2022 was a big year in professional wrestling. Aside from the talent acquisitions in AEW and WWE, the pro wrestling world was rocked by the retirement of Vince McMahon. In addition, the CM Punk debacle in AEW was a huge story in pro wrestling in 2022.
The investigations by the Board of the WWE began in April, but was not made public until June.
It was McMahon’s past transgressions that caught up with him as a Wall Street Journal expose this past June uncovered payouts to women for not revealing sexual misconduct. First, it was one payout of $3 million to a former employee that was paid out from the chairman’s personal account. It then expanded that there were more women he paid out to keep quiet about his encounters. Notably, Stephanie McMahon went on a sabbatical from the company in May but came back once the news of McMahon’s payouts became public.
Ominously, McMahon appeared at the beginning of the June 17th episode of Friday Night Smackdown to speak with the crowd although no mention was made of the investigation. Also of note, McMahon settle a lawsuit with Oliver Luck over an employee agreement that
A month later, he announced his retirement.
At 77, time for me to retire.
— Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) July 22, 2022
Thank you, WWE Universe.
Then. Now. Forever. Together. #WWE #thankful
Triple H was named the head of creative. With the news, several athletes that were previously cut by McMahon were re-signed by Levesque. Overall, most fans of the product were happy with the returns and Triple H’s direction. In addition, Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon would have co-chairperson responsibilities.
While there is a report that McMahon would like to return, it appears that the company is doing well without him. Although McMahon’s cutthroat tactics made the company successful and profitable, it’s clear that WWE is doing fine without him.
CM Punk shoots on AEW
It just took one year for CM Punk to go from messiah to pariah in AEW. While his August 2021 return to wrestling was thought to be the move to innovate pro wrestling for the better, it only took a little over a year to undo that goodwill with the new generation of AEW.
After AEW’s All Out PPV this past September, CM Punk went off on Colt Cabana, the Young Bucks and Hangman Page. Post-press conference there was a fight involving the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, CM Punk and Ace Steel. The result were suspensions for all. While the Young Bucks and Omega have returned to AEW television, it’s unlikely that CM Punk will. You can chalk this one up to Punk’s demand that the younger wrestlers take heed from his advice. When they ignored it, it infuriated him. But, AEW was grounded upon a model that was opposite of WWE. While Punk railed against the Bucks for never being in WWE, his mindset differed from those of wrestlers in the McMahon-era. Like it or not, AEW’s core wrestlers came out on the independent scene and are outsiders from the WWE way of doing things.
While AEW differs from WWE, it’s essentially the same working model. Cody Rhodes’ return to WWE in 2022 reflects the need for pro wrestlers to have some power backstage to affect their characters. Punk said all the right things when he came back. But when he butted heads with the Executive Producers, he was out for himself. While that is not a bad thing, it was contrary to the talking points he had been pushing prior to his entrance into the promotion.
As AEW continues to succeed (and it should) in 2023, you can expect more talent leaving it for WWE or other organizations.
Leave a Reply