Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.
Roman Reigns was reportedly not happy following the Survivor Series main event.
According to a report from Fightful Select, Reigns was said to be visibly upset backstage regarding what he perceived as an “unplanned spot” that involved him and Kevin Owens. Reigns was overheard saying he may have a ruptured ear drum and it was clear to those who witnessed the scene that he was not happy with what happened.
Reigns did not take part in the post-event press conference as he was originally scheduled to.
Talent spoken with by Fightful indicated they did not believe there would be any extended heat from what happened and that Reigns’ reaction was likely due to the heat of the moment.
It is not clear what spot was the catalyst for Reigns becoming upset. The only spots Owens and Reigns worked with each other during the match came close to the end. Owens slapped Reigns and then they exchanged strikes for a period. Roman hit a Superman punch and Owens hit a superkick, a pop-up powerbomb, and a stunner. Sami Zayn then broke up the pin leading to the finish where Zayn hit a low blow and Helluva Kick on Owens.
The video begins with the Young Bucks announcing a virtual signing with Highspots for December 1.
The Young Bucks arrive in Chicago —
The Young Bucks were shown in a lounge on Tuesday night and said they weren’t sure what kind of reaction they would get from the Chicago crowd that week.
We then cut to a travel montage.
Colt Cabana promoting ShopAEW.com —
Cabana was shown promoting items for sale at ShopAEW.com.
Ryan Nemeth goes hiking —
Footage of Nemeth preparing a staged video of him hiking was shown.
Those behind the camera said he was “walking funny” like he had “fake knees or something.” Nemeth grew increasingly frustrated with their criticism.
The Best Friends have a talk with Danhausen —
The Best Friends were shown having a frank conversation with Danhausen. They asked him if he wanted to talk about being all satanic and carrying around a jar of teeth at Full Gear. Danhausen said he did not want to talk about it and then was that.
Trent Beretta then continued to promote his mom Sue’s book available on Amazon here.
Footage from backstage at AEW Dynamite —
Footage of Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks before they went out to the ring at Dynamite was shown. The trio agreed that if the crowd was being disrespectful to them then they would cheat in their match against Death Triangle.
AEW Dynamite footage —
Much like they did with the “F–k CM Punk” chants from last week, the music stopped during this week’s episode as well to allow the “F–K the Elite” chants to be featured. They also included when the Chicago crowd chanted “F–k CM Punk” too, however.
Thanksgiving breakfast —
The Young Bucks, Rick Knox, Brandon Cutler, and Christopher Daniels all had Thanksgiving breakfast together and said what they were thankful for to close the video.
Ten matches are advertised for the show including Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ari Daivari, Eddie Kingston & Ortiz vs. Aaron Solo & Nick Comoroto, and Athena vs. Laynie Luck.
The Bunny, Nyla Rose & Marin Shafir, Maki Itoh, Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh, The Best Friends, Matt Hardy, Private Party, Lee Moriarty, and Brandon Cutler are all scheduled for the show as well.
This week’s episode was filmed on Wednesday, November 23 from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois.
AEW Dark: Elevation airs Monday at 7 p.m. Eastern time on YouTube. The announced lineup for the show is as follows:
Lee Moriarty vs. Robert Anthony
The Bunny vs. Blair Onyx
Nyla Rose & Marina Shafir vs. Emi Sakura & Maki Itoh
Jay Lethal & Satnam Singh vs. GPA & Joe Alonzo
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ari Daivari
Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta) & Rocky Romero vs. Davey Bang, Freedom Ramsey, & Yabo
Athena vs. Laynie Luck
Brandon Cutler vs. Man Scout
Matt Hardy & Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) vs. Chaos Project (Luther & Serpentico) & Isaiah Moore
Eddie Kingston & Ortiz vs. Aaron Solo & Nick Comoroto
WWE has announced its next tryout for college athletes.
As first revealed by SI.com, 30-35 athletes will be taking part in a two-day tryout on Wednesday and Thursday this week. The event will be held at IMG Academy, a state-of-the-art facility located in Bradenton, Florida. The 600-acre boarding school campus serves as a training ground for professional and amateur sports teams as well as sports camps.
As WWE continues to invest in recruiting college athletes, @IMGAcademy is an ideal venue for this week’s tryout.
