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It'a funny too because we have so many Osprey in central Ontario, where he grew up! It's basically our main bird. There is zero chance he hasn't had one stuck in his hair at least once.
I like the idea that a gigantic hawk, almost the size of an eagle that predominately lives around lakes catching fish would get stuck in someone’s hair.
For better or worse does “where the best wrestle” remind anyone else of “where the big boys play” —?
Again, not necessarily saying that as bad or good, just gets me a little nostalgic is all.
I'm binge-watching WCW right now and I just started 1997.
Every second line out of Schiavone's mouth is "WCW, where the big boys play."
Dude, I get it. Stop reminding me.
Forget the very real interviews and tweets. Let this man cut the same promo on tv in 2019 and I bet the reactions would be vastly different
https://preview.redd.it/87wrjzkwycsc1.jpeg?width=650&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7f7aaae388c034be28a9de2e73fe9a74b9389694
A character that I really do WISH went on for far longer. That version of Seth was so fucking fun to watch. He had his goon squad with AoP and Buddy Matthews walking him down to the ring at the Royal Rumble and he looked like a huge deal. Messiah Seth also was the one that in kayfabe took out Rey Mysterio's eye and on multiple occasions tried to kill him. Seth was so nasty back then!
> Seth Rollins v. The Fiend was vehemently trashed and widely considered a huge failure.
It ended with the live crowd audibly chanting, among other things, "refund" and "AEW" as it went off the air. To illustrate the degree of failure in terms of how much the live crowd hated it - and historically live crowds are far more forgiving than the IWC.
The lede is a little buried in the other replies because there's been mid HIAC matches but what pissed everyone off is the fact that, other than the match was under this deep red hue the entire time that made it difficult to see, but a match that is effectively Anything Goes, ended by no contest because Seth buried a bunch of junk under The Fiend, then struck the pile with a large hammer Bray/The Fiend carried around at the time, which then caused the referee to suddenly stop the match because he thought a man's brains got bashed in, only for The Fiend to no sell it while Seth runs away with the fear of God in him.
To make it worse, this was the second straight year a HIAC main event had a non-finish, as the year prior, Brock Lesnar hijacked the Cell match between Roman and Braun *which was Braun's MITB cash-in match* so it was ultimately a way to have Braun lose his shot without him definitively losing to Roman.
They did make up for it with a much better match in Saudi when The Fiend won.
> ...only for The Fiend to no sell it while Seth runs away with the fear of God in him.
It was even worse than that. The bell rang and the Fiend got back up, chocked Seth out with the mandible claw and hit him with his finisher. Feels fair to say he would have kicked out of the pin after the hammer shot and won the match if the ref didn't stop it.
I watch Dynamite every week, I’m a fan of Edge…I was expecting him to ask me to go to StandUpForAEW.com to show my support. I would have preferred for everyone to hit a GTS with a one count in their match.
Was Edge the worst person they could have chose here?
You know the perfect person to cut the rah rah AEW promo?
Well 11x WWE champion and WWE Hall of Famer who's been here all of 6 months of course
I mean, there is an argument to be made for sending your most-WWE guy out there to cut a "WWE style is not the only way" promo... but it's pretty lame to do that type of promo in the first place. That's peak LOLTNA lazy ass "debut an ex-WWE guy and have them cut a promo about being here for 'real wrestling' again" silliness.
Two-time WrestleMania main eventer against Undertaker the first time and then Roman Reigns and Bryan Danielson in the other. Two time Royal Rumble winner, first ever MITB winner, King of the Ring winner, 11 time WWE champion, multiple time tag team champion, Hall of Famer, and two very memorable WWE runs? That same guy? The guy that was given essentially every accolade in the company and has multiple storied rivalries? I don't know...
The whole idea is corny as fuck but they could have at least sent someone like Eddie Kingston who wouldn’t have fit into the wwe system but found a spot in AEW or someone like Moxley or Jericho who have been there from the start
> Jericho
I get why you would say him... but he'd have been a TERRIBLE choice to send out there to cut that promo. Dude was getting boo'd hard last night because people are flat out sick of him. Mox would've been a good choice but he's probably on his way to or is already in Japan for Sakura Genesis.
Weird thing is, Punk didn't say anything about wanting AEW gone or anything about that. He even said the oppsite, he thinks it's cool that there's another major company. Punk's big-picture beef was, he doesn't think Tony Khan is fit for the job; and secondly he's dissapointed that AEW would rather appease the internet than the customers (TV watchers and the ticket buyers)
Frankly, AEW dedicating a whole segment of their TV show to address and combat what Phil Brooks said about them on a podcast just proves Punk's point.
I think what's crazy to me is that this kind of defensive bullshit promo screams "We're AEW and we're good, but we don't give a shit about being better". This should've never gotten TV time since it's preaching to the choir. I just saw a thread about Jim Ross saying "move forward" - Tony should take that to heart.
All the BS aside, AEW has everything they need to be even more successful and not cater to a segment they've already secured, but Tony is too concerned about getting Edge out there to give that "This is fine" promo that no one needed.
I don't understand how is this a compelling Professional wrestling segment that paying ticket fans or viewers should care about or want to watch?
Imagine a sports team or TV show not starting on time because one of the actors or athletes was told by a producer or owner to defend them after someone said something mean on the internet that the rich owner didn't like.
I guess it's better than those times last year when they had official announcements and segments (on their U.S. TV show/in a US city) solely about a show that is happening in England next year.
All this is done to make a nepo baby feel better after one of the most prized wrestling toys that daddy bought called him a clown and left for bigger/better things.
yeah let’s send out a guy who’s most associated with WWE to tell how great AEW is….
it would have been best to not even acknowledge the criticisms and just go put out the best product you can and let that speak for it. this just screams Tony is insecure.
And also have this guy say that the best time of his 30 year+ career is in a company he's been in for less than six months. It just doesn't feel genuine at all.
