Once again, I find myself in a position where I feel the need to touch on a certain topic in which I’m more than sure I’ll be called out for being a fanboy doing fanboy things, and that’s okay.  I’m going to break down these things that “fans” seem to be catching heat with at the moment, one by one so you can fish through the readings to find exactly what it is you might want and/or need clarification on.  So with that said, here we go.

Colt Cabana

First up on the agenda here will be a quick one.

We are 8 years removed from the situation that ended this once, longtime friendship.  We can speculate on things all we want but the one thing we got from the presser was this:

CM Punk has receipts.

We can listen to rumors from third parties.  Hell, we can even listen to Colt or Phil’s side on the matter, but unless we have the information provided for our very own eyes to see, you’re just like me and blindly taking a side based on your own personal take.

What Phil Brooks did tonight was double down on his side of things.  He has emails, invoices and receipts to back up his side of the story.  He paid all the bills that he originally agreed upon, not the extra lawyer fees when Colt decided to hire his own lawyer and settle, which was not a part of the original plan.

We can call Colt Cabana a victim all day but he had no issues riding the coattails of Punk and bringing him on the podcast knowing damn well the good and THE BAD that was going to come with the subject being WWE in that situation.  He welcomed all the views and praise for making it happen but wanted nothing to do with the backlash.

But at the end of the day, this was 8 years ago.  They aren’t friends anymore and Punk clearly has no desire to rekindle nor speak about the past when it’s not necessary.  You want to hang on the past, be my guest.  It doesn’t make you right though.

And if you’re of the belief that Punk going in on Colt was out of the blue and there was no reason for it, you’re wrong.  Because before you can tell a story, it’s always good to give some context and that is exactly what Punk did here as  it directly correlates with the next two subjects that I’m about to break down for you…

Hangman Page

What seemed to start this whole debacle was when CM Punk went into business for himself.  The fans turned and the haters came out in full force to villainize the villain.  We’ve been down this road before so it’s very easy to fall back on what’s comfortable and paint the same old picture, CM Punk is doing CM Punk things.  

Hangman seems like a nice enough guy.  He’s never been an issue or given any of us reason to hate the man.  But what if he went into business for himself?  What if good guy Page did the unthinkable and took a shot out of pocket so that he could be “cool and edgy” in the biggest spotlight of his career?  Well, that’s not a question we have to speculate on because that’s exactly what Hangman Page did during his short program with CM Punk.  He did it first.  So why does he get a pass?  As I just pointed out, it’s just very easy to climb into the cozy little comfort zone and point the finger at the asshole.  When you take a step back, throw out your emotions and stop waving your team flag around, you can clearly look at the whole picture and see that it sounds a bit hypocritical.

CM Punk asked for an apology, Page declined to do so and the rest is unfolding before our eyes.  And that is where Hangman’s best friends come into play…

The Elite

Since AEW’s inception, I have sat on Twitter and watched a certain fanbase rip The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega apart for their ability, or lack thereof when it comes to running AEW. I’ve even chimed in myself from time to time when it appeared the criticism was valid. I won’t say that everything I’ve heard or seen was warranted but it’s definitely been a hot topic for 3 years. Some examples:

• “Kenny Omega is too fixated on his fetishes to properly run the women’s division!”
• “The Young Bucks are only there to put themselves over!”
• “The Elite are only there to tell great stories involving themselves and their friends.”

So, how does The Elite play into the Punk/Colt/Page triangle of nonsense? Politics.

We all know backstage politics have a place in professional wrestling. It’s been around for years and it’s not going anywhere, anytime soon. We all know that the Bucks, Kenny and Page are really good friends. So it should come as no secret to anyone that when Hangman was “attacked” that they would run to his rescue. And from CM Punk has said, that’s exactly what happened.

Reports broke not long after that CM Punk was trying to get Colt fired, he was threatening to quit and that he only cared about himself! All hell is breaking loose! Well, Punk addressed the Colt stuff in the presser, he clearly has no intentions of quitting and based on the interview FTR had last week, Punk seems to be more than willing to extend a hand to help to anybody willing to ask. Part of the reason he’s mad is because somebody DIDN’T want help for christ’s sake. So where did these reports or “rumors” come from?

Punk had no issue pointing the finger at Kenny and the Bucks here. Coming to the aid of their friend, which he said he gets, but also is bad for business. “You’re stepping on your own d*ck.” One of the top draws of the company for you and you guys want to run a smear campaign on him? He called them out for being unprofessional, which you guys have too, as well as claimed they couldn’t even manage a Target, which you all would gladly agree with if it was someone from the other side of the pond saying it.

Hell, MJF was praised for cutting a promo earlier this year for saying the exact same stuff about these guys, and you all ate it up.

• “PROMO OF THE YEAR!”
• “MJF IS MY HERO!”
• “HE JUST BURIED AEW AND IT WAS AMAZING!”

More hypocrisy.

It’s no secret that hypocrisy runs wild amongst the wrestling fanbase. It happens daily on multiple occasions. But this whole situation is highlighting it on such a grand scale that it has become impossible to ignore. Take your blinders off and look at scenarios objectively and not with your fanboy goggles on. Understand that just because somebody is an asshole and will respond in such a raw and honest way, it doesn’t make it any less true. There are some areas where information is lacking and you will choose sides with lack of information BUT when we have this much staring you right in the face, stop it. You only make yourself look like a fool in the process.

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