The tryouts will be the third such event WWE has held this year. 18 athletes were offered developmental contracts following tryouts in Dallas during WrestleMania week and another 15 were offered deals from tryouts in Nashville when the company was in town for SummerSlam.
WWE has another tryout scheduled for Lagos, Nigeria in February titled “The Search for Africa’s Next WWE Superstar.” Tryouts in Los Angeles are expected to take place during the week of WrestleMania 39 as well.
“There are countless examples of top talent that came into the business via college sports, but there hasn’t always been a system built out,” said WWE’s head of talent operations and strategy James Kimball. “That’s what we’re trying to create here, a true talent development pathway into WWE for college athletes.”
“We want a clear calendar,” Kimball continued. “Moving forward, we’re going to emulate what we’ve done in 2022. It’s really important there is a clear schedule, as college athletes have so many options. For wrestlers on the independents, that system is in place and that pathway to WWE is well known, so our resources are allocated to building a new pathway to collegiate sports.
“We’re just scratching the surface. We’ve been working on this for a year, and it’s going to take years, but we’re growing. We’re adding quality and depth, and the work is just starting with college athletes nationwide.”
Big E will once again be present for the tryouts, as he was in Nashville this summer.
“E is such a critical part of what we’re doing,” Kimball said of the former WWE Champion’s participation. “This recruitment strategy is really hitting home for him, and it’s something we should have had when he was a collegiate student-athlete at Iowa. He’s such a great ambassador, and he can relate to these athletes. He’s presenting with shared experience—that goes a long way.”
A major WWE show in India is reportedly in the works for early next year.
According to a report from Sportskeeda, WWE is planning to run a show “on a grand scale” from Hyderabad with the most likely date being Wednesday, January 18.
The event would come almost a year after WWE Superstar Spectacle was filmed for the Indian market on January 22, 2021. The event featured Drew McIntyre teaming with Indus Sher and defeating Jinder Mahal & The Bollywood Boyz in the main event. It was filmed with no fans in attendance from Tropicana Field and aired on India’s Republic Day four days later on January 26.
Superstar Spectacle was part of the company’s deal with Sony Pictures India. WWE and Sony announced a five-year extension in 2020 and revealed the deal would also involve the company returning to India with “bigger live events” and “Superstars will visit the region for promotional tours to engage with fans.”
Brian Kendrick reportedly worked as a producer at WWE Survivor Series.
According to a report from Fightful Select, Kendrick was listed internally as a producer for the Women’s WarGames match and Ronda Rousey vs. Shotzi. Jason Jordan was also listed as a producer for those matches.
PW Insider is reporting that Saturday’s show was considered a tryout for Kendrick and he has not yet been hired by the company.
Adam Pearce, Shane Helms, Michael Hayes, TJ Wilson, & Petey Williams also produced matches for the show.
Kendrick worked as a backstage producer for NXT and 205 Live from late 2020 until requesting and being granted his release on February 1, 2022. He was then scheduled to face Jon Moxley on the February 2, 2022 edition of Dynamite but was pulled from the show after comments he made in a video posted in 2011 resurfaced.
In the video, Kendrick makes several bizarre claims including that Jewish first responders to the 2010 Haiti Earthquake were reptilian and there to “scoop up the body parts.”
Freelance reporter David Bixenspan posted the 2011 video on the day Kendrick was to make his AEW debut.
Kendrick would later post the following to social media in response to his comments resurfacing:
“I apologize for all the hurt and embarrassment [sic]I have caused with my words. These are not my beliefs and never were beliefs of mine, and I crossed the line.”
“I spread the most vile comments without thinking of the damage it would cause. I will live with this regret for the rest of my life. I am truly sorry for the pain I have caused.”
He would later speak to the Duke Loves Wrestling podcast and said that he was attempting to get get “some sort of buzz” from his comments.
“Back then I was trying to create some sort of buzz and I didn’t care who I offended,” he said.
“It was trying to profit off of tragedy, I suppose is what it was. I was trying to gain off of others’ tragedies by making conspiracies to create a buzz for myself to try to gain some sort of bookings. It was a terrible idea and even if it hadn’t affected anybody, it’s still just horribly embarrassing. I’m sorry to the people that I’ve hurt.”
Kendrick has been working independent dates and running seminars since his departure from WWE. In August, Ronda Rousey helped Kendrick promote an upcoming camp and referred to him as “one of the greatest minds in the history of the industry.”
