Assuming nakazawa, Daniels and cutler were not there as peacemaker(their suspensions indicate this,) it’s still 5 guys aggressively confronting one. I can certainly understand where that got physical, and wouldn’t necessarily blame him if it’s true that he told them to leave him alone and they then kicked the door down.

Also, the Bucks didn’t handle this behind closed doors, they whined to Meltzer about it, and I’m not even referring to the Cabana got demoted stuff, I’m referring to the the last 3 weeks of Meltzer getting one side of this story out there and one side only.

Plus don’t sleep on nakazawa, I bet he can tune people up when he wants to.

It’s just ridiculous that it came to this; it wasn’t even a story until Punk called out Hangman with the coward shit ad lib that Punk took issue with Hangman’s promo that only kinda vaguely referenced Colt Cabana. So Punk has been stewing on that since May? He could have resolved it at any point and while the leaking to Meltzer is a bad look, that didn’t start with regards to Punk until the coward shit line. Saying that Hangman hasn’t done anything in the business when he was the top babyface champ (mox will always be a tweener to me) of the exact promotion you’re in hurts you just as much because who did ya beat? A bunch of chumps? Cool.

I’m not really defending Punk, I just think there are others involved(specifically the Bucks) that are close to or as at fault as Punk in this thing. This idea that they were innocent victims that originally trickled out is ridiculous.

Keep in mind, Punk isn’t the first big draw for this company that is out the door because of the Bucks. The Cody stuff just never hit the dirt sheets and was kept quiet.

At the moment this is starting to feel like Bret/Shawn before Bret came back into the fold. Punk is being cast as a bitter, self serious asshole just like Bret.

We'll see if history vindicates him in the same way it did Bret.

Anyone not seeing CM Punk as the primary bad guy in this is nuts. Look at his behaviour in the press conference. If I was Tony, I would not have been that calm about it, and I’m usually a calm guy.

I think both sides are equally at fault and are all acting like fucking teenagers. If Page had such issues with Punk, it shouldn’t have come up for the first time during a promo, if Punk was stewing about this so much he should have handled it professionally behind closed doors, and the Bucks should have just stayed the fuck out of the whole thing and stopped whining to Dave. Not to mention how wildly unprofessional both Punk and the Bucks behaved after the PPV and guys like Steel and Daniels that are supposed to be agents and producers and instead are taking part in some childish brawl “to have their boys’ back.”

Konnan with some good input here, Disco not so much.

Yeah. How Tony didn’t shut it down after he named the EVPs with a “that’s enough. you and I need to talk after this”

There is SO much money being left on the table too now if Punk really is gone.

The Punk Omega match was already going to be huge, and this multiplies it by 1000. How tasty would Punk and FTR vs The Elite be now. 6 guys that fucking hate each other, it would be great.

Not all of what you wrote are established facts. Both Wrestling Observer and Fightful have repeatedly said that nothing has been leaked by the Bucks.

Yes, let’s clear the room. Ten minute break.

Also Punk imo was very rude with Khan right there. Interrupting him, saying «I’m trying to run a business here» and «this is not your business to fix».

True

Page’s promo was in building a match, Punk’s receipt three months later was just immature. Calling him a coward, when he knew he couldn’t come out.

Also after his receipt, he still continued stewing on it, and started on it at the press conference, without any questions having been asked.

I think I’ve made it pretty clear I’m skeptical of anything Dave says when the Bucks are involved. I would just point out that the original story he put out(obviously directly from the Bucks) where they were the unwitting victims of an attack has already been challenged by multiple other sources, including Fightful.

But Page’s promo is the original sin in all of this. It should have been cleared with Punk if it was “to build a match” which obviously never happened. I don’t think Page is anywhere near as at fault as Punk or the Bucks, but I don’t think he handled it well and obviously he kicked off this nightmare scenario for the company when he did it.

MJF brought up Colt’s lawsuit explicitly. Eddie Kingston said almost the same thing hangman did to Punk in their build. Where’s the real issue?

I’ve read all the fightful and wrestling observer reports, and heard all the Dave, Bryan and Mike podcasts, and I think they have been very fair.

About the fight everyone agrees:
Punk said bad things during the media scrum about the EVPs, he also said to come at/to him directly
The EVPs (The Elite) went to Punk’s dressing room, probably upset at the comments
Punk didn’t answer, so they probably opened the door themselves
An argument started, and the whole thing lasted at least six minutes
Everyone agrees that Punk hit Matt first
Everyone agrees that Ace Steel bit Omega, and hit Nick with a chair to the head/eye
Everyone agrees that Steel’s wife was there, with a broken foot, taking care of Punk’s dog

Who to blame more or less for what happened in the room is hard to say, but the Wrestling Observer has not taken sides.