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So far Cody has jumped, Jade is believed to be jumping, Ricky Starks has been backstage and rumor is that WWE is interested in him, Punk going back to WWE is rumored, MJF has as much as said he’s going where he can get paid next year. My question is how many of these jumps have to happen before it starts to look like AEW is less than? If everyone on that list makes the jump where does AEW turn next? They’ve grown MJF into a huge star. Everyone else in AEW right now feels a rung below MJF. So if he and the others make the jump. What happens then? How does AEW create stars and keep them from jumping ship in the future? It seems like it’s a complicated situation at best. Cody was an EVP that ultimately chose to go home. Punk seemed to never want to do business with WWE again until he did business with AEW. What has to change for AEW to attract, keep and grow top talent?
The one thing that AEW could do to have a chance at making talents that have options want to stay in AEW is fire himself as booker and hire someone competent. For the most part, Tony books matches. That’s why, as you said, it seems like most people are a rung below MJF. If the company had a good booker, who created characters and strong storylines, it might make talent with options want to stay with his company.
A few months ago AEW put out a list of what wrestlers can and can't do in the ring. You couldn't do flips and dives, use sharp objects, use an object to choke someone, use tables or chairs, bleed and etc. My question is why do that if all those rules were going to be broken on a weekly basis?
The talent can’t do those things without getting permission first. So unless Tonk Khan is letting the inmates run the asylum (which while would be believable given the past I don’t think he is doing in this case), the talents are getting the OK to do the things that they are doing.
If CM Punk is free and clear to work for WWE, when would be the best time to debut him? Should he be a surprise at Survivor Series in Chicago or show up beforehand to lead to a match?
I could see the allure of bringing him back at the Series PLE but if it’s me I hold him off until The Royal Rumble as a surprise entrant. December is a dead month for WWE so I wouldn’t want to lose some of the buzz of his return.
Should CM Punk return as a babyface to challenge Roman or a heel to challenge Rollins? It could work either way for him.
First off, I don’t bring him back and put him right in a Title program. I liked how AEW brought him in and let him gets some matches under his belt before ramping him up. I think WWE should do the same thing. As for whether he is a face or a heel, I would lean towards face and definitely listen to how the fans react to him. Without the jaded AEW fan base who believed shoddy reporting working against him, I think that the WWE fans will want to cheer for Punk.
I know you think WWE wouldn’t acknowledge the AEW world title meaning something, but a title unification match (whether against Rollins or Roman) featuring CM Punk, the “real world champion,” who beat the third member of the shield for that belt… you don’t think Hunter would go for it… even if they wrap the center/side plates in duct tape or something?
No, I don’t. When Ric Flair brought the Title in, WCW was an equal of the WWF. AEW is a distant second place to them. A lot of WWE fans have no idea about the company, if they know it’s there at all. It makes no sense to make WWE fans wonder what belt Punk is unifying.
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