Both the World Tag and Super Junior Tag League tournaments were featured on NJPW’s show from Aichi on Sunday.
The November 27 event was the sixth show on the tour. It was the fourth night to feature the Super Junior Tag League and the third to feature the World Tag League.
Here are the full results:
– Super Junior Tag League match: Titan & BUSHI defeated KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight
– World Tag League match: Aaron Henare & Great-O-Khan defeated Gabriel Kidd & Alex Coughlin
– Super Junior Tag League match: EL LINDAMAN & Alex Zayne defeated Dick Togo & SHO
– World Tag League match: Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) defeated Lance Archer & Minoru Suzuki
– Super Junior Tag League match: Ace Austin & Chris Bey defeated Clark Connors & Ryusuke Taguchi
– World Tag League match: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano defeated Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens
– Super Junior Tag League match: Lio Rush & YOH defeated DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
– World Tag League match: TMDK (Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste) defeated Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL
– Super Junior Tag League match: TJP & Francesco Akira defeated Tiger Mask & Robbie Eagles
– World Tag League match: Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeated SANADA & Tetsuya Naito
The Super Junior Tag League continues Monday on a show from Nagano. The next night in the World Tag League will take place Wednesday from Shizuoka.
Super Junior Tag League standings —
Ace Austin & Chris Bey (8 points, 4-0)
TJP & Francesco Akira (6 points, 3-1)
Alex Zayne & El Lindaman (6 points, 3-1)
YOH & Lio Rush (6 points, 3-1)
BUSHI & Titan (6 points, 3-1)
Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask (4 points, 2-2)
Ryusuke Taguchi & Clark Connors (2 points, 1-3)
KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight (2 points, 1-3)
SHO & Dick Togo (0 points, 0-4)
Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI (0 points, 0-4)
NJPW World Tag League 2022 standings —
Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) (6 points, 3-0)
Randy Orton is not expected back in WWE anytime soon.
According to a report from Fightful Select, Orton underwent fusion surgery on his lower back recently. While it is not known when exactly the surgery took place, his wife posted a picture of him in the hospital on November 14.
There are currently no creative plans for Orton or a timetable for his return.
Orton hasn’t wrestled since he and Matt Riddle lost a tag team championship unification match against The Usos on the May 20 edition of SmackDown.
It was reported in June that WWE was worried Orton’s back injury would require surgery that would sideline him for the rest of the year. The injury had been something he was working through for months but got progressively worse as he did so. At one point, there had been plans for Orton to face Roman Reigns at SummerSlam.
Logan Paul has provided an update on the injuries he suffered at Crown Jewel.
Paul posted a video to his YouTube channel on Friday that featured footage of his knee being assessed. He suffered a grade three tear of his MCL and the plan is to treat the injury with a brace and rehab.
Doctors told Paul it will take a “minimum of six weeks” for the injury to fully heal.
“I’m going to physical therapy every day. In sports rehab, it’s been great thus far and as of now, it looks like I’ll be back to the WWE sometime in…,” Paul said before the video cut away to an advertisement for his new action figure.
Paul posted to social media after Crown Jewel that he suffered a “torn meniscus, MCL & potentially ACL.” It turns out the injury was not as bad as first expected, however. Jake Paul would later reveal in an interview with DAZN that his brother did not suffer an ACL injury as was originally thought.
“He’s doing better than expected. They thought it was supposed to be ACL but it just turned out to be MCL and meniscus, which is better,” Jake said.
Logan Paul has also been promoting his new Mattel action figure that is currently available for pre-order.
The following is an opinion-based preview and doesn’t reflect the views of the website.
Nothing has cemented that we are now in Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s WWE more than when he announced WarGames was coming to Survivor Series.
In the months since he was named Chief Content Officer, we have learned a lot about his booking style. In many ways, he’s using Vince McMahon’s playbook but with a few tweaks that are similar to how he booked NXT — tweaks which many will say have improved the quality of WWE’s main roster.
Some of these include, but are not limited to, a bigger roster with fresher match-ups, a greater emphasis on women’s wrestling, and perhaps most notably, a far greater respect for wrestling history that took place outside WWE.
This includes featuring non-McMahon creations such as WarGames.
