Jim Ross weighs in on the booking leading into AEW All Out.
AEW All Out is scheduled for September 4 and as of this writing, there is no AEW World Title bout announced for the event. Jon Moxley vs. CM Punk in an AEW World Title unification match was originally set to headline the show, but the match took place on Wednesday's AEW Dynamite with Moxley winning in quick fashion.
Speaking on his Grilling JR podcast in an episode recorded before AEW Dynamite, Jim Ross weighed in on the challenges Tony Khan is facing as a booker when it comes to the world title scene.
"I don't know that, as a booker, that Tony Khan has had a bigger...these next few weeks, the last week and the weeks leading through the pay-per-view, he's never had any bigger challenge to him than that. What do you do? I'm anxious to see what the brain trust comes up with as far as creative is concerned. I have confidence that he will, but they have a lot of options, a lot of ways to go. Do you re-incorporate MJF? What do you do with Punk and Moxley? How long are they going to be ripe on the vine? All these things. Most bookers would probably embrace everything I just said because it gives them so many ways to go. Hell, I didn't even know Punk had an issue with our cowboy, Hangman. Part of that interview the other day. I was like, 'What? Did I miss something in the production meeting?' Of course, we don't go over the promos in the production meeting, which is good, and nobody writes Punk. Nobody writes anybody's promo. You just go do it," he said.
MJF hasn't been on AEW television since he begged Tony Khan to fire him on the AEW Dynamite after AEW Double or Nothing. Punk called out Hangman Page in his promo last Wednesday, which reportedly wasn't planned. Page didn't answer the challenge last Wednesday and wasn't on the most recent episode of AEW Dynamite.
Speaking on Punk's call out and the fallout that came from it, Ross said, "I think we're overreacting. I'm not blaming anybody, it's just the lay of the land. When you have...the social media business has affected this whole matter we're discussing, immensely. It's there, it's handy, it's immediate. One guy sends out a tweet, and they are always usually negative. Goddamn, i'd love to read something where somebody says, 'You did a good job on Wednesday night. Keep up the good work.' That'd be better than how bad something sucked. You get one favorite or one retweet out of that and all of a sudden, it becomes significant news."
Ross noted that a person with 100 followers could trend because their tweet catches the right eye and becomes a bigger deal, and questioned whether that person and his opinion is important or not.
CM Punk commented on his call out of Hangman Page before his bout with Moxley, saying he is trying to sell tickets and tell stories. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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