It’s just sad, I was a huge mark for punk in his wwe days but his refusal to have any humility will always be his downfall. Hopefully his exit can bring back the magic that was pre covid AEW. Who knows what’s next for Punk, maybe a one night return at 40? The WWE locker room might revolt if anything more than that. Great article!
He was a very different fish in a very different pond back in the WWE. He stood out a little like Daniel Bryan in that he didn't fit the WWE mold. As soon as he was surrounded by a bunch of other wrestlers who did what he did but better he lost a lot of the shine.
Excellent article! I wanted Punk fired since last year and I was floored (and disgusted) that he was basically the centerpiece of Collision. He kept botching the GTS that it was comical. I felt bad for Satoshi Kojima who jobbed to him at the Forbidden Door and Satoshi is far more talented, moves better, and is older than Punk. Kenta was not about to jobbed to Punk while Punk did the botched GTS, so I'm not surprised the match did not happen.
Other than that, Jack Perry should be given his flowers after his suspension.
As you know, I've messaged you off line to say that, indeed, I shook wrestling once and for all. And I credit Punk in large part to this. His comeback is the single most disastrous thing that happened to my fandom of the sport. The promise I bought into with AEW completely and totally dissolved over the last 15-18 months in large part through his demands, actions, and fragility. At best they were contributing factors, at worst obvious direct causes. But there was a moment a few months ago when YouTube recommended a Wrestling With Wregret review of Wrestlemania 9, and it was at that moment as I watched it that I was not amused by the camp, but actually disgusted and embarrassed with myself for having ever considered it entertaining in any fashion. That day almost certainly never arrives without Phil's endless temper tantrums and the ways in which his feckless boss Tony Khan (tragically, indeed, "one of us" in a very DVDVR poster sense) tried his hardest to placate him from day 1. This week brings me back to look (The Bloodline is still going on? LMAOOOOO) because once again the "artform" has managed to deliver me exponentially more tragedy and conflict than it has joy. I'm just glad that I need not care, but only offer condolences and empathy to others who aren't me for a change.
I don't know if I will ever escape. I was very close after the Benoit murders. Was out for years before getting sucked back in with the promise of writing work.
I'm at a point where I can easily imagine never watching MMA again though.
I had stopped watching between the Benoit murders and AEW's founding by and large but was still interacting with wrestling media on some level. I'd look at message boards and such because it was sort of a "let me know when it's safe to try again" situation in my mind. I wasn't sure it ever would be, but I was curious enough to check out the occasional NJPW or indy thing. I couldn't tell you if GCW is still in business now and I have a zip up hoodie I bought at a show two years ago or so. The whole thing is lost to me. When I went to PWO I ran across some link to a "good promo" and I just thought the guy in the ring should go beat the dude's ass that is shit talking him from the ramp. The basic tropes are no longer things I'll accept.
As far as MMA goes - I don't know that I could ever get back into it the same way that I used to be into it. I have a really good friend in Columbus who is deep into UFC now (still into pro wrestling some too) and I'm just giving him my MMA DVDs now, which led me to actually watch some of them with him. It was fun! And newer UFC is technically a lot better than it was 15-20 years ago. It's especially obvious in the lower weight classes, whereas the heavyweights tend to still be chubby buffoons. I despise Dana White but also see a future in which he ceases to be present in the sport, and we've sorta kinda got things approximating the splits we saw in the 90s/00s thanks to Ngannou and other money being tossed around. I appreciate it more than boxing in 2023, which feels like it is locked in a death spiral. I feel bad saying that and know it is very cliche for people who are losing interest in something to say that the thing is dying, but I look around and there's three boxing cards on a traditional TV schedule for the rest of the year right now. One is on Fox Sports Espanol, the others on ESPN to the tune of one a month. Below the PPV attractions, the next tier of "stars" in the US straight up aren't fighting at all. What am I supposed to say to that?
Great stuff! I think Punk has always been overrated. Still, I have been really underwhelmed by AEW, mostly. They can’t seem to make any new stars except MJF. Moxley is ruining his WWE legacy every single time he is out there. So is Jericho. There are pockets of good like Samoa Joe, FTR, Darby Allin, a few other things. Overall, his heart is in the right place but I think TK is way in over his head. AEW has squandered a lot of new guys and girls, and they keep making big debuts that don’t seem to go anywhere. Releasing Punk was probably the the right move but AEW feels like TNA or maybe even WCW 2000 to me. I hope I am wrong and I am rooting for the company.
