Winners & Losers from CM Punk-Jack Perry Gate!

So, after much anticipation, last night AEW released the BTS footage from Wembley All-In on AEW Dynamite to fans delight.

And as Eric Bischoff stated AEW is a gold mine for everyone except Tony Khan.

On the heels of what should have been something that maybe aired 7 months again, the 2-minute clip was aired last night. And while it was more than what CM Punk said on Ariel Helwani’s podcast, it mostly was what we thought it was going to be in terms of the action. But the ramifications of this video are just more damning for all parties involved.

While AEW fans (or diehard fanboys) will cheer and applaud this, you can rest assured that AEW did damage to its own brand. It’s one of those moments that is like WWE’s Hot Lesbian Action, WCW’s Bash at The Beach fiasco and ECW’s Crucification of Raven.

A moment where sane people should have put a kibosh on this before it happened.

So, without further rambling, I broke down winners and losers from this as one X handler called “Turd sandwich” starting with the losers;

Jack Perry comes off as a weak baby who started this

The worst thing about this was how it basically neutered Jungle Boy and turned him into a simp. Not only did the video show him somewhat instigating the brawl, but that Samoa Joe picked him up like a baby and hold him like one.

The old adage is that Image is everything and the image of Jack Perry is one of a brat who gets manhandled. Even if you wanted to bring him back as a top heel, he has as much toughness factor as James Elsworth.

On second thought… that is an insult to Elsworth.

People won’t take Perry seriously anymore and with his list of faults (zero personality, refusal to improve his promo skills, small stature) he is just damaged goods.

The video destroys any pushing of Perry for the foreseeable future and there is zero payoff. Punk has been fired, the Young Bucks explanation came off as stupid and uninspiring and the whole thing was a waste.

Which leads me to the next batch of losers.

AEW Producers & Agents looked incompetent and lost.

No matter what the promotion you follow, the role of backstage producers and agents is crucial. They are the guys that help layout the matches, act as buffers between the wrestlers and the promoter, and generally act as peacekeepers. It’s their job to make sure everything runs smoothly and if there is a disagreement to help squash it or troubleshoot it.

Pick up any books written by a wrestler or listen to a podcast, and you can hear how they prevent things before they get worse. Seth Rollins told the story of how Paul Heyman and TJ Kidd prevented him from going nuclear on Vince McMahon after the Fiend fiasco at Hell in a Cell. In an industry that still has a lot of testosterones and egos, the producers and agents are vital to keeping the police.

In the All-In video, the Agents looked more like fans and bystanders than professionals.

Why was it that Christopher Daniels, Chris Hero and multiple AEW officials did not intervene earlier? You could tell within a few seconds that these two were getting heated quickly.

This is why the company is paying you in the first place and instead you had nobody doing anything. This was something that had been festering for a few days even as Perry had been difficult towards people.

Why didn’t the agents separate these two in the first place? Why wasn’t an agent on top of this before the whole thing escalated?

They might as well have been just random actor plants standing around as background faces for what they did. Why even hire them if they can’t do their simple job which prevents things from getting out of control?

Speaking of control, the next group of losers

The entire AEW Roster for having to be associated with this debacle.

The AEW Defenders led by TW5L and Steamy Ray always attack us by saying that the roster is great, and the action is top notch. That us “AEW Haters” can’t see past our hatred and acknowledge the product in the ring.

Maybe their right but it doesn’t help when the most talked about thing is AEW’s screw ups.

Right now, nobody is talking about any of the matches or the angles from last night’s show. Most people stopped watching after the video because it was more exciting to bash it than watch the product.

It is maddening and frustrating being an AEW wrestler and having to defend and explain this video.

For 98 percent of the roster, they behave like adults, work their asses off and do their job. They don’t do anything repugnant or offensive and most view this as a business that they love.

Afte Punk was let go by the company; the majority of talented people were hoping to have things calm down. That people would stop talking about Punk and the negativity and focus on wrestling.

But instead, this video is dragging everything back up and “CM Punk” chants will continue in the arenas.

It’s bad enough that the attendance is low, ratings are going down and the early AEW momentum is cratering. But the video gives credibility to AEW detractors who cite the multitude of problems.

From angles getting hot shot and spent, too many wrestlers on the roster with no direction, titles being created and devalued within a blink of the eye and more; the company seems to be just a center for issues.

All the All-In video did was give another problem that AEW wrestlers had to deal with. Another dig at ownership that wrestlers had to find some way to defend.

More drama that was unnecessary and should have been put to bed a year ago.

But instead, it has a whole new life and legs that continue to be talked about for the near future.

Which leads me to the final loser on this whole card.

Tony Khan continues to look like a spoiled rich kid who doesn’t belong in ownership.

