Yesterday, I explained how after being driven away by modern pro wrestling after WrestleMania 36, AEW now has my attention with the imminent arrivals of CM Punk and Bryan Danielson.
Today, I explain what I want creatively from AEW for Punk and Danielson.
In the near future, I will expand on what I will need to see from AEW in other facets, both as a business and in terms of human decency in order for me to be a long-term customer. Simply put, I will not be tolerating what I did prior to COVID-19 and the Speaking Out movement. I won’t tolerate being treated with contempt again as a loyal, supposedly harder-to-please fan, something I’ve endured not just from WWE, but in years prior from WCW, TNA, and ROH’s subpar “Smoky Mountain” era.
Of course, I expect that at times, my patience will be tested. As someone who didn’t follow the Bullet Club as it eventually splintered into what would become AEW, I know that AEW is not currently designed to cater to not just a lapsed fan, but a proudly nitpicking lapsed ROHbot like myself.
With that in mind, let’s get rolling.
CM Punk and Bryan Danielson: How to Maximize Their Debuts
Firstly, I don’t see any need for Punk and Danielson to be involved with each other whatsoever on AEW television. If anything, AEW’s first-ever chapter in the Punk vs. Danielson rivalry (which has spanned ROH, FIP, IWA-MS, and most notably WWE) needs to be penciled in for probably a good couple years from now, perhaps for All Out 2023. Make us wait for that money match-up, and have us absolutely SALIVATING when the time comes for it.
But that’s way down the road. What about the immediate future?
I believe my suggestion for Danielson’s first AEW program is a much simpler one for AEW loyalists to digest, so that one comes first, even though all indications are that his debut is a month away as compared to just hours from the time of this column going live.
AEW would be wise for Danielson’s debut to have buzz next month at Arthur Ashe Stadium not just for the novelty of it being his debut, but because something truly unforgettable took place.
In the past 2 years, one of 2019’s hottest acts in the business has seen much of his bandwagon stock drop. Simply put, ever since the acclaimed match against Chris Jericho at Full Gear 2019, Cody Rhodes has disappointingly failed to capture the same acclaim that seemed like a sure bet with MJF turning heel on him at that show.
Although the Cody vs. MJF program didn’t initially draw me in beyond the “casual fan” level in supporting AEW, I waited patiently as I kept up through pundits I have great respect for (such as John Pollock, Wai Ting, Wade Keller, and Todd Martin), having the reasonable expectation that it would eventually grow into the long-form blood feud that WWE chooses not to provide anymore, that it’d provide the kind of peaks-and-valleys storytelling seen in the past from the likes of Tully Blanchard vs. Magnum TA, Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer, and Jimmy Jacobs vs. BJ Whitmer.
For whatever reason, the Cody vs. MJF program was a one-and-done, not turning out to be a saga that would span multiple PPV cycles and culminate in a climactic gimmick match on a stage such as All Out or Double or Nothing. Perhaps the pandemic has to be blamed, perhaps not. All I know is that once again, I wasn’t getting that long-form slow burn saga that I had expected from someone with such respected storytelling values as Cody Rhodes.
I am going to be blunt. I do not give a shit about Cody Rhodes working with unproven projects. I want to see him working programs with those who already have a track record, whether that’s being big stars in AEW or elsewhere, having an acclaimed skill set in the ring and/or on the microphone, or being very, very obvious future stars in the business.
It is no secret that the fans within the AEW bubble have grown tired of Cody’s act since he anti-climatically moved on from MJF 18 months ago as well. After getting his ass handed to him by Malakai Black on a recent episode of Dynamite, I’m aware that the fans were happy for Black to interrupt Cody’s post-match promo.
The signs are right there: it’s time to turn Cody Rhodes heel when he returns.
At this point, I don’t see a need for Cody to come back and vow for revenge against Black. It’s a one-and-done, so let Black make quick work of Brock Anderson in the near future and have Black move on to someone else that’s actually still beloved, whoever that may be.
Instead, the setting seems obvious: in front of the largest crowd in AEW history, the “franchise” and EVP that is Cody welcomes Danielson, happy to have brought in one of his finest opponents from WWE into the fold.
Then when all seems well, Cody turns on Danielson in front of the rabid Queens crowd, with Arn Anderson ordering his son Brock to assist Cody with the beatdown.