After having been created four months apart by rival wrestling promotions in 1987, it’s interesting to see Survivor Series and WarGames merge like they will on Saturday. They comprise two of three concept matches/events created within in a six-month period that have stood the test of time.
The first WarGames match took place on July 2, 1987, while the first Survivor Series was on November 26, 1987. Shortly after, the first Royal Rumble was held on January 24, 1988. (Evidently, Jim Crockett Promotions and McMahon’s WWF felt concept matches were what was going to give them an edge at the time.)
The concept behind Survivor Series has evolved over the years but has usually kept similar themes of team vs. team or survival/elimination. After tag team elimination matches were phased out, we saw a single elimination tournament at the 1998 Survivor Series, the debut of the Elimination Chamber in 2002, and then the Raw vs. SmackDown battle for brand supremacy era which is thankfully over.
The team vs. team WarGames fits right in as the latest incarnation of Survivor Series. Levesque likely knew long ago that this is a move he would make if given the opportunity. It just, kind of, makes sense.
Here’s a look at the event:
Men’s WarGames match: The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, Solo Sikoa & Sami Zayn) vs. The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Butch, Ridge Holland), Drew McIntyre & Kevin Owens
The finish will set the stage for months worth of storylines and will likely determine who Roman Reigns defends his Universal title against next. It will also further the story of Sami Zayn as the Honorary Uce.
The longtime friendship/rivalry between Zayn and Owens is likely to play a factor here. Owens is being positioned to get a shot at Reigns, but it’s not clear if that would come at the Royal Rumble or perhaps Elimination Chamber in Owens’ hometown of Montreal. Of course, WWE could have other plans entirely for that show.
That the Road to WrestleMania passes through Montreal with Zayn and Owens as hot as they both are right now is notable. Reigns’ path to WrestleMania seems as though it will definitely include a match against Owens, but it will be interesting to see how Zayn factors into the story. Sheamus could possibly end up with a match against the champion between now and WrestleMania as well.
This match will also see The Bloodline join the ranks of the Four Horseman, Dangerous Alliance, Dungeon of Doom, NWO, and Undisputed Era as heel factions to take part in WarGames. Heel groups didn’t fare too well in the early days of WarGames with Flair and the Horsemen only ever picking up one victory. The NWO changed that in the 90s, picking up two straight wins in 1996 and 1997. The Undisputed Era then went 2-2 in the NXT WarGames era. A heel team led by Vince Russo picked up a win on Nitro in 2000 as well but we don’t need to talk about that.
I’m expecting the babyfaces to win here, however. It seems needed as a way to create a new challenger for Reigns.
At the time of this writing, WWE has not announced who the fifth member of Bianca Belair’s WarGames team will be. There are several possible suspects, so let us review.
Becky Lynch: A report from Fightful stated that Lynch is near a return and was planned for the spot. If WWE still plans on Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania, that build will likely start as soon as Lynch returns. She could also potentially move into a program with Bayley, however.
Sasha Banks: There is no shortage of fans who want Banks to be revealed as the mystery partner. Survivor Series will be in her hometown of Boston and while her return here is possible, it’s perhaps not as likely as Lynch’s.
Candace LeRae: LeRae has been in two WarGames matches and has won both of those, so in storyline, she would be a good pick.
Tegan Nox: Nox and Dakota Kai were involved in arguably the most shocking moment of NXT WarGames history in 2019. It’s possible Levesque would want to play off that. If Nox is returning to the company, this would be the ideal place for her to do it.
Much like with the men’s WarGames match, we should get months’ worth of storylines coming out of whatever happens here. We’ll also know who is next in line for a title shot against Belair.
Bayley has lost two straight title matches to Belair on pay-per-view. If she’s going to be Raw’s top heel like it looked like she was going to be positioned as, then Damage CTRL needs to come out of this looking strong.
Whether it’s Bayley again or anybody else, someone needs to be built up here to go up against Belair. While Ripley being positioned as a top-tier heel feels inevitable, it’s looking like she’s going to be in a long-term program with Mia “Michin” Yim rather than the title picture. Cross vs. Belair doesn’t seem likely either. Another possibility is that someone on the babyface team turns heel and sets up a program with the champion. That person could be Bliss.
With Bray Wyatt having returned, it’s possible we could see the return of Bliss’ spooky supernatural gimmick. While the character certainly had its critics during its first run, this version would be under Levesque’s management rather than McMahon’s. It could be better, it could be worse, or it could be the same as it was before. Perhaps we will find out.
