The Post’s Joseph Staszewski explores the world of professional wrestling in his weekly column, “Post Match Angle.”.
AEW’s Jack Perry and CM Punk’s gamble suddenly has a chance to pay off.
Last summer, the decision to broadcast footage of Punk and Perry’s All In backstage showdown at Wembley Stadium to add a storyline to the Young Bucks vs. FTR Tag Team Championship match on Dynasty was met with a lot of negative reaction. I was met with a reaction.
Aside from actually seeing how passionate Punk is and how he initiates physical contact with Perry, this video is still unknown to those following the story, and the former’s explanation said the AEW Champion, who wasn’t that different, in an interview with Ariel Helwani.
At that moment, it seemed like a mean-spirited knee-jerk reaction to the unflattering remarks Punk had made while talking to Helweini about the company and AEW Chairman Tony Khan and its leadership.
All I was thinking at the time was how AEW wasted an opportunity to blur the lines when Punk was still there because those involved couldn’t be on the same page. did. Instead, they continued to appear on separate shows and were never forced to go into a room and work things out to improve the company’s finances.
The release of this footage felt like a last-ditch effort to bring something to the controversy eight months later, as Punk broke his silence about it.
Punk could be heard claiming that he was in it to make money and AEW wasn’t.
However, succumbing to the uproar and negative feedback surrounding the video release was the clear reason AEW released the video in the first place. It perfectly set up Perry’s return to Dynasty, giving him something meaty and real to sink his teeth into as a heel for the first time. Mr Khan said the decision was a “bold move” and that he believed the situation surrounding Mr Perry had escalated.
When Perry first turned heel, it seemed like he was looking for a way to be a bad guy. His presentation looked forced and he struggled to connect with the audience, but he had a little momentum going all-in with Hook.
Now, Perry seems very comfortable as the “scapegoat” character. He broke his contract with AEW when he came to New Japan in January and is totally leaning into the hate he’s getting from Punk for coming out with the Chicago city flag and “Cry Me A” . At New Japan’s Windy City Riot show at Wintrust Arena, where he had “River” written on his jacket, he was heavily booed, but also gained support from punk’s detractors.
Perry’s return to Dynasty makes sense after Matthew and Nicholas Jackson released footage and thanked Perry for when Perry jumped out of the crowd, still wearing a mask, and pushed Dax Harwood off a ladder. It was true. This was the opening the Bucks needed to become three-time AEW World Tag Team Champions. Perry, who revealed himself, received solid support from the Kansas City crowd.
“I felt it was important to partially explain where Jack was, because the last time I saw him on AEW television was at Wembley Stadium,” Khan said in a post-show press conference. “He fell through the curtain and we haven’t seen him since. So we knew Jack was going to come back to AEW and explain where he had been, so we had a lot of questions for the viewers. I felt responsible.”
With Perry taken away by security, the EVPs were able to thank him by working together to get him back to AEW and join the Elite. His first feud will either be with FTR friend Daniel Garcia or Eddie Kingston, a fan favorite who also has a history with Punk and could lose the New Japan Strong Championship to Perry. It should be.
At best, Perry feels himself in Dominik Mysterio’s hotness, so perhaps they should also include bringing real-life girlfriend Anna Jay into the elite mix to elevate her . Perhaps he will continue to receive even more polarized reactions.
Worst case scenario is that the novelty of Perry’s return wears off, the responsibility becomes too much, or AEW fumbles with his momentum.
The CM Punk chants will always come for him, and the hard part will be accepting the hate while not making Punk the story, because it’s a nightmare scenario if those chants end up happening on a regular basis.
But if you’re going to take a risk, do it for Perry’s potential and someone with a Hollywood backstory through the “Beverly Hills 90210” star’s father Luke.
It would be premature to claim that the decision to release this footage already made Perry a huge star. However, AEW’s risks still paid off in a meaningful way for the company, and it hasn’t sunk in after some compared it to WCW in the 2000s.