With this direction, the following is accomplished:
- Cody’s historic heel turn that spoils Danielson’s historic debut
- Cody has his biggest buzz since late 2019
- Danielson immediately has an important program, and it’s a BLOOD FEUD!
- The project that is Brock Anderson will get to work TV matches against Danielson, which should do nothing but positive things for his in-ring seasoning.
- Assuming that Full Gear 2021 tickets would be going on sale shortly afterward, the fans of the STL would have one HELL of a marquee match in Cody vs. Danielson to go along with whatever the AEW Title match will end up being, and perhaps that would lead to another instant PPV event sellout.
Cody and Danielson have also been teasing this match for 4 years now, going back to Cody’s time as the ROH Champion as Danielson was seeking ways to be medically cleared to come out of retirement. With this evidence, I see very little pushback from either should the program be suggested to them.
In the weeks that would follow the turn, Cody’s motive is quite simple: he made by far the biggest sacrifice to pave the road for AEW’s existence, by giving up his WWE job in 2016. He is NOT pleased that despite all his sacrifices, and that he has NOT used his EVP status to break his promise of no more world title matches (despite being screwed over by MJF over it), the fans have soured on him. In addition, he is NOT pleased that Danielson declined to leave WWE in 2018 and be on the ground floor of AEW, and only now is hopping on the bandwagon with the company on major cable TV, selling out arenas left and right, and crossing over with NJPW.
I want to stress that if this indeed would be the direction for Cody and Danielson, I’m gonna be very disappointed if it’s just yet another one-and-done for Full Gear 2021. I want this to be the peaks-and-valleys saga that goes on for months, with so many twists and turns, a true emotional roller-coaster, culminating no earlier than Retribution 2022, perhaps all the way through All Out 2022.
As for Punk’s direction, this one is admittedly much more polarizing. But before getting into it, I want to bring up an elephant in the room.
Those of you who are anxious to see Adam Page get his payoff culmination and dethrone Kenny Omega, you may never get it in its proper form. Since Page is now out of the picture for All Out 2021, by the time he returns (perhaps for Full Gear 2021), COVID-19’s Delta variant is very plausibly going to cause the pro wrestling industry to return to empty arenas, Thunderdome gimmicks, etc, no matter how much Vince McMahon and his promoter peers are adamant that they won’t go back to that.
I ultimately believe that although I just mentioned Full Gear 2021 taking place in St. Louis in my Cody vs. Danielson pitch, it will not be taking place in St. Louis after all, and certainly not with fans present come November 6, least of all at anywhere near full capacity.
ST. LOUIS — Area hospitals are postponing some elective procedures as COVID-19 patient numbers climb in the region and resources stretch thin, the acting head of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, Dr. Clay Dunagan, said during a briefing Tuesday.
Dunagan said hospitals don’t have enough staff members to continue normal levels of elective procedures while caring for virus patients and providing emergency medicine.
Patients with suspected and confirmed COVID-19 are occupying 21% of the region’s intensive care unit beds, which Dunagan described as “getting to a fairly critical level.”
Dunagan, BJC HealthCare’s chief clinical officer and an infectious disease expert at Washington University, also expressed concern about availability of equipment used to care for patients with severe COVID-19, called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, machines. The health systems have had to send at least one patient out of the region to receive ECMO treatment.
ECMO machines are used for patients whose lungs are so damaged they cannot provide enough oxygen to their blood. The machines oxygenate a patient’s blood until their lungs heal.
“Ordinarily, the St. Louis region is an area to which other hospitals send their patients who need this therapy,” Dunagan said. “This is really pushing us to the limit, and is something that’s going to impair our ability to take care of other patients.”
This pandemic is absolutely difficult to navigate for everyone, let alone a wrestling promotion that is trying to deliver its first magical moment to cement a “homegrown” star as the next big thing.
There is risk in delaying Page’s culmination, and there is risk to not letting it come with him defeating Kenny Omega. I believe the risk must be taken. But I don’t just believe that Page’s culmination should wait until next year.
No, I believe CM Punk should waltz into AEW with the complete red-carpet treatment, getting the spot of challenging Kenny Omega in the main event, and winning the title immediately in his hometown. I would KNOWINGLY do for Punk what WCW did for Hulk Hogan at Bash at the Beach 1994… because when push comes to shove, I believe that in the end, Punk would be a team player and drop the title when the time comes for it.
