All Elite Wrestling Thread (It's Wednesday...you know what that means.)

[Bandit]

TNT said CM Punk is not involved with AEW today. Maybe Rick Martel stopped by Atlanta and taught them about the wizzork.

[Bandit]

Oh Lord Punk is feuding with Bryan Alvarez now.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

CM Punk vs Bryan Alvarez with a run in by...Bix!

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Bandit]

Punk update from Dave.

-Tuesday AEW contacted WBD to tell them CM Punk would not be appearing at their Up Front and they should remove all references to him in their material. They removed almost everything except him being mentioned in a promotional e-mail, but then they sent out a correction saying he was no longer associated with AEW Collision.

-"A situation happened" that Dave said Mike Johnson's report comes closest to the truth on (Punk tried to get Ace Steel back into AEW and Khan said he can't have him work backstage anymore so Punk got angry and backed out of the deal.)

-WBD sources said they're giving AEW a week to work it out before they officially announced Chicago for the first Collision.

-Everyone on the Collision roster was a friend of Punk to make him happy.

-They made a last minute edit swapping out Punk's picture for MJF's on the poster.

-There's questions if they're even going to do a brand split now if CM Punk is not going to be there.

-Dave worries what kind of rating they can do without Punk on Saturday night. Thinks they're going to need every star on both shows now.

-Some are worried if the international markets will want Collision without Punk since they are already airing two AEW shows.

[Ocelot]

They have a big enough roster for two separate brands but enough real stars? I don't know. This is a thorny problem.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

They don't have enough stars for two separate brands. Collision could be rating at a Rampage level after a month or two if there's no Punk.

[Bandit]

I think the argument is they can create new stars with it. Like Will Hobbs is going to get a huge push from what people say. They will have more time to focus on people than Dynamite allows.

[Ocelot]

That would be ideal but for this to work, Tony has got to get out of the mindset of getting ratings and stars by Throwing Money at the Problem and Making Big Announcements. I say this all the time and I know I sound like a broken record but they need an honest-to-God head booker.

[Bandit]

The problem is there's no bookers available because the monopoly meant nobody got to learn how besides whatever dumb writers WWE had. Jeff Jarrett is there, but I don't think he's better than Tony. Russo is unemployed but fuck him. Cornette hates everyone. Heyman will never leave WWE. Sapolsky is with WWE now. Gedo doesn't want to leave Japan. Dreamer, Lance Storm and Scott D'Amore do Impact and aren't better than Tony. It's slim pickings

[Ocelot]

My pick would be Dutch Mantell.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Bandit]

Great promo. I guess maybe they're setting up for Moxley vs Okada at Forbidden Door?

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Bandit]

Yikes.

[Bandit]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Bandit]

[Bandit]

In that picture he looks like Iboobshi.

[Bandit]