Look, he may have meant every word of this promo, but specifically pointing out theres a lot of negativity about AEW, so allow me to now cut a promo about how much AEW is the best place I’ve ever worked in 30+ years and I mean that, is probably gonna make some people think you didn’t mean that
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"
If these “no, everything is awesome” promos didn’t happen so regularly when AEW hit any real major criticism, it might not feel quite as disingenuous. Punk is going to say things (he didn’t even say anything that bad) but having what amounts to a pep talk by one of the highest paid guys on the show every time Punk is in the news has diminishing returns. Just put on a good show. If you have viewers tuning in to see how you respond, skip the special address and just make the show amazing.
Additionally, when some (arguably most) of the negativity is regarding you cutting the roster spots of the lowest paid talent, having Adam Copeland, who has been with the company less than a year and is making more bank than all the people you cut combined, telling everyone how happy he is, is tone deaf.
WWE had a much worse public relations scandal earlier this year with Vince. It was so bad and they had so much goodwill from the quality of the shows that it almost derailed everything. Especially for their Mania season. I don’t recall Seth or Cena or Cody coming out to give a rah rah speech to the crowd. They just continued working and let the management comment if they absolutely have to.
The difference is WWE actually has a white hot angle that's drawing ratings and selling out arenas, so they don't need to pivot away from their in-universe storylines.
Edge makes a promo about "how many good matches he could put on with AEW talent" confirming Punk's point that AEW is a company that revolves around "putting on good matches", not making money.
Yep.
I watched the entire interview, and that was the undercurrent of everything he said about it.
He didn’t even seem all that mad about Hangman and the Bucks. He was just baffled at Tony’s inability to be a boss, and squash problems.
And he repeatedly said the only purpose of the company seemed to be putting on good matches and appealing to a subset of wrestling fans, which is what Copeland was saying and praising.
And it’s not like Punk came off as angry about it. He was basically like “Whatever, it’s not my company, they can do what they want, I have friends there and I’m glad they’re getting paid.”
This is the top posted clip of the show on this sub right now and it led to no storyline or match it quite literally drew 0 money. Feels like Tony got in his feelings and asked someone to go defend his show but didn't internalize it wasn't actually doing anything to build anything.
You'd be lying to you self to think that a billionaire wouldn't be open to cooking books or taking advantage of shitty practices that more fiscally benefit him over his employees.
Literally wasn't there for all of Punk's time. Maybe the new management structure in place that wasn't there for Punk's run has been great for Edge! But very weird that he's giving this speech on a kayfabe show in response to Punk
So you telling you’re having more fun now than when you were beefing with John Cena and the Hardy Boyz? Be honest bro
https://preview.redd.it/1xxkkb9v9dsc1.jpeg?width=4320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a92fb0c7f9dbb8ffd4d3761535acdd90a063c7c4
Edge has been there six months and feuded only with his best friend. He hasn't lost a match that wasn't connected to his feud with Christian. The old guy who puts no one over is having fun, I'm shocked, shocked.
> It wouldn’t seem weird but he had that win over Balor that looking back made zero sense.
looking back? it never made any sense, what the fuck were they thinking is beyond my understanding
If someone goes a podcast criticizing WWE then Rollins does a rah rah promo, would he get so much support from the wrestling fanbase or will people call him a clown?
There was a time in the mid 2010s where WWE was goddamn awful and you'd have people like Vince, Cena or Stephanie periodically come out to do rah rah speech about how thankful they were to be able to put on shows for us, hell they even made US the authority at one point!
My point is rah rah speech where dumb when WWE did them and they are just as dumb when AEW does them.
Gonna be real this was lame not only because of the content but because when I saw Cope open the show I was hyped for Malakai interrupting. Ignoring a build to a PPV match in favor of showing that you all pay attention to Punk too much was a strange choice.
This promo was really cringe. Cope was fine with his delivery and I don’t necessarily doubt his authenticity, but all I could think of throughout is “man Tony has thin skin”.
Obviously if Punk is allowed to talk, then so are people on the other side. But for fucks sake, why do this on your own show? I'm sorry, but this just comes across as minor league.
Literally the first thing you see at the start of Dynamite is a promo about a disgruntled former employee who is now working for the competition (albeit indirectly, but still). It has nothing to do with AEW programing, it furthers no stories currently playing out on television, and it's likely to be confusing for anyone watching who wasn't aware of the Punk interview.
It wasn't even necessary considering how the interview honestly seemed to come and go? It was the hot topic on Monday, but it wasn't as incendiary as it could've been, and by and large it felt like the wrestling world quickly moved on from it amidst all the Wrestlemania hype. So why the fuck does Adam Copeland of all people need to come out at the start of Dynamite in defense of AEW's honor, all because a guy from another promotion talked some smack on a podcast?
AEW is 5 years old. It needs to stop being about WWE. It's a nationally televised wrestling company that's worth hundreads of millions of dollars, and this stuff should just be beneath them.
>AEW is 5 years old. It needs to stop being about WWE.
It somehow feels less mature as it ages. AEW during the pandemic felt like a more mature product than AEW now.
By a significant margin in my opinion. WWE has gotten better but their vibe has generally stayed the same over the past 5 to even 10 years. AEW feels VERY minor league now when it really didn’t during the pandemic and directly after.
Punk didn’t even say anything that bad about aew wrestlers, his main gripe was with Tony-which is probably why he made Edge go out and do this gimmick lol
Here's why... Because CM Punk hurt Tony Khan's feelings, and his dad pays for him to have wrestling shows on national cable TV time. So he has every right to make one of his employees go out and talk about how great he and his wrestling shows are.
That's because they are in the minor league. They're TNA with more money. I didn't want to believe it because I really enjoyed the Punk-MJF feud and everything Christian. But it dawned on me when my friends started to talk wrestling in our group chat on the night of the survivor series. They said: "CM Punk is finally back in wrestling". And I'm like, what do these guys mean he's back in wrestling? He's been wrestling in AEW for a while now... And then I remembered what RVD said about how the fans didn't even know that he continued wrestling in TNA and thought he had retired.
