In the aftermath of the locker room fight heard ’round the (wrestling) world, it was no surprise to hear that the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega were among those receiving suspensions. After the AEW EVPs were at the very center of CM Punk’s ire during his press conference from hell, they apparently went looking for the then-AEW World Champion, and depending on whose side of events proves to be most accurate, they either started a scuffle or participated in one.
Tony Khan didn’t acknowledge the fact that anyone had been suspended on AEW Dynamite, but even if you had no idea what set it off, the three men being stripped of the AEW World Trios Championship they just won was an oversized clue. Now the obvious question is how long their suspensions will last, and it turns out even they may not know the answer.
Fightful Select reported today that according to their sources, “the numerous talent and coaches who were suspended don’t necessarily know how long their suspensions are going to last.” The outlet added that the uncertainty could be due to the internal investigation into the events after All Out not being wrapped yet, with no decision on the length of suspensions until it is.
That makes some sense, as the parties found to be mostly at fault could be gone longer than others — perhaps even permanently, as there’s definitely a school of thought that we may have seen the last of Punk in AEW. No one expects Omega or the Bucks to be gone for good, but if they’re found to be the aggressors, it’s possible others will be allowed to return before they do.
AEW has little choice but to move on without them for now, as it did last week on Dynamite with a “circling the wagons” feel hanging over the show that anecdotally came off pretty well. It’s not ideal having your EVPs, who also happen to be three of your biggest stars, gone for an indeterminate period of time, but those are the cards AEW has to play for the time being, and perhaps for a bit longer than many fans initially expected.