Moments after CM Punk won the AEW Championship in the main event of AEW All out, he sat next to AEW President Tony Khan and launched into a verbal tirade at the post-show media scrum, blasting former friend Colt Cabana, the AEW EVP’s, and specifically calling out Hangman Adam Page. His comments incited anger backstage, and when the AEW EVP’s confronted him, a brawl ensued that saw Ace Steel throw a chair at Nick Jackson and also take a bite out of Kenny Omega.
Following the brawl, Tony Khan suspended everyone who was involved. While he made an on-air announcement about the World Championship and Trios Championships (which had been won by Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks at All Out) being vacated, he did not state a reason for the disappearance of some of the top stars in the company.
Tony Khan was recently interviewed by the MMA Hour’s Ariel Helwani, who called the interview “one of the most frustrating” of his career after Khan refused to answer questions surrounding the brawl and ensuing suspensions.
Dave Meltzer Believes Tony Khan Should Address The Situation To AEW Fans
When speaking about Tony Khan’s interview with Ariel Helwani on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer said that he believes it’s time for Tony Khan to address the suspensions of CM Punk and the AEW EVP’s as it’s been over a month and a half since the incident and fans have no information about if and when the suspended parties, who are some of the company’s biggest stars, will return.
“The one thing is, at this point, we’re in mid October. The thing with the brawl or whatever after the ‘pipebomb’ at the scrum- that’s September 4th, we’re in mid October now. That’s six weeks out and the company has still not said anything. They’ve stripped guys of titles with no explanation, they never mention their names on television. [These] were 4 of the biggest stars in the company.”
Dave Meltzer continued, noting that even if the company can’t go into specifics, Tony Khan should address the situation with AEW fans lest the company appear on better than “sleazy” companies.
“They have not said anything. He [Khan) did not go there when asked, it was just like, “I can’t talk about this.” It wasn’t like [he said] they’re under suspension or we’re not going to talk about it because there’s an investigation; he said nothing. At this point it [had] been over a month when he’s done this interview and there’s not an explanation to anyone as to what’s going on. Anything that anyone has heard about this has come from me or you [Alvarez] or Sean Ross Sapp or another reporter- pretty much those people.
“Nothing from the company and it’s so bad. I mean if you really think about it, not to even say anything, I cannot think of any other form of entertainment or sport or pro wrestling company; other then the sleaziest companies there are [that wouldn’t say something). I’m not calling AEW a sleazy company, but what I am saying is in the past you’d have sleazy companies run away from stories.”
Meltzer went on to say that if the same situation happened in WWE, New Japan, or any independent promotion, someone in Tony Khan’s position would have addressed it and provided some information to the fans.
Later, Dave Meltzer pointed out that with no information from Tony Khan himself, fans are forced to speculate and spread rumors about the potential return of the AEW EVP’s. He also makes it very clear that Tony Khan has not addressed the situation at all, and has not provided a reason for why he’s unwilling to talk.
“Nobody knows anything of what’s going on. At some point it’s just ridiculous, and again, right there [in that interview], he had the chance. He was asked and he could have said something like “we don’t know when we’re going to bring them back.” It’s like nothing. People are going to me like, ‘everyone knows they’re suspended.’ Yeah, you do because I told you; or another reporter told you. You didn’t hear it from them; they haven’t said a word.”
Meltzer expanded on this idea a bit further on in the podcast, saying that Tony Khan has provided absolutely no information.
“People are like ‘Tony said it was..’ I mean they didn’t even listen cause they said, ‘Tony basically said the investigation is ongoing.’ He never said a word, he did not say that. He just said ‘you know, I cannot talk about this’ and then they asked him about Cody and he said ‘I cannot talk about Cody.’
“And I understand that one too because Cody and him had both made a promise that they wouldn’t talk about it and they haven’t. I’m sure there’s a part of Cody that wants to give his reason but they made a promise and that’s fine if you just go: ‘we made a promise not to talk about it.’ Ok, at least that’s something.”
“I just feel like, at this stage of the game, the public deserves some sort of explanation. The people who have been supporting this company from day one and the fans who have purchased tickets for these shows coming up. Again, fans who purchased their tickets in August and September for these shows in October were expecting The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and Punk there.
“And they have not even acknowledged that Punk is injured, and that’s the thing- ‘well, Punk couldn’t be there anyway because he tore his triceps.’ Did AEW say that? No. Punk has just disappeared off the face of the earth as far as they’re concerned and he was the World Champion at the time. The other guys were the Trios Champions at the time and they’ve just disappeared, we’ve got new champions and [still] no explanation has been made.
“At least when Ric Flair walked out (or was fired by Jim Herd) they at least made an explanation that Flair had no showed a match and therefore we had to strip him of the championship. I mean, they didn’t even do like carney WCW from 30 years ago, they didn’t even do that.”