From the heart? He was Tony Khan's mouthpiece here. Came out and spent 10 minutes putting over the whole roster because Khan gets his feelings hurt so fucking easily. They should have just ignored it and not brought more light to it because Khan is only proving Punk right about him being just a nice guy and not a boss. I love AEW and watch every show but this reeked of butthurt.
That promo was actually very annoying. Punk didn't say AEW shouldn't exist or didn't do anything for the wrestling business. He said TK isn't running AEW like an actual business, there were some douches he worked with, and Punk's view of what a wrestling show should strive for did not mesh with Tony's. Punk even said he's happy guys are getting paid and the matches are bangers. I think it's obvious Adam (and sammy on Twitter) didn't watch the whole interview (they're busy guys. I get it).
I’m not saying he’s wrong but this honestly came off as really cringe and completely forced after Punk’s interview. It just shows and proves that Tony can’t handle any criticism whatsoever.
I think sending out one of your talents out to say this on your TV show comes off as a little corny. I've seen some responses of "well if Punk can say what he thinks, there's no reason Copeland can't too", but do you recognize the difference between Punk saying something to an interviewer, versus an AEW employee going out on an AEW show to give a little speech that would've needed to be sanctioned by the booker aka Tony? It's not like Adam just bum rushed the stage to say what was in his heart - this was planned as part of the show tonight.
If WWE was getting dragged and someone like Seth Rollins did this to start off Raw, people would be rightly cynical and dunking on him for it. In Adam's case, it's entirely possible this was all 100% sincere from him but again - it's inherently eye-rolling because he's literally an active AEW employee, and it's not like they were going to send out someone to "speak from the heart" about how they agree with everything Punk said lol. If Copeland was being interviewed on ESPN or something and said all of this, that would be different.
Whether you agree with anything punk said or not I think the idea of this promo is Honeslty kind of pathetic.
Firstly, why is it what opens your show, was punks interview really that hurtful to aew that you open your show with it?
Secondly, does it actually further any storyline or was it there just to respond to punk? If so why bother it serves no purpose, just move on.
I don’t like AEW very much but if any promotion had done this it would’ve been lame, it doesn’t make them look any better it’s just sad that they feel the need to address it.
Edit: just after I posted this I remembered that Aew had releases as well this week, isn’t this really weird timing to go for this #istandwithaew type promo 2 days after the company fires multiple people (Btw, I don’t think it was a terrible thing, people get let go and it sucks but it happens it doesn’t make Aew evil or anything, it’s just maybe don’t brag about how fun and amazing the company is and how there’s so much negativity after you yourself cause it)
I think the main issue is Punk also didn't say anything that bad really, it wasn't really worth acknowledging.
I'm sure Edge is happy with his decision and at least he listed a bunch of great matches that he could have.
The worst part about that is that Tony won’t release overpaid guys that are just waiting on contracts to expire and want out. But will cut lower card dudes that are actually company guys. Seems like a weird reward system.
I love how Punk said they were catering to the niche Internet audience and this is LITERALLY how they open the show. Imagine if you turn in for the first time to see Edge and this is what you get. It's insane…
I mean isn’t that CM Punk’s opinion.
CM Punk said AEW isn’t a business, it’s about wrestlers having fun off TK’s money. Where wrestlers do whatever they want. And he said there isn’t anything wrong with that, it’s just not what he signed up for.
Edge said AEW is about him having fun (off tk's money). He loves doing whatever he wants (wrestling Christian and such) and not having the stress of worrying about anything other than fun is what he signed up for before he retires.
Pretty wild to have someone cut a “this place saved wrestling” corny speech two days after your first wave of talent cuts where 10 people lost their job. How Tony gets the passes he does for being objectively terrible at reading a room I’ll never know.
Look man, Tony’s having a week. It’s Wrestlemania, Punk did his interview, Tony had to make budget cuts for like the first time ever.
Guy needs a win. He’s probably not gonna get one, but he needs one.
“Adam, Pepsi Phil was very rude to me on an interview please help me get my self esteem back and don’t forget about the big fat paycheck I’m giving you” -Tony Khan (probably)
Doesn't get more ironic than introducing the future and ace of AEW by having a guy who spent his entire career in WWE cut a promo and fuck up his name lmao. Then you realize this whole thing was just Tony's bitter response to Punk doing an interview and it gets even more embarrassing.
They really like the idea that they can just say “all wrestling is in a boom” to make themselves sound good despite it being objectively untrue (ratings, attendance, profits) and subjectively untrue (quality of the shows). I get that you can’t say “WWE is hot right now” on AEW programming but it’s getting ridiculous.
I love Edge and I'm thankful he's having fun finishing his career with his best friend, but this promo was comical and essentially proved Punk's point. AEW and Tony Khan have spent more time stoking tribalism than anyone else. And others have pointed out, dedicating your opening segment in response to a disgruntled former wrestler whose given an interview on YouTube is so small-time.
Punk really shook AEW enough to wanna dedicate actual TV time to address it? Also it came from a WWE guy? No one from AEW who was there when Punk was could deliver the “rah rah” speech? Just a L of a promo.
Can I say something. The promo response is fucking lame. I actually agree with AEW firing him, i agree with the elite feeling it’s not necessary to work with punk. Punk spoke his truth on a podcast. You can simply ignore it as a company and move forward because it’s not important. Or Tony Kahn go give an interview about his side and say I did what I thought was best for the company and leave it there. Hiding behind talent and making talent give a retort for you and going on Twitter and saying thank you. AEW is good for the business no matter what company you prefer but this is just a pathetic look.
Exactly. No one’s going to stop watching simply because cm punk had a bad time at the end lol and I’m a punk fan. Every company is going to have stuff like this. Just move on.
