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I wanted to take a while to let the latest fake news story concerning AEW play out before I really commented on it. With that time now passed, I have a few thoughts to share on the latest example of the people who Tony Khan pays extremely well and gives a ton of latitude to embarrassing him and his company, yet again.
First it was the fake CM Punk got Colt Cabana fired story. That of course led to Adam Page shooting on CM Punk on national TV with a bizarre cross up promo. Which led to the blow up at Double Or Nothing. Which led to people who spent $50 bucks on a PPV to see Punk win the Title on Saturday turn into Dynamite on Wednesday to see that Title stripped, with no reason given as to why, all because Khan didn’t nip the childishness in the bud in the first place.
Of course after that we had fake stories of a massive new TV deal that would pay hundreds of millions of dollars reported by formerly credible journalists across the web. And this week, childish, petty people who clearly have an agenda against Punk called their favorite lazy reporters and told them that Punk’s ESPN interview was AWFUL and everyone in the locker room was or will be mad when it came out! Said reporters, being lazy, got worked again and caused a stir across the web with their fake reporting.
Sure, these reporters didn’t actually hear or read the interview. The petty clowns that tipped them to the story didn’t either but in their defense they were just trying to smear Punk in the press so they actually lived up, or rather down, to the lowlife behavior that all petty, backstabbing liars exhibit. Mission accomplished, well at least to the dim people that believe the lazy reporters.
There was no real end game here as once the interview came out it would show that their “story” was a lie but hey, they don’t care about working mark reporters and the worst part is, they know the next time they call them with a fake story, those formerly credible reporters are so stupid and lazy that they will do the source's bidding yet again.
After hearing so many reporters blasting social media about how heinous CM Punk's interview was going to be, I haven't seen one of the people that "reported" the "story" do a mea culpa. The silence says it all. Is it bad journalism or do they have an axe to grind? Did they get bad intel or did they willingly share bad intel? I guess at this point it doesn't really matter. At the end of the day, it's harder and harder to take issue with CM Punk's statement that he works with children. He was completely wrong to say it where he said it, but he was right about it when he said it. These "reporters" are getting their false news from people close to the situation, and their undermining of Punk and AEW on the whole makes them children to me.
In the interview, Punk said he was wrong to say what he said at the press conference. He apologized to Tony Khan for his actions. He said he has reached out to The Young Bucks, only to be rebuked and referred to lawyers. If that is true (and if there isn’t a legal situation pending), how can The Bucks be seen as anything other than petty children, especially given that they are officers in AEW?
It's actually worse than that. Punk mentioned Page’s shooting him on on national TV, which is a 100 percent shoot, in the ESPN piece. Even the hack reporters can’t deny that it happened. It was part of the story that ESPN wanted to tell, so Punk commented on it and tried to move ahead.
So what does Nick Jackson do? He posts this on his Instagram:
It’s great that Page is your friend and a swell guy Nick. You are an EVP of a company and you should be trying to fix issues for your boss. Instead, you are creating more ill will. You are making the problem worse, not trying to find a solution. And let’s not forget that you and the rest of your group lost so many viewers for your main event on Dynamite that the show fell under 700,000 viewers. When someone is losing that many viewers they should be doing all that they can to help the company, not make a situation worse. And with a new show debuting tomorrow, you were part of the segment that saw the start of the show drop from 918,000 viewers to the 699,000 that stayed for your bout. That isn't exactly sending moment Collision's way.
So here we are at what should be a crossroads for AEW. They have a new show tomorrow. They will do a huge gate in Toronto and London. They have CM Punk coming back. But they have other issues too. Houses domestically have been down. Ticket sales for most of their other shows are lagging. Dynamite had a big ratings drop this week, and the NBA and NHL playoffs are no longer competition so that excuse can no longer be used.
Tony Khan has a big problem….and a big part of that problem is Tony Khan. Now, let me state up front that as long as he wants to spend his family’s money AEW is fine, it will stay around. The question to me is what does he want his legacy in the business to be. Right now, he is seen as the nice guy who some of the talent takes complete advantage of. Some even see him as a mark promoter. AEW started so hot, and with so much buzz. Now? It’s settled into a place where its core base likes it and growth has stagnated. His management style (and booking) is the reason that has happened. At a time when WWE's business is up, AEW's is down. It's not the business, it's AEW's business that's the problem.
I know AEW fans will hate this, but if any of the things I mentioned above happened in WWE, heads would have rolled. After one event, there wouldn’t have been a second. EVPs would have been stripped of their Titles and been told to tow the line or don’t let the door hit you in the ass. But Tony hasn’t done that. He needs to. These wrestlers are not your friends Tony. Friends wouldn’t do things that hurt your business and make your life more difficult. These people and these incidents they continually create are making you and your product look like a clown show. I know you love the business. It’s time for you to show it. Get your house in order before the people you have trusted destroy the thing you love.
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