I’m expecting the heel team to pick up the victory here. If I’m right, then Kai and SKY will have been on the winning team for three of the four women’s WarGames matches in history.
Prediction: Damage CTRL, Ripley & Cross
Finn Balor vs. AJ Styles
This will be just the second time Balor and Styles have faced off in singles competition. Their first meeting took place on a TLC show in 2017 that saw multiple last-minute changes due to a viral infection that swept through the WWE locker room. Balor would pick up the victory that night and I believe it will likely be the same result at Survivor Series.
A report from Wrestling News back in January stated that McMahon was not high on Balor and wanted him in a “Jeff Hardy role” where he would lose to the top heels. Levesque, on the other hand, pushed Balor hard during his first run in NXT and would later put the belt back on him during the Wednesday Night War with AEW.
I imagine Levesque wants to build Balor back up and a Survivor Series victory over Styles would go a long way in achieving that. The Demon returning sometime in the near future wouldn’t hurt either.
Prediction: Balor
WWE US Champion Seth Rollins defends against Bobby Lashley and Austin Theory in a triple threat match
The last three wrestlers to hold the United States Championship are set for a triple-threat match on Saturday.
Another facet of Levesque’s WWE is the rise in prominence of mid-card titles. They are back to being the workhorse belts. Reigns holding both World titles and being primarily on SmackDown means the US title becomes the de facto top belt on Raw as well.
In recent weeks, WWE seems to be in the process of rebuilding Theory after booking him to fail in a MITB cash-in attempt. If Theory was to win the title here, it basically negates the fact that he didn’t succeed in his cash-in attempt for the same belt just weeks ago. Theory walking away from Saturday having regained the US Championship seems a distinct possibility, albeit definitely not a sure thing.
Prediction: Theory wins the title
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey defends against Shotzi
With all due respect to Shotzi, there is not a wrestling fan on the planet who believes she has a chance to beat Ronda here. This match will be all about continuing the story of Rousey’s heel turn and alliance with Shayna Baszler. Shotzi, for as ballsy as she is, is really only a prop in Rousey’s continuing story.
WWE didn’t waste much time after McMahon’s departure to turn Rousey heel. It’s something Vince likely was never going to do. If he had a babyface that he felt could make him money, it would take a lot for him to turn them. That resolve only strengthened after Steve Austin’s failed turn at WrestleMania 17. This is likely why we never saw a bad guy John Cena.
With Rousey, however, I think she has always wanted to play the bad guy and Levesque is simply letting her do just that. Rousey really did develop bitter feelings toward WWE fans who booed her during her first run and I think she wanted to play into that. She seems more comfortable now than at any other time in her wrestling career and having Baszler as her bodyguard is a perfect fit.
She previously mentioned on a video game stream that she wants to be a heel similar to Roddy Piper, one viciously hated by fans and who makes the babyface more popular. She’s getting the chance to do exactly that now and her story continues at Survivor Series.
Sami Zayn says his storyline with The Bloodline is a “perfect example of when things work in execution more than they do on paper.”
Zayn appeared on an episode of After the Bell released on Friday. During the discussion, The Honorary Uce was asked if he was initially confident the angle would be a success.
“I definitely saw the potential from the get go,” Zayn said. “It’s not something that you predict ahead of time or it’s not something that you think you want to see or something that you even think would make sense. But in execution.. and that’s what I think this whole thing has come down to is the execution of it all more than it is the concept because the concept is a bit strange. The Bloodline is a family and here is this person who is clearly not family and the whole thing doesn’t make sense on paper. It’s a perfect example of when things work in execution more than they do on paper.”
“There’s so many things that I think you can say the same about. The easiest one that we often fall back to is, just as an example, The People’s Elbow. If you wrote down ‘Rock comes up with a new move called a People’s Elbow where he stands over the guy and does this,’ I mean, it doesn’t read like something that’s going to become iconic but it’s the execution and the performer, and the time and the place and all these variables that make it magic and make it special.”
“So, I’m not entirely surprised at the success of the segments or whatever that we’ve done but it has still exceeded my expectations. Like, I knew they would be good, I just didn’t know the fans would take to it the way they have.”