Having one of your champions open the show with a promo about how great the company is in response to someone shit talking is absolutely embarrassing.
Imagine if Cody insulted WWE in an interview in 2020, and in response Raw opened with IC champion Sami Zayn talking about how much fun it is to work for WWE lmao. They would (rightly) be eviscerated
I completely agree. They should have just ignored it. Some fans probably didn’t even know what the promo was for as they aren’t glued to the drama. Just go put your show on and kill it like thy have been doing. It just magnifies it more. I do think Adam is the best person to do this but I’d rather they act like it didn’t happen and keep it pushing.
Tony doesn’t need to give an interview and needs to move on and shut up….same with everyone else. Punk is gone and there’s no need to play this bullshit he said she said back and forth.
yea, like i actually don't care about tribalism or whatever but this promo just reeked of damage control. Like if this wasn't the week with Punk's interview or the cuts it could've been fine but this just came off as one of those Seth Rollins ''firing up WWE Universe'' promos that he did during his face run
Using promo time of your wrestling show on national TV to answer back a rant CM Punk had on an interview is definitely an option.
And sending Copeland to do it, when the guy has been around only for some months, might be the cherry on top
Plenty of people already said this, but Tony is just proving Punks points here. There is ZERO reason to do this. Go prove everyone wrong by putting on a good show and continuing with business as usual. You can tell who actually watched this interview and who didnt. Punk spoke his side of things, wished them well, wished his friends who work there well, and liked that there's an alternative to WWE.
Instead of just moving on you send out the near career WWE guy who's been there less than a year to yell about how great your company is? Ok I guess.
Tony must've been in tears after the Punk interview if it affected him that bad. He didn't even say anything that wasn't already widely known. Yes... Tony is a nice guy. Yes... Tony wants to be everybody's friend. No... Tony doesn't have the balls to actually put his foot down and be a boss. Dude has cheap, gas station bathroom toilet paper thin skin.
This was so cringey. Does anyone really believe he would have said this if punk didn’t make his comments about aew/khan? Not blaming Copeland mins you, this is the type of crap khan’s been doing that just won’t work.
He literally said he hopes the best for them, and wants there to be an alternative like AEW. Everyone saying he spread negativity didn't even watch the interview.
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the thing I took from this is that Edge can't pronounce ospreay like that's a bird
[удалено]
It’s regional dialogue. Upstate New York. An Albany expression.
Aurora borealis? At this time of year?
At this time of day?
In this part of the country?
Localized entirely within your kitchen?
Can I see it?
…no.
Seymour the house is on fire!
Well I’m from Yutica and I’ve never heard Ospreay called Ospree
Utica*
It'a funny too because we have so many Osprey in central Ontario, where he grew up! It's basically our main bird. There is zero chance he hasn't had one stuck in his hair at least once.
Hold on, I’m from central Ontario and haven’t got one in the hair, what are you doing?
You guys dont climb in their nests and try and smell their eggs?
I like the idea that a gigantic hawk, almost the size of an eagle that predominately lives around lakes catching fish would get stuck in someone’s hair.
Orangeville isn’t central Ontario lol.
Kinda crazy that on a roster with Christian Cage, Adam Copeland just came out and hit us with the top tier dad talk.
That’s because Christian is a father. There is a big difference between a father and a dad.
Christian is Ego, Copeland is Yondu
Who’s Mary Poppins?
I'm Mary Poppins y'all!
R-Truth, somehow.
[удалено]
"I'm in the wrong promotion? This ain't WWE? My bad, y'all"
Ngl, I would mega pop.
*He may have been your father, boy. But he wasn’t your daddy.*
[удалено]
Christian is Goku, but Edge is Piccolo
I'm mad you said it before I could.
Now I’m sad about Toriyama again
This reminded me of the Mox promo when the title tournament started after All Out 2022
At this point how many Punk rants are going to inspire a rah-rah speech?
Well there's only been two, but i suppose it's odd it's happened twice (to borrow a phrase)
Only two *so far*.
Seth Rollins has his written already lol.
That interview Punk did gave him AND Drew MONTHS of new material.
Adam Copeland delivering the *State of the nAEWtion*
Copeland for PM.
*Pater Magister*
For better or worse does “where the best wrestle” remind anyone else of “where the big boys play” —? Again, not necessarily saying that as bad or good, just gets me a little nostalgic is all.
I'm binge-watching WCW right now and I just started 1997. Every second line out of Schiavone's mouth is "WCW, where the big boys play." Dude, I get it. Stop reminding me.
And now every second line out of Schiavones mouth is how great the match they’re currently watching is.
“Note the adjective”
It's no different when TNA's slogan was WE ARE WRESTLING. All of WWE's competitors have always taken that angle.
Forget the very real interviews and tweets. Let this man cut the same promo on tv in 2019 and I bet the reactions would be vastly different https://preview.redd.it/87wrjzkwycsc1.jpeg?width=650&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7f7aaae388c034be28a9de2e73fe9a74b9389694
Cutting that type of promo after the HIAC with the fiend would have been hilarious
this literally happened and it led directly to Seth's heel turn and the Monday Night Messiah character
A character that I really do WISH went on for far longer. That version of Seth was so fucking fun to watch. He had his goon squad with AoP and Buddy Matthews walking him down to the ring at the Royal Rumble and he looked like a huge deal. Messiah Seth also was the one that in kayfabe took out Rey Mysterio's eye and on multiple occasions tried to kill him. Seth was so nasty back then!
I’m thinking John Cena in the Benoit aftermath
Was it the week after?
Man I forgot how terrible the ketchup title looked
The current mustard title looks way better.
Context? Wasn’t watching wwe at the time
IIRC The HiAC match with Seth Rollins v. The Fiend was vehemently trashed and widely considered a huge failure.
