A couple of AEW updates from today's pwinsider.com.
After AEW Dynamite went off the air, Kenny Omega took the ring mic and addressed the crowd. He said that for some of the fans, it may have been the first live AEW event. If this was their second live event, he appreciates them because the last time they were here for a "Halloween spectacle" where they saw The Elite vs. Jack Evans & Angelico & Kip Sabian. He said it's always a pleasure to perform and since he's been gone for some time and if he does it now, he doesn't have to worry about how long or how hurt he is and he can talk to the crowd like a regular human being.
He questioned himself many times over the last 7-8 months and wondered if he could return and perform at the level of the others. He said it will take him time to catch up to everyone else and it will be some time before he will be able to challenge for a singles title, but he's glad everyone is with him on the journey. He said that he may cheat every now and then and he "isn't a good guy" but every time they show up, you are seeing a legitimate Kenny Omega and Young Bucks performance. He said they aren't a tribute act or a parody but they are trying to leave a legacy behind and they aren't here for selfish gains. Omega said it's not about match ratings or how much money they make for their families, but about changing the world and the wrestling world and the way that fans consume it.
Omega said they are going to give the fans the best trios matches, the best singles matches, the best hardcore matches, the best women's matches - that was always the mission statement. He said that as long as The Elite are "here", they will make sure the fans get that variety. Win, lose or draw, they will get it. No matter how banged up or taped up he is, the fans will get Kenny Omega too, somehow. He said that by a stroke of luck and because the Bucks are better than anyone truly knows "we were able to survive tonight."
Omega said that he should be mad at the fans because of the state he's in, as he's doing 3-4 physical therapy sessions a day, because he's performing for them. He then likened the fans to a cat that pees and poops all over the house. He can't hate the cat but he's mad when he finds it. So, on TV, he may blame the fans and hold resentment towards them but deep down inside "as long as this is never aired", he does appreciate the fans.
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We've had a number of readers ask about comments AEW Champion CM Punk made on last night's Dynamite, essentially calling out former AEW Champion Hangman Page (who did not come out), then calling the lack of response cowardly as opposed to "cowboy sh**" and then remarking that the apology should be larger than the "disrespect" before asking if anyone else had any issues and wanted to come out before turning the direction of his promo to Jon Moxley to build to their bout to crown an undisputed AEW Champion.
Punk's comments about Page and anyone else who wanted to come out and fight him were not part of the overall plans going into that segment.
Instead Punk, who has the leeway to go in whatever direction he wants verbally, appeared to take the moment to call out Page. It appears there has been some of of issue with Punk and Page brewing for months, given that right before their match at last May's Double or Nothing PPV (where Punk beat Page for the title), Page, to Punk's face, buried him in a promo and treated Punk as some sort of interloper to the promotion that Page needed to protect AEW from, which made zero sense given that was never Punk's on camera role for the promotion or even in the build to that match.
The comments at the time were so far out of left field that I asked AEW President Tony Khan about them during a media call for AEW Double or Nothing prior to the show. At the time, Khan said the segment made sense because they are two guys who don't like each other and want to fight. He said the comments helped make it a compelling fight and if you were someone like Page there from day one, you could see his perspective.
Obviously, CM Punk didn't see his perspective and given this was his first real promo time since breaking his foot, he decided to give Page a receipt verbally live on Dynamite.
To the best of our knowledge, there was no interaction with Punk and Page before, during or after last night's Dynamite backstage. Whether any of this is turned into storyline down the line remains to be seen, but when Punk made his comments, we are told they were made without AEW's advance knowledge and in that regard, it was 100% a shoot from Punk.
