More information about CM Punk’s shoot on Hangman Adam Page after AEW Collision on Saturday night continues to emerge.
As PWMania.com previously reported, Page went to Collision in Greensboro to do a pre-taped promo backstage to hype this Wednesday’s Dynamite, but when Page arrived at the arena, he was told not to go to the show and that they would have to do it elsewhere. He was never booked for the show.
Ryan Nemeth was also flown in for Collision, but he was told he wasn’t needed and that he could fly home once he arrived at the arena.
Punk was upset with Nemeth because he tweeted, “Literally the softest man alive.” This came after Punk’s return promo, in which he mentioned “Counterfeit Bucks.” There was no physicality with Punk after Nemeth explained himself.
Dave Meltzer discussed the situation while on Wrestling Observer Radio.
Meltzer: “So, on yesterday’s show in Greensboro, Adam Page was supposed to be there, not on the show. He was supposed to do a pre-tape. So he went to the show, was told that his, you know, basically not to go to the building, that the pre-tape had been moved. And he did his pre-tape, but it was not at the building. Ryan Nemeth. Okay, so Ryan Nemeth’s story is, is that on, if you remember, the ESPN article that Mark Raimondi wrote? Okay. And Punk’s doing the whole thing. And it’s about Adam, you know, making his complaints about Adam Page and Ryan Nemeth wrote. He never used Punk’s name or anything like that, but he, like, there was a, there was a line on Twitter, and he kind of like insinuated, you know, the guy, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s ironic that he’s calling people soft, but he never used the name. So Punk confronts him on June 17th in Chicago, his first night back. And there was an a, you know, something happened. I was told it was all settled. It wasn’t a big deal. It was not all settled. You know, the Punk side very much was, it’s, something that just had to be taken care of. Well, it wasn’t taken care of. And it, it, you know, what ends up happening? Because one’s a star and one is anything, you know, is not a star, is that Ryan Nemeth wasn’t booked after that point. And, you know, a lot of guys don’t get booked, you know, I mean, it’s whatever. And without, you know, now that they don’t have dark and dark elevation, the reality is these guys like Ryan, you know, Ryan Nemeth doesn’t have a place. Could they use him on Ring of Honor? Yeah, they could, of course. But it’s not, you know, it’s, whatever. So they hadn’t booked him. So for whatever reason, he was supposed to come back last night in Greensboro, came in, then was told, you know. However, the story goes, suddenly people discover he’s there. And then he’s told not to go to the building after he was booked. So he was not; he was never at the building. Nobody saw him at the building, but he was there. This is not the only time this has happened. This has been happening. It’s happened to several other people.”
Bryan Alvarez: “Well, I think this happened twice to Ryan Nemeth. This happened once before, so this would’ve been the second time. And then, yes, there are other people who….Hardy, you’ll not see on Collision.”
Meltzer: “Well, Matt Hardy was booked on a Saturday, went there, and was told not to go to the building. Yep. After he got there. Not that was not last night, but Matt Hardy, you know, Matt Hardy was one of them. Christopher Daniels, who had been working with Matt Sydal’s, the tag team in Ring of Honor, said the same thing happened with him for whatever reason. He’s not supposed to go on Saturday and is fricking head of talent relations. So, there may be others, but those are the ones I know of. You know, that’s, that’s been happening too. And, I mean, how this will end, who knows? I mean, it’s just, you know, wait and see what happens. But, it’s, it’s nothing. And there’s a lot more too. There are a lot of other things too. But that’s the stuff that’s, you know, pretty much out right now, I guess. So there you go. I dunno, you got anything to add?”
Alvarez: “But it should Be made clear. This is not an angle; it’s not. Oh, no. Set up for a future match or anything like that.”
Meltzer: “No, no. Then, okay, another, another thing. So, you know, you know, like obviously, you know, the young Bucks and FTR are wrestling at Wembley, and they’re fine. I mean, they may not be fine today, but they’re fine enough to work together, you know, I mean, whatever it is. Because FTR is always going to be aligned with Punk, and that’s going to, there’s always going to be issues, but they’re fine. They’ve been fine for a while. So that’s, there’s, there’s, you know, there’s no, whatever. But, as far as, you know, Punk working with, every time one of these things happens, it makes it much harder, not easier for this thing too, it’s, it’s, it’s not going anywhere and, and whatever, you know, it’s, it’s just what it is. You know, you know, you can, I mean, it’s frustrating to watch because it’s just really, you know, I mean, it’s frustrating to watch. That’s all I could say. I think how it’s going to end; I don’t know. The idea is that they’re keeping people apart because they’re afraid. Not afraid is not the word, but some people don’t want other people in the dressing room. And however, this is all going. I mean, as far as the people themselves, they believe it’s Punk. Everyone believes that it’s Punk. I’m sure that Tony will say it’s not Punk, just like he did before. but I mean, it’s one thing when they’re not booked, you know, it’s one thing when you’re not booked. Still, when you are booked, and you go to the, and you’re, and you’re in the city, and then someone finds out that they’ve, they find out that you are in the hotel, and then all of a sudden you’re told, don’t come to the building. That’s not the same. You know. It changes the whole dynamic of everything. So there’s at times, there has been plausible deniability. Still, this one feels like very implausible deniability, which is another thing why a lot of people have, you know, are pretty hot right now. Do you know? And I mean, I’m sure everyone will go and say, everything’s fine. You’re just making it all up. But we saw that damn interview, and that opened, you know, once that interview happened, it opened everything up. I mean, this stuff was going on. Like, I, I’ve made hints of this, you know, over the last couple of weeks, but it hasn’t been anything that has been what I would call bad. But it changes everything once it gets in front of the people, which it did. And once also, when it comes to a guy like, you know, Adam Page, who’s like a legitimately major star, and all of a sudden, he’s told you can’t go to the building. That is really when you’re booked. And that’s a unique situation.”
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
