concede excitement to build into Dynamite.

Shaq Brings In AEW’s Highest Viewership This Year

Elsewhere on AEW this week, Shaq had his big tag match against Cody, which helped Dynamite score its biggest viewership of 2021 so far, pulling in an average of 934,000 viewers, an increase of 103,000. Meanwhile NXT managed an average viewership of 692,000 viewers, a drop of 42,000.

Interestingly, AEW’s 18-49 rating actually dropped by .02 to .33, despite increasing massively in viewership. It seems the added viewers that were pulled in were outside the usual 18-49 audience. Meanwhile, NXT’s 18-49 demo rating actually went up by .02 to .20, despite dropping overall viewership.

What are your thoughts on the above story? Let us know in the comments on Twitter or Facebook.

3 years ago by El Fakidor Laurie Blake

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