Rumor Roundup: Punk and AEW fed up with each other, Jack Perry blame, Mercedes Moné, more!

Speculating on the rumors surrounding pro wrestling is a favored pastime of many fans, perhaps second only to actually watching the matches. In this daily column, we take a look at the latest rumors being churned out by the pro wrestling rumor mill.

Important reminder: Rumors are just that — rumors. None of this has been confirmed as fact, it’s just circulating around the pro wrestling rumor mill. We track rumor accuracy in a weekly feature called Rumor Look Back you can find here. Remember, take it all with a grain of salt.

Rumors for the Day:

• According to PW Torch, Jack Perry is expected to get the brunt of the blame from AEW management for his altercation with CM Punk backstage at All In because Perry “should have known” his on-air jab at Punk on the pre-show “would cause an issue”.
• Their report goes on to say the company’s frustrated with Punk too, because his “controversial” leadership style escalates situations that could be avoided if he would handle issues in a “less inflammatory manner” and simply lead by example.
• The Torch also says that “in the heat of the moment” after the All In incident, Punk threatened to quit AEW “over his frustration with everything that happened.” This is when production considered ways to fill time on the broadcast, but Punk “quickly regrouped” and went on with his match.
• A “veteran AEW wrestler” discussing the Punk/Perry issue with PW Torch put most of the blame on Tony Khan for fostering an environment where wrestlers feel they can “go into business for themselves” online or on television to settle scores with others. This was said to mostly be an issue with younger talent without TV experience, but the source mentioned this has also happened with experienced wrestlers too.
• The run-in with Perry wasn’t Punk’s only issue during All In weekend. Haus of Wrestling was told AEW didn’t have anyone meet Punk at the airport when he arrived on Saturday (he came in later than others because he wanted to spend Thursday with his wife & dog), and the number he was given to contact a driver didn’t work. Punk took The Tube, but got lost and had to get help from fans to get to his hotel.
• Nick Hausman’s site also noted there hasn’t been much communication between Punk & AEW since he left All In on Sunday, adding “it is fair to say that Punk’s future with AEW, and pro wrestling in general, appears to be questionable.”
• Fightful Select confirmed that Punk & Khan haven’t communicated much since All In. They report Punk’s been telling people he “hates this place” due to the constant drama, but adds “many people within the company say he’s plenty responsible for those issues.”
• In non-Punk news: Mercedes Moné was only shown sitting in the crowd during All In because she was wearing a “heavy walking boot”, per PW Insider. The site reports the expectation backstage at AEW is that she’ll make appearances for the company once she’s healthy, and would have debuted on the Blood & Guts episode of Dynamite in Boston if not for her injury.
• Insider also had news from an all-hands meeting at Impact’s taping yesterday. AXS will be doing “massive upgrades” to their production facilities. The “state-of-the-art production technology” will improve weekly TV and PPV/streaming specials. They’ll be adjusting their remaining 2023 schedule to account for the work being done on the back-end.
• It was also announced that Impact and AAA will be doing a joint November show in Mexico. This will eventually air on Impact television.

If you have heard of any interesting rumors that you’d like to add, feel free to post them in the comments section below. Just remember they are rumors and not confirmed as fact, so please take them as such. And check our weekly Rumor Look Back here to keep track of how often rumors turn out to be correct.