• “Please find a way to make it work” – AEW Wrestler To CM Punk & The Elite
During an episode of his FTR podcast, AEW wrestler Dax Harwood talked about former 2-time AEW World Champion CM Punk, Punk’s issue with “Hangman” Adam Page, the backstage fight at the All Out 2022 pay-per-view & more.
Below are the highlights:
CM Punk having an issue with Hangman Adam Page’s promo about him:
“After the promo segment, I went to Punk and I said, ‘that was really good, that was a great segment.’ They got the fans to react. It’s hard sometimes to get the fans to react to a babyface-babyface match.
I thought it was a great segment. He was like, ‘Ahhh, I’m kind of feeling a certain way about it.’ I had no inkling that anything went wrong or went sideways or anything like that.”
If Adam Page is the kind of guy to go into business for himself:
“To be honest, I don’t really know Adam Page very well, we worked together once on the North Carolina indies. I don’t know him very well, but I don’t think so and I didn’t think so. I didn’t have that notion of him.
He’s a family man, he loves his wife, he just had a newborn, he’s always pleasant and polite to me. We always talked and get along. Even after the disagreements we’ve had with The Young Bucks, he and I have always talked and got along great.”
If Punk started becoming bitter heading into All Out 2022, Punk not wanting to be the AEW World Champion:
“No, not at all. Punk was still so joyous and happy to be in the wrestling business. To be honest, he told me, when they were going to put the belt on him, that he didn’t want the belt.
He said, ‘I just want to have fun,’ but he understood that Tony (Khan) putting the belt on him would put AEW in a better light. He took it, begrudgingly a little bit, but he took the belt.
At the time, he was taking me, Cash, [MJF], Wardlow, Hobbs, I’m missing so many guys, he was taking us out to eat, always paying for it. He bought all the girls in the locker room Starbucks gift cards and had one of the girls hand them out, anonymously, and didn’t say who they were from, but it was from him, just because he loved the atmosphere and loved being there.
He also loved the work the girls were putting in. He thought they were busting their a$$ to try and get the attention that WWE’s women’s division was getting.”
Speaking with Punk immediately after the backstage fight at All Out 2022:
“All the boys in the locker room were drinking and having a good time, and we were hugging, I have picture of me and Jay Lethal on the ground together just laughing our a$$ off. I had my wife and daughter there, Cash had his girlfriend. It was such a great time.
After our match was over, I shower up, we had a couple of drinks with the guys real quick, grab my girls, and head back to the hotel. I was laying in bed and I got a text from one of the wrestlers that said, ‘is this sh*t true?’ I had no idea what he was talking about.
Right after that, I got a call from my buddy CM Punk and he told me what happened. I said, ‘You’re lying to me, dude. There is no way that happened.’ He was covered in blood from the match. He FaceTimed me, it was that night.
He said, ‘I want to let you know, you’re going to hear some things. I want you to hear it from me. This is what happened.’ I said, ‘Dude, are you okay? Do you need anything? I’ll come right now to help you out, get you cleaned.’ ‘No, no, everything is fine, it’s died down, we’re good.’ That’s when I first heard about it.”
Some of the things about the backstage fight that were reported being a bit exaggerated:
“Obviously, I wasn’t there. Who I perceive to be God is the only person who really knows the truth. Everyone is going to have their own version in their head. We’ve all done it before, we’ve made what we perceive to be the truth.
What I’ve heard that is reported, there are elements of truth in it, but then there are also some things that raise a red flag to me. It seems like we’re only getting a portion of the story or what this journalist wants to put out, whether he has a bias or grudge against one of the parties, that’s just how I felt.
I also knew that I didn’t know the whole story. I also felt that the stories that I heard from a few people, I don’t feel like they would blatantly lie to me. I do think there are bits of truth, but I also believe that some fans have read too much into it and I think they should let what happened, happen, and it die down.
When it’s all said and done, I can’t tell you that I know 100% of the truth and I can’t tell you that the journalist reporting is 100% of the truth. I know what I perceive to be the truth and from the things I’ve read and heard, there is partial truth and partial things that are a bit exaggerated.”
If Punk will return to AEW:
“I can tell you what I hope, because I don’t know. Everyone knows about the legalities of the situation and no one is really expressing what is going to happen, what has happened, and what won’t happen.
I can tell you, all I can be truthful about, I can only tell you what I know and what I perceive to know, I hope that he comes back. I feel that AEW should have The Young Bucks in their locker room. AEW should have Kenny Omega in the locker room. I know that I feel AEW should have CM Punk in the locker room.
With those four entities, it makes our talent roster so much deeper and better. It’s four guys who want to be the best. Regardless of what any of us think personally, I know that we all want to be the best and I know we all want the best for professional wrestling. It’s given us a life that we could never have otherwise.”
Wanting The Elite & CM Punk to patch things up:
“This is my plea to all four guys. Please find a way to make it work. If we can make it work, we can set up the future of professional wrestling for a long time and we can change the course of professional wrestling for a very long time. When you think about it, unselfishly, we’re doing this for 20-30 years down the road so guys and girls can make a living.”
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• ON THIS DAY IN WCW HISTORY (December 28, 1997) – WCW PRO
On this day in 1997, Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling aired an episode of their weekly TV show ‘WCW PRO’.
This episode featured pre-taped matches, interviews & storyline segments on the road to the ‘WCW Starrcade 1997’ PPV, that happened later on the same day.
The card of the show can be found here:
Dean Malenko vs Alex Porteau
Chris Jericho vs Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker
Willie Worthy vs Bobby Walker
La Parka, El Dandy & Silver King vs Hector Garza, Juventud Guerrera & Ciclope