I am not a Kenny Omega guy. For all of this talents and accolades, I find his adolescent shtick as a heel to not be worthy of being a long-term heel world champion. I will gladly take Punk’s all-time surliness, smugness, and incredible promo ability instead in that role.
And since Christian is currently slotted to challenge Omega for the AEW Title, the pathway is quite simple: he gets attacked by the September 1 edition of Dynamite, sidelined for some time, everyone suspecting it was the Elite, only to eventually be revealed that it was Punk who did it.
Of course, Punk would be such a fresh novelty, so a heel turn would take some time to get to, the twist of him being Christian’s attacker taking some time to be revealed. There will certainly be that resentment from the AEW loyalists, pissed that Punk would hypocritically waltz into the top spot of the company at the expense of others who had been part of AEW’s journey for the past few years. And I would be counting on that.
I would give Punk a very, very long world title reign, competing in big matches that would also be a who’s who of challengers, slaying the likes of Christian, Jon Moxley, Eddie Kingston, and Darby Allin. I’d even go so far as to try convincing NJPW to have at least one of its current four pillars (Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada) do the clean job on PPV to Punk, thereby putting some prestige into AEW’s world title.
In the meantime, Page would return and get closure, finally slaying Omega, but still chasing the world title. And there’s nobody I believe better suited to toy with Page than Punk, who has proven both in reality and kayfabe that he can be a complete, utter, absolute cunt.
For Punk to gradually become a cocky hypocrite, smugly rubbing it in the fans’ faces that a decade after ranting about Dwayne Johnson getting to return and immediately be positioned to headline WrestleMania, he now gets to play the role of the proven star that can cherry-pick his way in the top matches (and can do so violently), is absolutely fathomable. Punk can brag that his mere presence in AEW along with being the company’s world champion is simply put, just best for business. And he can pick up where he left off so many years ago, proclaiming himself to be also the best in the world (especially if he knocks off one of the NJPW pillars.)
For Punk to play this type of role is no stretch, having done so as the world champion for ROH in 2005 and WWE in 2012-13. One can only imagine the reaction there would be if Punk utters the following words.
“Adam Page, it’s simple business – CM Punk walked in here and immediately main evented All Out ‘cause it drew more money in one night than you will in a lifetime.”
Or this zinger as well.
“C’mon Adam, it’s so obvious that Tony Khan and the critics see you as AEW’s future golden boy. And how did you reward them for their faith? By knocking up your wife during the 2020 holiday season, and therefore making yourself unavailable 9 months later for the biggest show of the year, because you were too busy being by her side, holding her hand as she squeezed out that little semen demon crotchling! And you and these stupid AEW fans honestly think you have the commitment to win this championship and be “the guy” in this federation?”
By making the long-term plan become Punk vs. Page, there’s another wrinkle to consider as well. With Page’s involvement with the Dark Order, that means there’s an opportunity for Colt Cabana to be involved with this storyline. It goes without saying that Cabana’s participation in this saga could lead to some very interesting interactions between him and Punk, and could be used to add even more heat on Punk, riling the fans up all that much more to eventually see Page dethrone him.
Ultimately, that’s still the end game in this scenario. Next year, operating on the hope that things have significantly improved with the pandemic, there will be a packed house at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Memorial Day weekend or at the NOW Arena or United Center on Labor Day weekend, as Page finally gets his culmination, doing so over the biggest cunt heel in AEW’s history.
Or even as an alternate, to REALLY make this moment special for Page, have the title change take place on a special episode of Dynamite, emanating from his alma mater of Virginia Tech University. AEW has well established itself as having the exact opposite philosophy of WWE with hometown performers, allowing them to shine and connect with their local fans in babyface roles (even if just for one night.)
I find this pitch for Punk to be far less plausible that my Cody vs. Danielson pitch. I don’t expect to get what I want immediately. However, I have enough respect for Tony Khan’s approach that I will be more patient with him than if I was watching WWE again. I have faith that by the end of the year, whatever Punk and Danielson will be doing will have me loving pro wrestling again, enough to get me to stop pontificating that it used to be fucking better.
In the near future, there will be another AEW-centered piece from me, this time focusing on some business opportunities that the company has not capitalized on yet, as well as some very loud suggestions on how to put AEW morally ahead of the curve against its competitors and partners.