Later in the show, Zayn was asked what he feels has led to the Honorary Uce angle being as well-received as it has been.
“I think, going back to that word again, it’s commitment and it’s also the contrast between the Usos and Roman and what they were doing and also they had a year, maybe even more, a year and a half to really simmer and really establish these characters. So too have I had the last even 3-4 years, maybe even five years since I switched to this bad guy kind of role, but especially over the last few years to really let my character simmer, and harden, and get established. So, you had these two very clearly defined acts and the dynamic between these two acts that were established was so, I don’t know, fun and interesting and we’re all committed to it and we all know who we are.”
Up next on the tour, the second night of the World Tag League will take place on Saturday from Kanagawa. On Sunday, both the Super Junior and World Tag Leagues will be featured on a show from Aichi. Crowd cheering will be permitted on Sunday as well.
Judgment Day has ruined Thanksgiving for the Mysterio family.
WWE posted a video to social media on Thursday featuring Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio arriving uninvited at Rey Mysterio’s home. Dominik attempted to explain that he was there for Thanksgiving dinner and he simply wanted to introduce “Mami” to the family. This was not well-received by his parents.
“It’s not the time, Dom,” Rey told his son. “Please, don’t play stupid with me. Today is not the time. Let us enjoy Thanksgiving.”
Rey attempted to close the door but Ripley barged in. Dominik then attacked Rey, who was shown wearing a walking boot in the video.
Mysterio is currently sidelined with a lower body injury and hasn’t wrestled since a house show in Mexico City on October 30. He was scheduled to take part in the SmackDown World Cup but was replaced by Mustafa Ali.
Mysterio’s status was addressed earlier this month by our own Dave Meltzer.
Dave writes:
Rey Mysterio was scheduled for the World Cup but he had either a foot or an ankle injury and was replaced by Mustafa Ali. He was in Indianapolis backstage with a walking boot on. He’s not expected to be out more than a few weeks but wasn’t going to be able to do the tournament.
Ric Flair will be returning to WWE for two shows in January.
Flair noted on his To Be The Man podcast that he is scheduled to be part of the WWE Raw 30th Anniversary show in Philadelphia on Monday, January 23, 2023. He also revealed that he will be at the Royal Rumble five days later in San Antonio.
“I’m going to be there,” Flair said about the Royal Rumble.
“They didn’t say don’t tell anybody,” he continued after Conrad Thompson suggested he might not be permitted to release this news.
Flair also addressed being invited to the Raw 30th Anniversary show.
“I have been invited and it’s a f–king big deal,” Flair said. “And for all the people out there who go why? Because it’s Raw and it’s a big f–king deal. Hell yeah, are you kidding me? 30 years, you think about that. Remember when Nitro was just going to destroy Raw?”
“For me, [I’ll] be getting in there Sunday night, I’ll be looking for [Steve] Austin, Undertaker, John Cone, anybody in sight for a cold beverage, and I’ll be buying.”
People close to CM Punk were not happy about what happened during The Elite vs. Death Triangle match on Dynamite.
Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks mocked Punk and referenced the backstage altercation from All Out 2022 throughout the match. Our own Dave Meltzer addressed the reaction some had to this on Wrestling Observer Radio.
“I know that there’s people close to CM Punk that were, boy, they were not happy with that six-man tag match,” Meltzer said on the show.
AEW Dynamite on Wednesday took place in Punk’s hometown of Chicago. References The Elite made to Punk include Omega using the GTS on Pac, performing Punk’s “go to sleep” taunt, biting Pac’s arm, and Matt Jackson mocking Punk’s failed Buckshot Lariat attempts.
Omega would later post to social media thanking KENTA after using the GTS.
Thank you, @KENTAG2S . Always a good brother. Bullet Club 4-Life amirite?
Before Dynamite, Omega spoke with SI.com and encouraged fans to “let it go” regarding the situation between Punk and The Elite.
“There are things no one can talk about, so I’d encourage people to let it go,” says Omega. “It doesn’t change that we want a team effort in AEW. I don’t even mean implicitly myself and my opponent. It also means the referee, the fans, the people who set up the ring, everyone–even a technical error can ruin the memory of a match. I can refer back to the exploding barbed wire death match. So I encourage people to move away from it because there is no information to be released. Though I cannot talk about it, I do want the fans to know I still want the best for pro wrestling.”