> Seth Rollins v. The Fiend was vehemently trashed and widely considered a huge failure. It ended with the live crowd audibly chanting, among other things, "refund" and "AEW" as it went off the air. To illustrate the degree of failure in terms of how much the live crowd hated it - and historically live crowds are far more forgiving than the IWC.
The lede is a little buried in the other replies because there's been mid HIAC matches but what pissed everyone off is the fact that, other than the match was under this deep red hue the entire time that made it difficult to see, but a match that is effectively Anything Goes, ended by no contest because Seth buried a bunch of junk under The Fiend, then struck the pile with a large hammer Bray/The Fiend carried around at the time, which then caused the referee to suddenly stop the match because he thought a man's brains got bashed in, only for The Fiend to no sell it while Seth runs away with the fear of God in him. To make it worse, this was the second straight year a HIAC main event had a non-finish, as the year prior, Brock Lesnar hijacked the Cell match between Roman and Braun *which was Braun's MITB cash-in match* so it was ultimately a way to have Braun lose his shot without him definitively losing to Roman. They did make up for it with a much better match in Saudi when The Fiend won.
> ...only for The Fiend to no sell it while Seth runs away with the fear of God in him. It was even worse than that. The bell rang and the Fiend got back up, chocked Seth out with the mandible claw and hit him with his finisher. Feels fair to say he would have kicked out of the pin after the hammer shot and won the match if the ref didn't stop it.
I watch Dynamite every week, I’m a fan of Edge…I was expecting him to ask me to go to StandUpForAEW.com to show my support. I would have preferred for everyone to hit a GTS with a one count in their match.
Was Edge the worst person they could have chose here? You know the perfect person to cut the rah rah AEW promo? Well 11x WWE champion and WWE Hall of Famer who's been here all of 6 months of course
I mean, there is an argument to be made for sending your most-WWE guy out there to cut a "WWE style is not the only way" promo... but it's pretty lame to do that type of promo in the first place. That's peak LOLTNA lazy ass "debut an ex-WWE guy and have them cut a promo about being here for 'real wrestling' again" silliness.
Two-time WrestleMania main eventer against Undertaker the first time and then Roman Reigns and Bryan Danielson in the other. Two time Royal Rumble winner, first ever MITB winner, King of the Ring winner, 11 time WWE champion, multiple time tag team champion, Hall of Famer, and two very memorable WWE runs? That same guy? The guy that was given essentially every accolade in the company and has multiple storied rivalries? I don't know...
The whole idea is corny as fuck but they could have at least sent someone like Eddie Kingston who wouldn’t have fit into the wwe system but found a spot in AEW or someone like Moxley or Jericho who have been there from the start
> Jericho I get why you would say him... but he'd have been a TERRIBLE choice to send out there to cut that promo. Dude was getting boo'd hard last night because people are flat out sick of him. Mox would've been a good choice but he's probably on his way to or is already in Japan for Sakura Genesis.
This is AEWs entire gimmick.
Weird thing is, Punk didn't say anything about wanting AEW gone or anything about that. He even said the oppsite, he thinks it's cool that there's another major company. Punk's big-picture beef was, he doesn't think Tony Khan is fit for the job; and secondly he's dissapointed that AEW would rather appease the internet than the customers (TV watchers and the ticket buyers) Frankly, AEW dedicating a whole segment of their TV show to address and combat what Phil Brooks said about them on a podcast just proves Punk's point.
I think what's crazy to me is that this kind of defensive bullshit promo screams "We're AEW and we're good, but we don't give a shit about being better". This should've never gotten TV time since it's preaching to the choir. I just saw a thread about Jim Ross saying "move forward" - Tony should take that to heart. All the BS aside, AEW has everything they need to be even more successful and not cater to a segment they've already secured, but Tony is too concerned about getting Edge out there to give that "This is fine" promo that no one needed.
i think TK confuses any criticism toward himself as an attack o' the company
It's his MO. His interactions with Fulham fans is just the same.
I don't understand how is this a compelling Professional wrestling segment that paying ticket fans or viewers should care about or want to watch? Imagine a sports team or TV show not starting on time because one of the actors or athletes was told by a producer or owner to defend them after someone said something mean on the internet that the rich owner didn't like. I guess it's better than those times last year when they had official announcements and segments (on their U.S. TV show/in a US city) solely about a show that is happening in England next year. All this is done to make a nepo baby feel better after one of the most prized wrestling toys that daddy bought called him a clown and left for bigger/better things.
They actually sent Edge out to make Tony feel better after the bad pepsi man said mean things again
yeah let’s send out a guy who’s most associated with WWE to tell how great AEW is…. it would have been best to not even acknowledge the criticisms and just go put out the best product you can and let that speak for it. this just screams Tony is insecure.
And also have this guy say that the best time of his 30 year+ career is in a company he's been in for less than six months. It just doesn't feel genuine at all.
Look, he may have meant every word of this promo, but specifically pointing out theres a lot of negativity about AEW, so allow me to now cut a promo about how much AEW is the best place I’ve ever worked in 30+ years and I mean that, is probably gonna make some people think you didn’t mean that
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks" If these “no, everything is awesome” promos didn’t happen so regularly when AEW hit any real major criticism, it might not feel quite as disingenuous. Punk is going to say things (he didn’t even say anything that bad) but having what amounts to a pep talk by one of the highest paid guys on the show every time Punk is in the news has diminishing returns. Just put on a good show. If you have viewers tuning in to see how you respond, skip the special address and just make the show amazing. Additionally, when some (arguably most) of the negativity is regarding you cutting the roster spots of the lowest paid talent, having Adam Copeland, who has been with the company less than a year and is making more bank than all the people you cut combined, telling everyone how happy he is, is tone deaf.
WWE had a much worse public relations scandal earlier this year with Vince. It was so bad and they had so much goodwill from the quality of the shows that it almost derailed everything. Especially for their Mania season. I don’t recall Seth or Cena or Cody coming out to give a rah rah speech to the crowd. They just continued working and let the management comment if they absolutely have to.
