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PUNK'S AEW RUN, STARRCADE RETURNING AS A MAJOR EVENT?, FILMING A VON ERICH MOVIE BUT NOT IN TEXAS, SHEIK & DUGGAN BREAKING KAYFABE AND MORE

By Mike Johnson on 2022-11-04 10:00:00

What do you say to everyone who has crapped on CM Punk's AEW run lately?  Is he still with the company?

I don't say anything.   I just look at the facts.  Tony Khan himself said not one wrestler made AEW more money than Punk.  The idea that run was some sort of failure is a complete joke, even if it looks to have ended, with the scrum and the fight, in such an incendiery manner.   I was there at The First Dance and there was never a more galvanized, excited audience in the last few years than the fans assembled that night in Chicago, in my opinion.  Punk worked with a lot of people and worked to elevate them and helped MJF get into the position he is currently in.  Anyone who is trying to dilute that is either clueless or pissed at what went down at All Out, which is entirely their right, but, it doesn't change what Punk brought to AEW when he came there, or the massive surge in tickets and interest and merchandise sales that came with him.  AEW + Punk made a LOT of fans happy and made the company money.  No matter how it went to hell, the positives of the run shouldn't be forgotten in my opinion, either, no matter how at odds everyone is at this point in time, or whether the relationship goes to hell permanently.  Retroactively changing what he brought to the table before All Out is silly.  As of this writing, to the best of my knowledge, he remains under contract to AEW, but all signs are that sooner or later, that will be changing, unless everyone decides to sit down and work it out.  The odds of THAT happening, however, are slimmer by the day.

With Triple H back in charge, any chance of WWE doing the Starrcade live event in the Carolinas and making it a PPV?

It's possible for down the line, but there's no such show scheduled for this November.

Any idea why the Von Erichs movie isn't filming in Texas?

This isn't a big budget studio film, so my guess is the line producer that put together the budgeting the project, was able to find tax rebates and a much more amenable path to getting the film made in Louisiana vs. Texas.  Plus, it's not like the Sportatorium exists anymore, so they couldn't go film there and other locations.

When Hacksaw Duggan and The Iron Sheik got arrested back in the day, do you think WWF fired them more for the drug charges or for breaking kayfabe?

My guess is that it was a combination of the two, given that the business was still being protected to a far greater degree.

What's next for Bodi Hayward?

I haven't heard but he was on his way to becoming the 21st century version of Stevie Richards in ECW, a great clueless putz sidekick lackey who added some pizzaz to Andre Chase, so I am hoping someone else taps into that and hires him.  He showed a great aptitude as a TV performer.

 

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