There’s been rumors of turmoil being reported from AEW’s backstage, and it could lead to the first real test of Tony Kahn’s authority and how he’ll handle a potential crisis.
It’s been widely reported that CM Punk and “Hangman” Adam Page have been at odds over a disagreement with their promo material during their build up for their Double Or Nothing pay-per-view.
Tony Kahn to Force CM Punk to Drop the AEW Championship to Jon Moxley on Tonight’s AEW Dynamite?
It reportedly started following Tony Kahn dropping Colt Cabana from the Dark Order without an explanation and was signed to Ring of Honor instead of being released.
Page later cut a promo referencing Cabana and that is what’s thought to set things off, and then on last week’s AEW Dynamite (August 17), Punk went off script and called Page out for a rematch and then said it wasn’t anything important when Page didn’t come out.
While Page was in the building, he wasn’t supposed to be part of the promo and there were reports that the backstage speculation was it was a receipt from Punk to Page.
There’s been no report on Page’s response backstage, but he’s said to be non-confrontational and is liked by the locker room.
Punk has reportedly talked with AEW higher ups and was so upset at Page’s promo that they were afraid he’s quit and no show August 17’s Dynamite.
From bad to worse
Dave Meltzer has said there are a lot of problems backstage at AEW with all the personalities involved and if it wasn’t Page and Punk, something else could escalate elsewhere.
It could be nothing more than rumors, or it could be the roster thinks Tony’s soft and an easy pushover because he’s so approachable. If the latter is the case, then Tony needs to regain control of the ship.
And the best way may be to send a message by having Punk lose.
While that may be a Vince McMahon way of doing things, it would send a message as to who’s in charge, especially after Punk allegedly refused to lose to Page.
Jon Moxley is another locker room and fan favorite, so dropping the title to him wouldn’t be a bad move. It’d return the title to someone that represented the company and title well when he had it.
Of course, there’s always the chance Punk’s promo was another shoot one like MJF’s and this is all part of a larger storyline.
In the end, this is all speculation on out part and we’ll have to wait to see how things work out on this week’s show.
Do you think Moxley will win the title from Punk? Let us know in the comments below.
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