If anyone seriously thinks that Tony was “in fear of his life” then you must have thought the same of Andy Reid during the Super Bowl. You remember when Travis Kelce was screaming at him and physically bumped into him?

Hell… Andy probably feared for his life!!

Oh wait, no he didn’t and nor did he overreact and make this into a World War 3.

Unlike Tony did by releasing this video

Nowhere in this video did it show Punk putting his hands on Tony. The video didn’t show him throwing anything at him, kicking things at him or anything that could be construed as Tony’s well-being was in peril.

Was Punk out of line and acting like a spoiled brat? Yes. Should he have been punished accordingly for his actions? Yes.

None of these were ever in contention in the first place.

If this video had been released right after Punk got released, at least then Tony could have just used it to show he fire Punk with just cause.

He could have just said that Punk was unprofessional, he was becoming a distraction and that he was terminated due to his behavior.

At least then, he would have been able to come out looking professional, Punk would have been the guy who screwed up and this would have been over immediately.

But Tony is not a leader as often he reacts without thinking instead.

The video did nothing for AEW to make themselves look good in any way. This isn’t just me and AEW critics saying this but Dave Meltzer and other AEW wrestlers.

The CM Punk drama now will continue for as long as FTR vs. The Young Bucks continues. Any chance of making Okada into a bigger star is made harder by him being part of this mess via the Bucks

And for WBD execs who aren’t fans of pro wrestling, it gives them ammunition to push for not renewing AEW.

To a non-wrestling fan, AEW and Tony Khan are an embarrassment that continues to give the network headaches. From the Pizza Cutter fiasco, crashing ratings, the Punk firing, horrible optics and pro wrestling stigma; it’s enough for the network to give thought to getting rid of AEW at the end of 2024.

“But they are getting 700K and they sent a press release about their success.”

The ratings are not great and pro wrestling is not like network television. People aren’t going to buy seasons of AEW, and binge watch them like you would Cake Boss or Big Bang Theory.

You can’t air AEW reruns like you would do for movies or other programming as it doesn’t have the same appeal.

And none of these shows also promote footage of actors/talent behaving badly and ownership looking incompetent.

Warner Brothers Discovery is a Fortune 500 company that is image conscious. They want to look professional and proper in every way possible because it’s good for business. Shareholders don’t want to invest in a money loser or a company that is an embarrassment.

Tony Khan is an embarrassment to WBD in how all of this went down. Not only did he look like he overexaggerated the incident but was nowhere to be seen in the video.

You don’t see him in the video at all. You could ask if he was even there and be right in asking that question. The whole thing looked like a Mickey Mouse operation and the owner was nowhere to be seen during this fracas.

All the people who state that this company and owner are not serious about doing business… they got validated with his action and lack of response.

So, who were the winners of this video?

WWE got more free publicity and dodged a big bullet.

If this video got released right after the incident, WWE wouldn’t have signed Punk as he would have been too toxic. How do you sell shareholders and TKO on signing a 45-year-old wrestler who got fired for a “physical altercation” by another company?

Instead, they signed Punk, have been able to use him in different ways since his injury, and are continuing to roll along the road of success.

And the best part is they are living rent free in AEW and Tony Khan’s head. If you listen to WWE programming, they never mention AEW at all nor do they treat it like they did WCW.

To them, the AEW-WWE war is all but over, and they are the conquering army.

Meanwhile AEW has to now deal with Punk chants at their events, try to find ways to get momentum back and turn this around quickly.

And if you don’t think that other AEW talent are seeing how Punk, Cody and Jade Cargill are doing and thinking of jumping ship… You are crazy.

Which leads me to the final winner of this.

Podcasters, X users and columnists got more comedy gold and ammunition.

The All In Wembley BTS video did the impossible; it united Vince Russo, Eric Bischoff, Jim Cornette, Mr. Tito, Marvin the Movie Monster and me on how AEW screwed up.

It also is giving us more comedy gold that we get to use to rip Tony and AEW.

Hey did you hear… I got some mean tweets from AEW Fans… AND I FEARED FOR MY LIFE!

A squirrel just ran in front of a little old lady and looked at her funny… SHE FEARED FOR HER LIFE!

Every child who is at school got yelled at by their teachers or another student… THEY FEARED FOR THEIR LIVES.

If you think that this meme is going to die within the next few weeks, you are grossly mistaken. This comedy video validates everyone who told you that this was going to end badly. There was zero reason to release this video right now and it should have been destroyed like the Patriots Spygate videos…

Instead… Tony Khan doubled down and wanted to show this to prove he was right.

As Eric Bischoff said

AEW is a gold mine for everyone. Except Tony Khan.

To listen to more Fighters/Boxers/Sports Reporters interviews and more check out www.lastcallpodcast.com or follow me on Twitter.com/LastCallwChrisC.