Wrestling/WWE News Round-Up (22nd - 29th July): Former Superstar gets offer to return, 2 writers released by WWE
Pro wrestling. It's never monotonous; however, repetitive the product may sometimes seem. There may have been a handful of 'slow news days', but overall, there were many stories that were talked about in the week that went by.
A popular former WWE Superstar confirmed an offer to return to the ring; a current WWE Superstar had another run-in with the law, Vince McMahon addressed AEW, and Jon Moxley continued to make all the right noises.
So let's jump right in and check out the top news stories of the past week:
#1. Vince McMahon comments on AEW and the return of the Attitude Era
Remember the Attitude Era? Of course, you do. Those were the days, right? Well, that smash-mouth product isn't coming back. While Vince McMahon did admit to making efforts towards making the current product a little edgier, expecting the 'blood and guts' style of programming would be wishful thinking.
During WWE's 2nd Quarter Earnings Call, the WWE Boss spoke about the product and was also asked about the competition posed by All Elite Wrestling. He expressed his surprise over AEW's gory presentation and doesn't feel TNT would let them continue in the same vein for long.
Here's what McMahon said about the Attitude Era and AEW:
"We're going to be a bit edgier but still remain in the PG environment... We're not going back to the old Attitude Era, we're not going to do blood and guts and things of that nature, such as what's being done with perhaps a new potential competitor [AEW]."
"As far as competition is concerned, the old adage of competition is good for everyone. I think that's generally the case, although again we're hoping that, to the extent that they are competition, that they don't continue on with blood and guts and gory things that they have been doing, which would be bad. I can't speak for TNT but I can't imagine that they would put up with that." H/t Credit: Sportskeeda
#2. CM Punk confirms getting an offer to return
Will CM Punk ever wrestle again? That is one question that will always be discussed until the day the former WWE Superstar does change his mind and return to the ring.
Until then, all we can do is speculate, and just when the waters seem to settle, Punk comments to reignite the flames again.
Punk was announced as the headlining guest for the third Starrcast event that will take place in Chicago during the week that will also host AEW All Out.
In a recent interview with ESPN, Punk was asked about a possible debut for AEW. The 5-time WWE Champion revealed that he got an offer from Cody Rhodes to join the promotion via a text.
"The last thing I got -- I got a text from Cody [Rhodes]. And again, I almost don't even know how to reply to them sometimes, because if I reply, they do interviews and are like, "Oh yeah, I just talked to Punk." I'm kind of damned if I do, damned if I don't. I always think if somebody wants to do business with me, they can come talk to me. Texting offers isn't really a way to do good business, at least. It was texted through three people and an offer came in through text. This is like a month ago, maybe.
Rhodes took to Twitter to clarify on the 'offer' that was sent to Punk.
Dave Meltzer, who revealed that the Punk-AEW situation wasn't a work, said there has been no change in his stance towards pro wrestling. CM Punk doesn't want to wrestle, and that's the bottom line.