Pro Wrestling Contract Season

[Daaaaaad!]

8 hours ago, Supremo said:

Punk cut a promo the night after Wrestlemania saying he wouldn’t be taking a vacation, then hasn’t been seen since. He’s been gone longer than Brock Lesnar stayed retired. All whilst rumours are swirling of TKO cutting everyone’s pay, and a close friend of Punk’s in Kofi peacing out of the company.

Something going underreported, too, is that he cut that “pipe bomb” (ugh) against TKO, but the only bit they cut out on their YouTube clip was him specifically referring to Ari Emanuel by name. Could be that they had him get through Mania and have belatedly stuck him in the dog house rather than potentially jeopardise their main event by suspending him beforehand.

[The King of Old School]

6 hours ago, Daaaaaad! said:

Something going underreported, too, is that he cut that “pipe bomb” (ugh) against TKO, but the only bit they cut out on their YouTube clip was him specifically referring to Ari Emanuel by name. Could be that they had him get through Mania and have belatedly stuck him in the dog house rather than potentially jeopardise their main event by suspending him beforehand.

Definitely something odd, for him to come out on Raw the night after Mania and announce that he won't be taking any breaks or vacations etc.

Not been seen since!

[DavidB6937]

Wondered why this topic was so busy. Didnt realise we'd gone full conspiracy theory in here. Personally I think Austin Theory is an alien with manipulation powers. It's the only explanation. 

[TheScarlettChad]

41 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

Wondered why this topic was so busy. Didnt realise we'd gone full conspiracy theory in here. Personally I think Austin Theory is an alien with manipulation powers. It's the only explanation. 

He definitely has mind control powers. Or can warp reality to make the higher ups think he has talent. 

[Daaaaaad!]

3 hours ago, DavidB6937 said:

Personally I think Austin Theory is an alien with manipulation powers. It's the only explanation. 

Then he should manipulate himself to find a personality 

[Snitsky's back acne]

5 hours ago, The King of Old School said:

Definitely something odd, for him to come out on Raw the night after Mania and announce that he won't be taking any breaks or vacations etc.

Not been seen since!

He's pregnant 

I'm calling it now. 

[thatvinylgeek]

5 hours ago, Ralphy said:

AT phone home

It's actually "home phone" the first time ET says it...lovely bit of Mandela Effecting for you 

[BomberPat]

for what it's worth, while Punk having been off TV for a while with (seemingly) no explanation is the main reason I assume something's up there, I also just can't believe he's been working there as long as he has and isn't miserable about it. I think "CM Punk is unhappy" is just a safe bet to believe in, so in the context of the FTR contract issue, I would weigh whether Punk is happy in WWE against whether he's likely to vouch for his mates to come in, or if FTR even are his mates any more or if he's found some obscure and esoteric reason to never speak to either of them ever again. Maybe Cash Wheeler shares a bank account with his mum or something.

[Lorne Malvo]

Yeah, I don't think 'bloke who always ends up hating the company he's working for' starting to hate the company he's working for is a massive stretch.

[Chris B]

It was reported that someone who had been very featured was asked to take a pay cut around the time Punk vanished. I kind of thought it might be Punk then - from TKO's point-of-view, you could imagine them blaming this year's Mania doing less well financially on him main-eventing.

[Supremo]

For what it’s worth, I don’t believe CM Punk would have been asked to take a pay cut. But that’s the last reason you’d need to assume he might not be as happy as he pretends he is working in WWE in 2026.

This is the same man who was given his own show in AEW. Seemingly given free rein to book Collision himself, wrestling all his best mates, with final say on the fucking guest-list, all his enemies banned from the building. And he still found a reason to boot off and quit.

Forgive me if I suspect he might also find similar reasons to be unhappy in WWE.

- Spent about eighteen months of a two year run feuding exclusively with Seth Rollins in bang average matches and middling to dog shit creative. Months of work put into a shitty worked-shoot injury angle that no-one believed and added nothing to the story being told.

- The Summer Saudi Humiliation Tour! “Yeah Punk, we’re going to do one final dream match with Cena, but it’ll be in Saudi Arabia, with the entire angle built around shooting on your real life character.

Two weeks out, we’ll script you to take a single bump through a table, and then you’ll lie there for about six months, looking like a total knobhead, as Cena runs you down for being a hypocritical prick.

And then to get your heat back, we’ll dress you up to look an idiot, and you’ll do a Miz-style parody where you stumble over a badly-written rap.

And this is all without even mentioning that he’s old…

…he’s tired….

..and he works with fucking botch-a-maniacs.

Edited May 28 by Supremo

[RedTwoster]

57 minutes ago, Supremo said:

For what it’s worth, I don’t believe CM Punk would have been asked to take a pay cut. But that’s the last reason you’d need to assume he might not be as happy as he pretends he is working in WWE in 2026.

I don’t think he would have been either. Odds are, it’s someone like Miz. Dominik Mysterio has outright said he doesn’t think the company knows what to do with him, which also makes me wonder. I don’t think he’s wrong, but it strikes me as odd that he’d vocalise it.

Whatever the case, I can’t imagine that Punk is as happy as he says he is. He’s compromised his own morals more than once, which makes me think he knows he’s got to play by their rules, or he’s blown his last chance saloon. But I don’t think they’d push him far enough to suggest a pay drop, he’s still a valuable commodity.

In the long term, I could absolutely see him in a booking role, either for NXT or even alongside Paul Heyman on the main roster, if Triple H were ever ousted. An artificial attempt to create a buzz and suggest it’s a new beginning, for real this time. Honest.

[Infinity Land]

From what I can tell from a look online Punk's return contract was for 3 years (to November 2026) and injury time may have been added. Last year he was offered a 5 year deal and he was unsure of signing it.

There's no obvious news report saying he signed a new deal. So maybe both sides are still hashing it out. Punk disappearing after the peak of WM could help his hand as TKO can miss him when he's gone. 

[RedTwoster]

An interesting list of upcoming contract expiries from Fightful here. The most interesting one for me is Bayley, whose contract expires in late 2026. I could absolutely see her jumping to AEW, and if I were Tony Khan I’d make her a priority signing target.

[Hannibal Scorch]

1 hour ago, RedTwoster said:

An interesting list of upcoming contract expiries from Fightful here. The most interesting one for me is Bayley, whose contract expires in late 2026. I could absolutely see her jumping to AEW, and if I were Tony Khan I’d make her a priority signing target.

She’s an absolute lifer. She ain’t leaving. If they don’t re-sign her she’ll just keep turning up and helping out backstage for free. 
 

Punk and Drew were not asked to take pay cuts. Both are upset about the situation and one is apparently so upset they’re already considering options.