AEW: CM Punk Reportedly Not Planning to Sue AEW Over Firing, QT Marshall Confirms Contract Extension, More News

CM Punk Reportedly Not Planning to Sue Tony Khan Over His AEW Firing

As noted before, AEW terminated CM Punk’s contract with cause earlier this month following their investigation into his backstage incident with Jack Perry at their All In event this past August.

Haus of Wrestling’s Nick Hausman reported that his sources close to CM Punk stated that Punk is currently not planning to potentially sue AEW CEO Tony Khan over his contract termination and firing from the company. Those spoken to reportedly stated that Punk is currently looking to avoid any further litigation and move on with his life. Those spoken to reportedly also described Punk as “someone breathing a sign of relief now that he is away from the day-to-day drama that seemed to follow him at AEW.”

Hausman reported that it is currently not known if Khan nor AEW are considering any potential legal action against Punk.

In regards to a potential return to WWE in the future, Hausman reported that it is currently not known if Punk is currently under a non-compete clause as part of the terms of his firing from AEW. Those spoken to within WWE reportedly stated that WWE would be interested in the idea only if they feel that it could potentially be a good business move for the company. One source spoken to reportedly stated that WWE is currently not in the need of signing Punk to a potential deal due to their current product being hot.

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QT Marshall Confirms Recent AEW Contract Extension Deal

Jofo In The Ring held a recent interview with QT Marshall. One of the topics discussed included Marshall confirming the reports of him recently signing a contract extension with AEW.

“I will say this. I’ve always worked for AEW. I’m one of the Vice Presidents. That is a job that I have. The talent is just a second thing that I have as well. I’m lucky, I have two jobs. Like Brandon Cutler, two contracts. So yes, we’ve made another agreement, and we’ll see what happens, right. I think til the end of the year. I don’t know, the dirt sheets know more than me. I don’t know how. But yes, I am there, I won’t be going anywhere else, except AAA and as many independent shows as I possibly can because I’m trying to break Orange Cassidy’s defense record. I think he did 32 in a year or so, and I’m trying to hit 33 before I lose this title. I think I’m at four, so I have a long way to go, but I’ll wrestle anyone, anytime, any place, anywhere.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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AEW News & Notes

Create A Pro Wrestling recently announced that Kris Statlander will be making an appearance for the company at their Mad House event on October 13th in Melville, New York.

Monday’s episode of CBS New York featured MJF making a guest appearance to help promote AEW’s upcoming Grand Slam 2023 events this week at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York.

AEW recently released an 90 minute video featuring an in-depth look at the history between Claudio Castagnoli and Eddie Kingston ahead of their ROH World and NJPW Strong Openweight Championships, Title vs. Title match at this Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite Grand Slam 2023 event.

This past Saturday’s AEW Collision show featured a miscue by AEW’s production crew involving the airing of a stage hand staff member counting down and giving the take sign for the start of Keith Lee’s backstage interview segment on the show. Fightful Select reported that their sources confirmed that this was a mistake made by AEW’s production who forgot to trim out that part of Lee’s taped segment prior to the show’s broadcast.

In regards to a similar incident taking place for Big Bill and Ricky Starks’ backstage interview segment at this past Saturday’s Collision show, Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that this was done on purpose AEW’s way to cover up for the snafu from Lee’s segment.

In a recent interview with SportsKeeda’s WrestleBinge podcast, The Gunns’ Austin and Colten Gunn gave their thoughts on The Usos being their choice for dream match opponents outside of AEW. Austin Gunn stated “One on our bucket list, if we just had to say outside of AEW, I think The Usos would be great. When you when you wrestle a brother tag team, it’s just special. They were born in this business. We were born in this business.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

As noted before, Darby Allin is currently planning to climb Mount Everest at some point next year. In a recent interview with the BJ & Mings Morning Show podcast, Allin gave his reasons why he wants to climb the mountain. Allin stated “If I’m the guinea pig to do crazy stuff to get more eyes on the company, let me be that guy. That’s why I want to climb Mount Everest. I want to be the first wrestler to climb Mount Everest. I want to be the first wrestler to go to space. To do everything. To me, I feel a lot of people in wrestling are like, ‘What’s your character?’ ‘I’m not scared of anything. I’m a big bad man.’ In real life they’re like, ‘Don’t hurt me.’ I legit have no fear and am totally at peace if I die at Mount Everest. That’s why I’m like, ‘Let me do that. Let me make history.’ I feel there is only so much we can do in the confines of a wrestling show. I’m thinking outside the box. How do we get more random buzz for people who don’t watch wrestling? If you see it on the news, ‘pro wrestler climbs Mount Everest.” Allin also gave his thoughts on his training for his upcoming mountain climb. Allin stated “I go to Switzerland in October, train there. I go to China in November. I go to New Zealand in February, and actual Mount Everest is April. I’ve never climbed any mountains before. I wanted to go zero to 100. I wanted to show that the mind, the will to do something, is strong enough to where you don’t have to train for anything. They’re [climbing company he’s working with] like, ‘come on.’ I agreed to get the proper training. The actual climb is in April and it’s two months to climb it.” Allin also gave his thoughts on if he has plans to film his climb. Allin stated “I don’t know if I’m having a video crew, so to speak. The only reason I’m thinking of holding off and just doing my own vlogging is, I don’t want to feel like I have to entertain cameras. Whenever someone has a YouTube vlog, you can tell they are acting. I have to think about my life, I can’t think about cameras. I want to be the spokesperson for AEW, inside the ring and outside.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)