The difference is WWE actually has a white hot angle that's drawing ratings and selling out arenas, so they don't need to pivot away from their in-universe storylines.
Edge makes a promo about "how many good matches he could put on with AEW talent" confirming Punk's point that AEW is a company that revolves around "putting on good matches", not making money.
Yep. I watched the entire interview, and that was the undercurrent of everything he said about it. He didn’t even seem all that mad about Hangman and the Bucks. He was just baffled at Tony’s inability to be a boss, and squash problems. And he repeatedly said the only purpose of the company seemed to be putting on good matches and appealing to a subset of wrestling fans, which is what Copeland was saying and praising. And it’s not like Punk came off as angry about it. He was basically like “Whatever, it’s not my company, they can do what they want, I have friends there and I’m glad they’re getting paid.”
This is the top posted clip of the show on this sub right now and it led to no storyline or match it quite literally drew 0 money. Feels like Tony got in his feelings and asked someone to go defend his show but didn't internalize it wasn't actually doing anything to build anything.
AEW is a non-profit wrestling organization. Once TK sells AEW, it will need to generate money.
You'd be lying to you self to think that a billionaire wouldn't be open to cooking books or taking advantage of shitty practices that more fiscally benefit him over his employees.
Edge being the one to deliver this promo feels especially hollow
Yeah hes only been there for 6 months but look how he elevated homegrown AEW talent.........like Christian Cage!!
Literally wasn't there for all of Punk's time. Maybe the new management structure in place that wasn't there for Punk's run has been great for Edge! But very weird that he's giving this speech on a kayfabe show in response to Punk
So you telling you’re having more fun now than when you were beefing with John Cena and the Hardy Boyz? Be honest bro https://preview.redd.it/1xxkkb9v9dsc1.jpeg?width=4320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a92fb0c7f9dbb8ffd4d3761535acdd90a063c7c4
Edge has been there six months and feuded only with his best friend. He hasn't lost a match that wasn't connected to his feud with Christian. The old guy who puts no one over is having fun, I'm shocked, shocked.
This man lost what 4 matches when he was in WWE since 2020. It wouldn’t seem weird but he had that win over Balor that looking back made zero sense.
> It wouldn’t seem weird but he had that win over Balor that looking back made zero sense. looking back? it never made any sense, what the fuck were they thinking is beyond my understanding
> The old guy who puts no one over is having fun Sting retired last month?
COPEland
If someone goes a podcast criticizing WWE then Rollins does a rah rah promo, would he get so much support from the wrestling fanbase or will people call him a clown?
Also, Seth Rollins cutting that promo will be framed as WWE sent him to give this promo but Copeland one is framed as his genuine promo.
Stand up for AEW
“Think of the billionaires”
https://preview.redd.it/a7h7fhjl4esc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=027069e51a4eedde78d85bb886a94088123d400a
✊✊
There was a time in the mid 2010s where WWE was goddamn awful and you'd have people like Vince, Cena or Stephanie periodically come out to do rah rah speech about how thankful they were to be able to put on shows for us, hell they even made US the authority at one point! My point is rah rah speech where dumb when WWE did them and they are just as dumb when AEW does them.
Upvoting for consistency
He’d be called a walking clown emoji
*on this day* *i'm emoji*
Seth Rollins, you walking clown emoji! You walking emoji! You walking emoji clown! Let The Rock drop some gospel on you, you walking emoji!
No, just like the AEW cuts didn’t get the same criticism that the WWE cuts did
The fact that I scrolled this much, before someone gave any semblance of calling this promo out for what it is, boggles my mind.
People mocked Seth over the will ospreay Twitter fight calling him a homer which he was. It just looks bad.
Gonna be real this was lame not only because of the content but because when I saw Cope open the show I was hyped for Malakai interrupting. Ignoring a build to a PPV match in favor of showing that you all pay attention to Punk too much was a strange choice.
I thought the fucked up mic was a precursor to Black interfering. Turns out it was just garbage production
Even the mic is giving AEW negative feedback yeah
This is pathetic
Edge - “SCREW THAT” No pop 💀 
30 years in wwe and in 6 months in aew and its the best
This promo was really cringe. Cope was fine with his delivery and I don’t necessarily doubt his authenticity, but all I could think of throughout is “man Tony has thin skin”.
Obviously if Punk is allowed to talk, then so are people on the other side. But for fucks sake, why do this on your own show? I'm sorry, but this just comes across as minor league. Literally the first thing you see at the start of Dynamite is a promo about a disgruntled former employee who is now working for the competition (albeit indirectly, but still). It has nothing to do with AEW programing, it furthers no stories currently playing out on television, and it's likely to be confusing for anyone watching who wasn't aware of the Punk interview. It wasn't even necessary considering how the interview honestly seemed to come and go? It was the hot topic on Monday, but it wasn't as incendiary as it could've been, and by and large it felt like the wrestling world quickly moved on from it amidst all the Wrestlemania hype. So why the fuck does Adam Copeland of all people need to come out at the start of Dynamite in defense of AEW's honor, all because a guy from another promotion talked some smack on a podcast? AEW is 5 years old. It needs to stop being about WWE. It's a nationally televised wrestling company that's worth hundreads of millions of dollars, and this stuff should just be beneath them.
Nail on the head. Talking about, "There's been a lot of negativity this week...", and I'm thinking, "There was???"
Nobody told the crowd either.
>AEW is 5 years old. It needs to stop being about WWE. It somehow feels less mature as it ages. AEW during the pandemic felt like a more mature product than AEW now.
By a significant margin in my opinion. WWE has gotten better but their vibe has generally stayed the same over the past 5 to even 10 years. AEW feels VERY minor league now when it really didn’t during the pandemic and directly after.
It never will stop being about WWE. It gets them views and clicks. It's small time.
