"This whole thing has been a clusterf**k" - Tony Khan shouldn't have fired former WWE star, says veteran
Veteran wrestling manager Jim Cornette has expressed his disagreement with Tony Khan's decision to fire former WWE star Ace Steel.
Tony Khan's firing of former WWE star Ace Steel has sparked controversy. Steel was allegedly involved in the brawl between The Elite and CM Punk following AEW All Out. Reports now suggest he was re-hired but couldn't join the road crew, leading to disagreements and CM Punk's removal from advertising ahead of the premiere of Collision.
During an exclusive interview with Kenny McIntosh for Inside the Ropes, WWE legend Jim Cornette voiced his belief that Steel should not have been fired after examining the reported events of the post-All Out brawl.
“Whichever one of those sides that you want to blame, Ace Steel was a third side. He hears f*cking commotion in a room where his best friend and his wife, Ace Steel’s wife, who was in a cast from a broken foot are occupying, and he hears a fight and he runs in and he sees three or four people on top of his friend and his wife’s cowering in a corner. What are you gonna do? Right? But he’s the one that gets fired?! You don’t fire Punk or you don’t fire the EVPs but you fire the guy that came into the goddamn chaos and tried to f*cking help the outnumbered individual." [6:37 - 7:21]
Furthermore, Cornette raised concerns about the lack of an independent investigation into the matter.
“So what the f*ck, this whole thing has been a clusterf*ck. There was no independent investigation. That was all bullsh*t from the start. And the same people that are apparently handling the legal wranglings to get Punk back in, to potentially give Ace Steel a job again and make everybody sing Kumbaya is the legal team were one of the head legals was one of the people that rushed into the room? Can you say conflict of interest?" Cornette added. [7:23 - 7:50]
Check out the whole interview below:
WWE veteran Jim Cornette questions handling of CM Punk's AEW Deal
Jim Cornette also raised concerns about the breakdown of communication between the former WWE Champion and AEW. In the same interview, Cornette suggested that there may be individuals within the company who are sabotaging the deal with CM Punk.
“And how is it that even though you never hear from Punk in the press until one of these things happens, and he Instagrams or Twitters or whatever he needs to do to make his side known? How is all his sh*t continuing to fall apart? Is it because Tony is letting people try to handle making this deal that don’t want to make the deal and constantly screw it up after it’s made?” [7:52 - 8:30]
CM Punk has just posted this on his Instagram Story: https://t.co/BEmW4zVoBm
With Collision fast approaching, AEW will be looking to mend fences with CM Punk and urge the former world champion to make his presence felt. It remains to be seen how things will pan out.
Do you think Ace Steel should be fired from AEW? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.