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Former AEW World Champion CM Punk was recently released from the All Elite promotion and the wrestling world has been abuzz ever since. However, one WWE veteran believes that The Straight-Edge Superstar may have made a deliberate attempt to get fired from Tony Khan's company.
Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk podcast, legendary wrestler and manager Dutch Mantell said the following about CM Punk's AEW contract being terminated:
“I’ve been looking at this, I love this story. I love all this bullcr*p about it, this bullsh*t. Because, ‘Oh he did this and he did that,’ but I don’t think anybody has even approached it from this angle: Maybe he wanted to get fired.”
Mantell would go on to explain his reasoning behind this theory, noting that Cody Rhodes's successful jump to WWE might have had an indirect impact on CM Punk seeking a way out of AEW:
“He might see, like Cody did, that the company is limited in where it’s going and he’s had contact with WWE. We know that. [...] And he knows Tony wouldn’t let him out of his contract after he got rid of him last year over this. That heat with [The Elite], it hasn’t gone away apparently. And he may have just wanted to get fired. Why else would he threaten Tony Khan if it’s not his fault? Why would he threaten him?” [From 01:28 to 02:42]
Check out the entire episode below:
As of yet, there is no confirmation on what is next for The Second City Saint but there have been several reports linking him with a move back to WWE.
AEW Collision suffers drastic ratings decline without CM Punk
One of the biggest selling points of AEW Collision when the show first launched was the fact that CM Punk would be featured as a major star on it. With The Voice of the Voiceless no longer a part of the promotion, many are questioning how the Saturday show will fare going forward.
The latest ratings indicate that the show might not do so well without their main attraction. According to Wrestlenomics, the September 2nd edition of Collision averaged 345,000 viewers across two hours and scored just 0.11 in the 18-49 demographic — both numbers plummetting over 30% from the week prior.
This marks the lowest-ever viewership and demo rating in the show's history, with many expecting worse results in the coming weeks as the TNT program goes head-to-head with the college football calendar.
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