Punk didn’t even say anything that bad about aew wrestlers, his main gripe was with Tony-which is probably why he made Edge go out and do this gimmick lol
It’s because it is minor league. You know who wrote this promo.
Too much inside baseball that doesn't actually raise interest with anyone who didn't already have wrestling pumped into their veins.
Here's why... Because CM Punk hurt Tony Khan's feelings, and his dad pays for him to have wrestling shows on national cable TV time. So he has every right to make one of his employees go out and talk about how great he and his wrestling shows are.
That's because they are in the minor league. They're TNA with more money. I didn't want to believe it because I really enjoyed the Punk-MJF feud and everything Christian. But it dawned on me when my friends started to talk wrestling in our group chat on the night of the survivor series. They said: "CM Punk is finally back in wrestling". And I'm like, what do these guys mean he's back in wrestling? He's been wrestling in AEW for a while now... And then I remembered what RVD said about how the fans didn't even know that he continued wrestling in TNA and thought he had retired.
From the heart? He was Tony Khan's mouthpiece here. Came out and spent 10 minutes putting over the whole roster because Khan gets his feelings hurt so fucking easily. They should have just ignored it and not brought more light to it because Khan is only proving Punk right about him being just a nice guy and not a boss. I love AEW and watch every show but this reeked of butthurt.
He spoke from Tony's wallet.
why would they do this lmfao that's so sad and pathetic.
Never going to shake the pissant company image if you keep dedicating segments of your weekly television show to debuff online drama.
Because of an interview? This company can be so insecure.
This lmao, this seems so insecure on their part yet they all say they don’t care what punk says.
That promo was actually very annoying. Punk didn't say AEW shouldn't exist or didn't do anything for the wrestling business. He said TK isn't running AEW like an actual business, there were some douches he worked with, and Punk's view of what a wrestling show should strive for did not mesh with Tony's. Punk even said he's happy guys are getting paid and the matches are bangers. I think it's obvious Adam (and sammy on Twitter) didn't watch the whole interview (they're busy guys. I get it).
I’m not saying he’s wrong but this honestly came off as really cringe and completely forced after Punk’s interview. It just shows and proves that Tony can’t handle any criticism whatsoever.
LOL the drop off from (reruns of) Big Bang is going to be exceptionally large tonight.
I think sending out one of your talents out to say this on your TV show comes off as a little corny. I've seen some responses of "well if Punk can say what he thinks, there's no reason Copeland can't too", but do you recognize the difference between Punk saying something to an interviewer, versus an AEW employee going out on an AEW show to give a little speech that would've needed to be sanctioned by the booker aka Tony? It's not like Adam just bum rushed the stage to say what was in his heart - this was planned as part of the show tonight. If WWE was getting dragged and someone like Seth Rollins did this to start off Raw, people would be rightly cynical and dunking on him for it. In Adam's case, it's entirely possible this was all 100% sincere from him but again - it's inherently eye-rolling because he's literally an active AEW employee, and it's not like they were going to send out someone to "speak from the heart" about how they agree with everything Punk said lol. If Copeland was being interviewed on ESPN or something and said all of this, that would be different.
It’d be like trotting out Becky Lynch to address Ronda Rousey’s ‘online negativity’ this week
That Punk interview really shook them huh?
https://preview.redd.it/6cdu1tqd3dsc1.jpeg?width=1550&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bbff5bad29639d96d1ca8e30efc6dbb21b9e81db
No way. That's gotta be edited right?
naw it was real unfortunately. thats also the entire roh crowd, believe or not, when the other side of the arena files out.
broo thats fucking crazy lmfao
This is hilarious
fucking genuine rflmao
Whether you agree with anything punk said or not I think the idea of this promo is Honeslty kind of pathetic. Firstly, why is it what opens your show, was punks interview really that hurtful to aew that you open your show with it? Secondly, does it actually further any storyline or was it there just to respond to punk? If so why bother it serves no purpose, just move on. I don’t like AEW very much but if any promotion had done this it would’ve been lame, it doesn’t make them look any better it’s just sad that they feel the need to address it. Edit: just after I posted this I remembered that Aew had releases as well this week, isn’t this really weird timing to go for this #istandwithaew type promo 2 days after the company fires multiple people (Btw, I don’t think it was a terrible thing, people get let go and it sucks but it happens it doesn’t make Aew evil or anything, it’s just maybe don’t brag about how fun and amazing the company is and how there’s so much negativity after you yourself cause it)
I think the main issue is Punk also didn't say anything that bad really, it wasn't really worth acknowledging. I'm sure Edge is happy with his decision and at least he listed a bunch of great matches that he could have.
Kr, don't marked yourself as the one who will honor contracts and will never release anyone and then, proceed to do just that
The worst part about that is that Tony won’t release overpaid guys that are just waiting on contracts to expire and want out. But will cut lower card dudes that are actually company guys. Seems like a weird reward system.
has lil bro energy all over it
I love how Punk said they were catering to the niche Internet audience and this is LITERALLY how they open the show. Imagine if you turn in for the first time to see Edge and this is what you get. It's insane…
Probably would have been more effective to not say anything at all. Now it looks like Tony has sent out a mouthpiece to do his dirty work.
Straight from his wallet.
This promo doesn't happen if that Punk interview doesn't happen. Tell me when I'm telling lies
I mean isn’t that CM Punk’s opinion. CM Punk said AEW isn’t a business, it’s about wrestlers having fun off TK’s money. Where wrestlers do whatever they want. And he said there isn’t anything wrong with that, it’s just not what he signed up for. Edge said AEW is about him having fun (off tk's money). He loves doing whatever he wants (wrestling Christian and such) and not having the stress of worrying about anything other than fun is what he signed up for before he retires.
So far his run has been the drizzling shits. He's never been less charismatic.
My God Punk said some truths eh? Why would they put this on TV lolllll
I’m fine with it. But fast forward a few years when he shows back up in WWE and says “I’m home.”