The basics are in place. Now it’s up to Perry to do it and impress her boss without becoming a scapegoat for another reason.
building blocks
There are a lot of interesting things going on in TNA. We continue to add quality talent who are underutilized elsewhere or who are simply looking for a bigger platform. For example, Mike Santana, Matt Hardy, and Sami Callihan appeared in Rebellion. AJ Francis continues to find ways to make his work stand out, including his feud with Joe Hendry, turning Shawne Merriman around, and getting Rich Swann to commit to turning heel.
They have Mustafa Ali rightly positioned as the X-Division Champion and Nick Nemeth is locked into World Championship contention. This allowed them to maintain momentum in bringing in former WWE stars and gave free agents a safe place to land.
ten count
I have no problem with Becky Lynch winning the battle royal and becoming the new Women’s World Champion. She’s likely a transitional champion, giving WWE a veteran who could continue to build on the storyline they had planned for Liv Morgan and give her a big, high-flying moment when the time comes. Masu.
I can understand why the show was spring break themed and Sol Luka and Blair Davenport made the most of it, but the beach brawl is one of the stupidest things NXT has ever done, and some There are beach balls, floats, and a small ball pit that wasn’t in a good way if weapons were used.
The Mercedes Mone-Julia Hart-Willow Nightingale saga is already more layered than just about everything AEW has done in the division, thanks to a former WWE star’s mystery attacker and a potential heel turn for Knightdale. It has become a target. There are many ways to do this.
We talk about wrestlers needing to take chances and evolve. Yes, that’s exactly what Lio Rush did with his new “Blackheart” persona in Prestige Wrestling. Other than his core move set, what you see on screen is a completely different person.
I really love the scene where the Young Bucks cut off FTR’s promo package and Matt gets in the ring and verbally abuses Daniel Garcia on the live mic. The content is different from normal professional wrestling. They need to keep pushing the boundaries in this field.
Trick Williams finally NXT Champion. I get that NXT is probably counting on TV ratings for the title change that inevitably took place today, but it would have felt like a much bigger moment at the PPV, where you don’t know if they’re going to let Williams win or not.
For years, fans have wanted Chad Gayle to be given a real opportunity to showcase his talent both inside and outside of the ring. He’s made it this far. There was a bit of Kurt Angle’s charismatic vibes as he individually insulted and bullied the obedience of the rest of Alpha Academy’s students. Perhaps this storyline will elevate Otis as a challenger after Gable cheats to reach the Intercontinental Championship.
At each stage of the bloodline story, it’s time for different family members to shine. At this point, he’s clearly a solo chicoa player. Sitting under Roman Reigns’ learning tree, you’ll see how much he learned as a promo with the help of Paul Heyman’s Hall of Fame facial.
While I didn’t like how the new World Heavyweight Tag Team Championship design looked like every other title on Raw, I really like the update to the classic design of the WWE Tag Belts on SmackDown. It’s a wonderful championship.
This might be the most interesting WWE Draft in a long time starting on Friday’s SmackDown. This is Triple H’s first time as creative head and the first run by former ESPN producer Lee Fitting. He also has three different general managers for each brand, which opens the door to a completely different, more sports-based presentation.
Wrestler of the week
Swerve Strickland, AEW
You never know what will happen when a performer is released by WWE. Strickland made the most of every opportunity he got in AEW, finishing with one of AEW’s best feuds with “Hangman” Adam Page, knocking him out of the ring. It all culminated Sunday night when Strickland defeated Samoa Joe on Dynasty to become AEW’s first black world champion and someone who could be a refreshing storyteller at the top of the card.
This week’s social media posts
match to watch
Natalya vs. Laura Vice, NXT Sprink Breakin’ Underground Match (Tuesday, 8pm, USA)
I’m very interested to see Natalya compete in the first-ever Women’s Underground match with Vice and an MMA background. Natalya is very good wrestling technically, so it will be interesting to see if she changes her approach in this situation. With Shayna Baszler scheduled for a similar match against Masha Slamovich at the Bloodsport event during WrestleMania weekend, her being in Vice’s corner could mean something. I thought NXT did Baszler a disservice by knocking down Natalya’s partner Carmen Petrovic with one kick on Tuesday.
