Worked Into A Shoot
By Scott Keith on 14 November 2022
I don’t know if this one has been discussed like everything else about the situation ad nauseam but am I alone in thinking that the Punk vs Elite or for that matter most of AEW locker room was supposed to be a big elaborate story lasting over a year? The one year anniversary of Full Gear against Kingston just happened and rewatching the videos, it makes me remember thinking even at the time “They are setting up an epic heel turn eventually. He will shit on the whole company more than even Cornette does” Eddie said things like “He’s helping the young guys? No he’s fooling all of you!” It felt like Punk being an asshole all along was just where the story was going.Even the Hangman promo that got so blown up later just felt like another bread crumb to me. “I’m defending AEW FROM you!” I think it was supposed to be Punk eventually getting fed up with the young guys (in storyline) and going off on everyone and being the best heel in the business we always wanted him to be. Of course there was Punks injuries and bad timing too but I’m also reminded of Bret and Shawn, “We worked ourselves into a shoot” So is that what happened here? Did the work become a shoot? That’s just what I think happened but maybe I’m wrong and eventually it will all come out in a podcast someday
I’m as “inside” as anyone in the AEW audience and I had no idea what the Hangman promo was referring to at the time. So if it was a long term storyline they were doing a terrible job of making it clear.