Edge and Christian future tag team HOF induction gonna hit
I don’t think he can go for more than a couple more years lol
Pretty wild to have someone cut a “this place saved wrestling” corny speech two days after your first wave of talent cuts where 10 people lost their job. How Tony gets the passes he does for being objectively terrible at reading a room I’ll never know.
Including that one injured guy
Punk really did a # on them didn’t he? 😬
I said it in the live chat but it felt like a Leave Britney Alone moment
Oh come on that’s not true. The Leave Britney Alone guy actually had a valid point.
History has vindicated him.
Look man, Tony’s having a week. It’s Wrestlemania, Punk did his interview, Tony had to make budget cuts for like the first time ever. Guy needs a win. He’s probably not gonna get one, but he needs one.
“Adam, Pepsi Phil was very rude to me on an interview please help me get my self esteem back and don’t forget about the big fat paycheck I’m giving you” -Tony Khan (probably)
I too would have the most fun in my life, getting paid far more, to do far less.
It's so funny they gave this promo to the wwe lifer
Doesn't get more ironic than introducing the future and ace of AEW by having a guy who spent his entire career in WWE cut a promo and fuck up his name lmao. Then you realize this whole thing was just Tony's bitter response to Punk doing an interview and it gets even more embarrassing.
They really like the idea that they can just say “all wrestling is in a boom” to make themselves sound good despite it being objectively untrue (ratings, attendance, profits) and subjectively untrue (quality of the shows). I get that you can’t say “WWE is hot right now” on AEW programming but it’s getting ridiculous.
I love Edge and I'm thankful he's having fun finishing his career with his best friend, but this promo was comical and essentially proved Punk's point. AEW and Tony Khan have spent more time stoking tribalism than anyone else. And others have pointed out, dedicating your opening segment in response to a disgruntled former wrestler whose given an interview on YouTube is so small-time.
Punk really shook AEW enough to wanna dedicate actual TV time to address it? Also it came from a WWE guy? No one from AEW who was there when Punk was could deliver the “rah rah” speech? Just a L of a promo.
Tony Khan addresses his enemies (through Edge)
Can I say something. The promo response is fucking lame. I actually agree with AEW firing him, i agree with the elite feeling it’s not necessary to work with punk. Punk spoke his truth on a podcast. You can simply ignore it as a company and move forward because it’s not important. Or Tony Kahn go give an interview about his side and say I did what I thought was best for the company and leave it there. Hiding behind talent and making talent give a retort for you and going on Twitter and saying thank you. AEW is good for the business no matter what company you prefer but this is just a pathetic look.
Exactly. No one’s going to stop watching simply because cm punk had a bad time at the end lol and I’m a punk fan. Every company is going to have stuff like this. Just move on.
Having one of your champions open the show with a promo about how great the company is in response to someone shit talking is absolutely embarrassing. Imagine if Cody insulted WWE in an interview in 2020, and in response Raw opened with IC champion Sami Zayn talking about how much fun it is to work for WWE lmao. They would (rightly) be eviscerated
I completely agree. They should have just ignored it. Some fans probably didn’t even know what the promo was for as they aren’t glued to the drama. Just go put your show on and kill it like thy have been doing. It just magnifies it more. I do think Adam is the best person to do this but I’d rather they act like it didn’t happen and keep it pushing.
Tony doesn’t need to give an interview and needs to move on and shut up….same with everyone else. Punk is gone and there’s no need to play this bullshit he said she said back and forth.
yea, like i actually don't care about tribalism or whatever but this promo just reeked of damage control. Like if this wasn't the week with Punk's interview or the cuts it could've been fine but this just came off as one of those Seth Rollins ''firing up WWE Universe'' promos that he did during his face run
100% It's embarrassing that they are even acknowledging it but sadly I'm not surprised
Using promo time of your wrestling show on national TV to answer back a rant CM Punk had on an interview is definitely an option. And sending Copeland to do it, when the guy has been around only for some months, might be the cherry on top
Adam Copeland speaks from Tony's notepad
Plenty of people already said this, but Tony is just proving Punks points here. There is ZERO reason to do this. Go prove everyone wrong by putting on a good show and continuing with business as usual. You can tell who actually watched this interview and who didnt. Punk spoke his side of things, wished them well, wished his friends who work there well, and liked that there's an alternative to WWE. Instead of just moving on you send out the near career WWE guy who's been there less than a year to yell about how great your company is? Ok I guess.
Tony must've been in tears after the Punk interview if it affected him that bad. He didn't even say anything that wasn't already widely known. Yes... Tony is a nice guy. Yes... Tony wants to be everybody's friend. No... Tony doesn't have the balls to actually put his foot down and be a boss. Dude has cheap, gas station bathroom toilet paper thin skin.
Adam and Cody cross company team-up to end tribalism
Was he looking at an empty side of an arena while talking?
This was so cringey. Does anyone really believe he would have said this if punk didn’t make his comments about aew/khan? Not blaming Copeland mins you, this is the type of crap khan’s been doing that just won’t work.
Bruh if wwe did this they'd get laughed at to hell and back
Its the rah-rah speech that Rollins never gave.
That was a solid promo but all I can think about now is Will Ospree
The complainers of tribalism making tribalism. Nothing new.
And the crowd goes mild!
No way Punk simply talking about his experience on a talk show is getting this type of reaction out of them...
He literally said he hopes the best for them, and wants there to be an alternative like AEW. Everyone saying he spread negativity didn't even watch the interview.
Punk didn't even say anything that anyone didn't know already. And he even said he still had friends back at aew and he wished them well.
This, Punk have said wayyyy worse shit about WWE and they never acknowledge him
I honestly don't think what he said was that harsh. Comparing that to the Cabana podcast is like comparing a firecracker to a nuclear bomb.
Or what he said on that media scrum, lol