I think Tony is in well over his head. If he really is booking everything then he's got too much work to cover. It's no wonder people are unimpressed by their women's division (for the record, TNA still has the best women's division in North America.) I'd like to add The Acclaimed to your list of acts which have got over. Wembley erupted when they walked out (I was lucky enough to be in the crowd.) My issue is that at the moment they're not producing much in the form of home grown talent. Yes, Darby has been excellent but could you see him headlining a PPV? They really need to push them otherwise this might become a short term thing.
As I said on the bird app, neither Punk nor I..both middle aged men who were never quite the groundbreakers they pretended to be (in our respective vocations)..could go home again. In our cases, the Summer of Punk.
The difference is that I’m totally okay admitting I was wrong and eating my well deserved platter of crow.
I should’ve listened to Kristina from the jump.
You live, you learn. Great breakdown and wrap up on this Punk thing 👍
Great article (and it's not just because you repeated a few points I've been making to friends of the sport!) All of Punk's backstage shenanigans wouldn't fly in the 'normal' world. If you kick off with the founders of your company, you don't get rewarded by running your own project. If I fronted up to my boss the way he supposedly did with TK then I would expect to be fired. TK had to put his foot down if only to show he can control his own locker room. One of the repeated lines which was said after the collapse of WCW was 'the inmates were running the asylum'. You can't allow prima donnas to do whatever they want in an organisation regardless of how much of a draw they are.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I said this to Kristina last night and then woke up this morning with the intention of writing an article I could put it in.
Same, particularly the idea of punk versus reality. He looks old, fat and slow. And he does not have any vision beyond himself on top. Snowden hits a 🎯
This is probably the best analysis of the situation I've read anywhere thus far. Level-headed, entertaining and really on point. Kudos!
Thanks for reading
It’s just sad, I was a huge mark for punk in his wwe days but his refusal to have any humility will always be his downfall. Hopefully his exit can bring back the magic that was pre covid AEW. Who knows what’s next for Punk, maybe a one night return at 40? The WWE locker room might revolt if anything more than that. Great article!
He was a very different fish in a very different pond back in the WWE. He stood out a little like Daniel Bryan in that he didn't fit the WWE mold. As soon as he was surrounded by a bunch of other wrestlers who did what he did but better he lost a lot of the shine.
Excellent article! I wanted Punk fired since last year and I was floored (and disgusted) that he was basically the centerpiece of Collision. He kept botching the GTS that it was comical. I felt bad for Satoshi Kojima who jobbed to him at the Forbidden Door and Satoshi is far more talented, moves better, and is older than Punk. Kenta was not about to jobbed to Punk while Punk did the botched GTS, so I'm not surprised the match did not happen.
Other than that, Jack Perry should be given his flowers after his suspension.
As you know, I've messaged you off line to say that, indeed, I shook wrestling once and for all. And I credit Punk in large part to this. His comeback is the single most disastrous thing that happened to my fandom of the sport. The promise I bought into with AEW completely and totally dissolved over the last 15-18 months in large part through his demands, actions, and fragility. At best they were contributing factors, at worst obvious direct causes. But there was a moment a few months ago when YouTube recommended a Wrestling With Wregret review of Wrestlemania 9, and it was at that moment as I watched it that I was not amused by the camp, but actually disgusted and embarrassed with myself for having ever considered it entertaining in any fashion. That day almost certainly never arrives without Phil's endless temper tantrums and the ways in which his feckless boss Tony Khan (tragically, indeed, "one of us" in a very DVDVR poster sense) tried his hardest to placate him from day 1. This week brings me back to look (The Bloodline is still going on? LMAOOOOO) because once again the "artform" has managed to deliver me exponentially more tragedy and conflict than it has joy. I'm just glad that I need not care, but only offer condolences and empathy to others who aren't me for a change.
I don't know if I will ever escape. I was very close after the Benoit murders. Was out for years before getting sucked back in with the promise of writing work.
