There are some interesting parallels happening with the current drama in AEW with what happened in WWE and WCW to one extent or another.
In many instances, fans and others have criticizes and claimed CM Punk has creative control, but Tony Kahn has stated that isn’t true.
Is CM Punk Trying to Gain Shawn Michaels Levels of Control in AEW?
Still, many are revisiting that idea as Punk seems to hold a certain sway over Tony, like at the recent Media Scrum where Pun went on a public rant, interrupted Tony a couple of times, and had Tony nodding along almost puppet like.
We’re not saying Punk runs AEW or anything like that, but it does seem curious that Tony would publicly let him run the scrum, so to speak.
More like Shawn Michaels
While it’s easy to compare the belief in Punk’s creative control being similar to Hulk Hogan and others during their WCW run, this reminds us more of Shawn Michaels during the 1990s when he and the Kliq had Vince McMahon’s ear.
Depending on who’s being interviewed, the Kliq either helped others or hindered them, so it’s up to each of us to figure out just like the current situation in AEW.
CM Punk has established himself as a fan favorite after being away for years, but it also seems like there’s a power struggle backstage between himself and the EVPs and it finally boiled over.
While it can be argued Punk’s vision for the company would be for the best, his aggressive way of protecting his turf by voicing his issues publicly has gone a step beyond Shawn Michaels at his worst.
Michaels was smart in how he did it as he had some of WWE’s top talent around him and they presented their ideas and reasons to Vince McMahon and kept it behind the curtain.
By coming out like he did, Punk looked like he was trying to bully and shame the EVPs into doing things his way, and it went so far that he interrupted Tony a couple of times and made it look like he actually ran the company.
Imagine telling wrestling fans 10 years ago that it would turn out Triple H is the babyface here, pal!
— Triple H’s Thoughts 💭 (@TripleHHHPaulL) August 18, 2022
The more things change…
Many fans point to Triple H’s promo with Punk years back as prophetic while others have recalled Punk’s tweet about standing with one’s coworkers whether we like each other or not to further validate the point.
It may not be fair, but that’s the reality when things boil over and no one reigns everyone in.
The EVPs share some blame as they shouldn’t have confronted Punk despite him saying anyone with a problem can meet him in the hallway and clear it up.
Given their positions they shouldn’t have confronted Punk, but Punk should’ve have called them out publicly like that.
With the believed suspension or firing of Ace Steel and CM Punk by the end of Wednesday night (9/7), and the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Pat Buck, Chris Daniels, Michael Nakazawa, and Brandon Cutler reportedly being suspended as well, we could be seeing the end of a couple of Kliqs.
It’s going to be interesting to see exactly what kind of punishments Tony Kahn will hand out in his first real test, and whether Punk or the Elite Kilq will continue.
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