No wrestling fan can ignore CM Punk’s massive draw. Ever since his infamous WWE Pipebomb, his popularity has exponentially increased. Now, working with AEW, things have unfortunately taken a turn for the worst. A former WWE manager said Punk could be why things are going downhill for the Florida-based promotion.
Backstage politics happens everywhere in every promotion, but how it affects the company differs. With AEW being in hot water, somebody needs to be blamed, or someone needs to take control.
Eric Bischoff reveals AEW’s ‘self-destructive behavior’
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On his show, Strictly Business with Eric Bischoff #40, the former WWE manager, Eric Bischoff, compared wrestling news getting leaked with other sports and AEW. Since its inception, AEW has offered fierce competition to WWE, but recently the brand has been in hot water.
Bischoff started by talking about how the agents or wrestlers do not hide the news of new or returning wrestlers. According to him, this is all internal business the fans should not know about, which keeps the surprise element intact. “This is different; this is self-destructive behavior,” Bischoff said. The context is about how the fans know way too much more than they should. He brought up a few names during this segment, including CM Punk.
Furthermore, he discussed how not leaking information helps build excitement for the fans, the roster, the staff, and the company. He also touched upon the massive achievement of selling 80,000 tickets at Wembley Stadium for AEW’s All-In. The PPV event broke WWE’s WrestleMania record, an enormous blow to Triple H, who called the brand a ‘secondary promotion.’
Moreover, he also touched upon Tony Khan’s handling of the situation. According to Bischoff, handling the entire wrestler’s situation that should occur backstage openly in public worsens the company’s image. According to him, this is what is tearing the company apart. Bischoff also said that office stuff should not be spoken outside office walls. This gets leaked to the fans, particularly with Punk which ruins the hype.
Bischoff claims AEW is not about one wrestler like CM Punk
Ahead of getting into the self-destructive behavior of AEW, Bischoff said that this could be a part of pro wrestling, but he had never seen it the way he is right now. Mentioning Punk, he went on to say how baffling it was to hear things from fans that should be confidential. He called it a lack of professionalism and an issue the management must address.
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Eric Bischoff defending AEW?? Never thought I’d see it pic.twitter.com/wjm07lajjR
— The Real One ☄️ (@WWEREALONE) August 17, 2023
While talking about Wembley Stadium, he brought up how, rather than celebrating it, people like Punk, whose backstage disputes are known to fans, ruin a moment of unity. He said announcing Punk or The Elite builds the brand around that sole wrestler, not the entity AEW is. He concluded that things would never work out if AEW is seen as Punk or any other wrestler and not a brand by itself.
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What do you make of Bischoff’s comments? Do you think they hold weight? Let us know in the comments section below.
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