I'm at a point where I can easily imagine never watching MMA again though.
I had stopped watching between the Benoit murders and AEW's founding by and large but was still interacting with wrestling media on some level. I'd look at message boards and such because it was sort of a "let me know when it's safe to try again" situation in my mind. I wasn't sure it ever would be, but I was curious enough to check out the occasional NJPW or indy thing. I couldn't tell you if GCW is still in business now and I have a zip up hoodie I bought at a show two years ago or so. The whole thing is lost to me. When I went to PWO I ran across some link to a "good promo" and I just thought the guy in the ring should go beat the dude's ass that is shit talking him from the ramp. The basic tropes are no longer things I'll accept.
As far as MMA goes - I don't know that I could ever get back into it the same way that I used to be into it. I have a really good friend in Columbus who is deep into UFC now (still into pro wrestling some too) and I'm just giving him my MMA DVDs now, which led me to actually watch some of them with him. It was fun! And newer UFC is technically a lot better than it was 15-20 years ago. It's especially obvious in the lower weight classes, whereas the heavyweights tend to still be chubby buffoons. I despise Dana White but also see a future in which he ceases to be present in the sport, and we've sorta kinda got things approximating the splits we saw in the 90s/00s thanks to Ngannou and other money being tossed around. I appreciate it more than boxing in 2023, which feels like it is locked in a death spiral. I feel bad saying that and know it is very cliche for people who are losing interest in something to say that the thing is dying, but I look around and there's three boxing cards on a traditional TV schedule for the rest of the year right now. One is on Fox Sports Espanol, the others on ESPN to the tune of one a month. Below the PPV attractions, the next tier of "stars" in the US straight up aren't fighting at all. What am I supposed to say to that?
Great stuff! I think Punk has always been overrated. Still, I have been really underwhelmed by AEW, mostly. They can’t seem to make any new stars except MJF. Moxley is ruining his WWE legacy every single time he is out there. So is Jericho. There are pockets of good like Samoa Joe, FTR, Darby Allin, a few other things. Overall, his heart is in the right place but I think TK is way in over his head. AEW has squandered a lot of new guys and girls, and they keep making big debuts that don’t seem to go anywhere. Releasing Punk was probably the the right move but AEW feels like TNA or maybe even WCW 2000 to me. I hope I am wrong and I am rooting for the company.
I think Tony is in well over his head. If he really is booking everything then he's got too much work to cover. It's no wonder people are unimpressed by their women's division (for the record, TNA still has the best women's division in North America.) I'd like to add The Acclaimed to your list of acts which have got over. Wembley erupted when they walked out (I was lucky enough to be in the crowd.) My issue is that at the moment they're not producing much in the form of home grown talent. Yes, Darby has been excellent but could you see him headlining a PPV? They really need to push them otherwise this might become a short term thing.
As I said on the bird app, neither Punk nor I..both middle aged men who were never quite the groundbreakers they pretended to be (in our respective vocations)..could go home again. In our cases, the Summer of Punk.
The difference is that I’m totally okay admitting I was wrong and eating my well deserved platter of crow.
I should’ve listened to Kristina from the jump.
You live, you learn. Great breakdown and wrap up on this Punk thing 👍
Well said. The man needs therapy (not that he’s ever going to admit it).
Great article (and it's not just because you repeated a few points I've been making to friends of the sport!) All of Punk's backstage shenanigans wouldn't fly in the 'normal' world. If you kick off with the founders of your company, you don't get rewarded by running your own project. If I fronted up to my boss the way he supposedly did with TK then I would expect to be fired. TK had to put his foot down if only to show he can control his own locker room. One of the repeated lines which was said after the collapse of WCW was 'the inmates were running the asylum'. You can't allow prima donnas to do whatever they want in an organisation regardless of how much of a draw they are.
It's worked out well for AEW, they get shot of Punk and don't have to pay his contract up. Perhaps he'll go and fight Jake Paul next 😬
In the spirit of full disclosure, I said this to Kristina last night and then woke up this morning with the intention of writing an article I could put it in.
Same, particularly the idea of punk versus reality. He looks old, fat and slow. And he does not have any vision beyond himself on top. Snowden hits a 🎯