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Welcome to another edition of the AEW News Roundup. This week we take a look at CM Punk responding to a challenge from Adam Cole and Britt Baker, the latest on the All Elite Wrestling console video game, canceled plans for a Billy Gunn tag-team and more.
Read on for full details.
#6. CM Punk responds to Adam Cole and Britt Baker's challenge
Adam Cole and Britt Baker recently challenged CM Punk and his wife, ex-WWE star AJ Lee, to an intergender match recently.
The Straight Edge Superstar was asked about this during an interview with ESPN, and he felt that it was unlikely that this match would take place. Here's what the AEW star said:
"I doubt -- that one I can't promise you," CM Punk said. "She's doing her own thing. And you know, to be completely honest, I know her, and if I said, 'Hey, you know you want to do this wrestling match?' and if she was all gung ho to do it, I know she would want to get into stupid shape to do it. And I like her thick, so I don't want to take that away from myself [laughing]."
#5. WCW veteran warns Sami Zayn against signing with AEW
There were recent rumors of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens potentially signing with AEW when their contracts with WWE expire. Owens has already re-signed with Vince McMahon's promotion but we don't know about Zayn's future yet.
Disco Inferno was recently asked about Sami Zayn signing with All Elite Wrestling on a recent episode of the Keeping It 100 podcast. He strongly felt that Zayn should stay with WWE:
"If I’m Sami Zayn, I’m pretty happy about the way WWE has been using me. I’m a guy who’s got a lot of free reign on the mic it seems like. Which I don’t think he would get a lot of mic time in AEW. Why would he leave now? He wants to go back to his friends from 15 years ago? I think it’s all about the money with this guy." Disco said. "I’d rather work on a show that’s on Fox and I’m getting mainstream publicity, as opposed to wrestling on YouTube. Which is all these guys end up doing, wrestling on YouTube. On Elevation and Dark and stuff. Why?"
Sami Zayn's WWE contract reportedly expires by the end of 2021. He recently became the No.1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship on SmackDown.
#4. Tony Khan gave an update on the AEW console video game
AEW President Tony Khan recently spoke to SHAK Wrestling on YouTube. During the interview, Khan was asked about the upcoming All Elite Wrestling console video game, and he gave fans a brief update:
"I don't have exact dates, but I think we're gonna have a huge huge huge announcements in 2022 about our console game," Tony Khan said. "And there's been a ton of work and resources put into the development, and I can promise you we have a lot to show for it. It's going to be a great game, and I'm very excited."
AEW's first video game, the Elite General Manager mobile game, came out earlier this year and is rated 3.3/5 on Google Play.
#3. Booker T recently showered praise on MJF
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T recently showered praise on MJF on his Hall of Fame podcast. He called The Salt of the Earth a 'generational talent' but warned AEW against crowning him world champion before he was ready for the role.
Booker T felt that even if it took MJF a little time to be ready to be world champion, Tony Khan's promotion needed to make sure he doesn't get the belt put on him too soon:
"I'm not gonna say he's gonna be a bad AEW World Champion or anything like that. He's 25-26, it's a new company like AEW, you can, of course, give him the ball and run with it, but I want this guy to get a little more time and do his work and do what he's doing right now, which is establishing himself as one of the best. When he's gonna win it eventually, it's gonna take a while before you get it off him. I wouldn't want to put it on him too soon. I don't want to put on him so soon because he could be one of those generational talent who could hold the belt for two years straight."
MJF is currently involved in a heated feud with CM Punk on AEW television.
#2. Sonny Kiss says there was talk of a tag team with Billy Gunn
AEW's Sonny Kiss was a guest on a recent episode of the Shining Wizards podcast.
During the interview, Kiss revealed that there had been talk backstage at one point of forming a tag team with Billy Gunn, although it did not lead to anything. Sonny Kiss also felt that the company could have done more regarding a storyline with Dustin Rhodes:
"So no [Billy Gunn and I never teamed up]. We did segments together. There was just like one backstage segment and there’s also a spot in the ring in the Battle Royale but we never teamed together. It was talked about as well. I don’t think that it was actually gonna actually happen but… I wanted it so bad and even when I teamed with Dustin [Rhodes] the one time, I thought that they could have definitely done so much more," said Sonny Kiss.
#1. AEW stars reacted to Kyle O'Reilly's debut at Holiday Bash
Kyle O'Reilly made his AEW debut on the Holiday Bash edition of Dynamite, coming out and helping Adam Cole beat Orange Cassidy. With the Undisputed Era reuninting in All Elite Wrestling, Twitter exploded and we also got reactions from multiple stars:
O'Reilly's WWE contact expired earlier this month. Johnny Gargano's contract also expired around the same time, although we aren't sure what his future holds.
