While the attention of most of the pro wrestling world was elsewhere Saturday night, AEW was still doing its thing, airing a new Collision after the NCAA men’s basketball tournament semifinals. And while it would be easy to dismiss this pre-taped episode as inconsequential, it instead created a wave of discussion and speculation as Saturday faded into Sunday.
It wasn’t a match but a promo for the next episode of Dynamite that set off the buzz. As shown in the graphic above, the Young Bucks apparently will share backstage footage from All In London last summer and “discuss for the first time.”
The events of All In, where a backstage confrontation because CM Punk and Jack Perry eventually led to the former’s firing and the latter’s suspension, became relevant again over the past week. While appearing on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Punk gave his side of the story for the first time, dismissing the idea that he did anything that might make Tony Khan feel threatened — a key claim AEW’s CEO made when explaining his decision to fire Punk.
Do the Bucks actually have video evidence to back up Khan’s assertions? The impulse is to assume this is an angle of some sort, an effort to drum up ratings right after WWE’s biggest event of the year at a time when live attendance for AEW shows has been soft and TV viewership up and down.
Some of pro wrestling’s most well connected insiders say that might not be the case. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful said right away that it was legit, then followed up with a report in Fightful Select (subscription required) citing AEW talent and staff who said they were told footage of the Punk-Perry incident will air.
During AEW Collision Saturday, a graphic ran saying that Young Bucks will present backstage footage from AEW All In, and will discuss for the first time. Many took this as being some sort of troll or bait, but everyone around the situation we’ve spoken to at least claims that it is genuine, and footage from the CM Punk/Jack Perry altercation is expected to air. Specifically, it was reiterated to us by numerous people in AEW that the company isn’t going to falsely promote something, much less like that.
Fightful added that there was “belief that the video was enough for the company to make a clean split without much of an issue or a legal battle.” If true this will be a fascinating watch, though the idea that many minds will change about Punk will change seems unlikely in what is already a very polarized landscape for pro wrestling fans.
Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer also confirmed the plan is to legitimately air the footage.
Yes, Tony is airing the Punk/Jungle Boy footage on Wednesday. It's not a bait and switch.
— Bryan Alvarez (@bryanalvarez) April 7, 2024
If nothing else, it grabbed AEW some attention during a time when nearly everyone with an interest in pro wrestling is otherwise engaged with another company’s product, and that’s never a bad thing in the short term. How it plays out Wednesday night is anyone’s guess, but it’s hard to deny the curiosity factor around a move like this.
AEW Dynamite airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.
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