Movement on Brawl Out situation, reaction to Ace Steel's firing.
Added 2022-10-19 18:49:04 +0000 UTCAce Steel is gone from All Elite Wrestling, according to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer.
Fightful has asked AEW in an official capacity, who don't usually respond to inquiries regarding employment status of talent. However, the word emanating from the Cincinnati AEW tapings was that Ace Steel was gone.
Much of the roster has remained quiet since the Brawl Out situation, whether it be on the record, off the record or on background. This became even more of the case after the Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Chris Jericho led talent meeting that encouraged talent to keep their dirty laundry in house. After word emerged of Ace Steel finally being let go, more talent and staff were willing to talk.
The unanimous consensus that we've heard from was that the move was expected, and if there weren't constantly pending legal ramifications, this would have been done the week of Brawl Out. By the time the following week's tapings happened, most everyone thought that they were effectively done working with Ace Steel, who actually had to be fined for using coarse language on television just days before. Steel's proximity to CM Punk throughout the situation complicated matters.
Another longtime talent that had been on good terms with Ace Steel said that the writing was on the wall immediately after that situation when the bite marks on Kenny Omega were still visible. Omega carried the bite marks with him the whole next week through a trip to Japan as well.
A veteran spoke with Fightful on background and said that releasing Ace Steel was a no brainer decision, and that bringing him back into the locker room with or without CM Punk would have caused a ton of frustration. Another talent said that the situation hadn't been much of a talking point in recent weeks, and really wasn't after the aforementioned talent meeting.
One talent said "Biting people bad" as the entirety of their background comment on the situation.
There were rumors in the days that followed that Steel was done with All Elite Wrestling, but obviously that couldn't be as cut and dry due to the situation that surrounded it.
Yesterday marked the most movement on the Brawl Out situation that. Ace Steel was officially released, The Elite was referenced on commentary for the first time since the incident, CM Punk was featured in an ROH Title montage, and the Young Bucks appeared in an AEW Rampage commercial. None of them were added back to the AEW Dynamite intro. However, Tuesday was also the first time we've heard movement or optimism on "potential returns," though that was left vague. We were told that the parties involved are more in contact with All Elite Wrestling now than they'd been for a while before, but the context of that was absent.
Comments
Sure and I’m the president of Switzerland
Lawrence Robinson
2022-10-20 10:12:55 +0000 UTCBut surely the term investigation is being bandied around to mean negotiations between all three legal teams (AEW, Elite, Punk) plus respective marketing departments to determine who is staying and going. Another part is performing the cost/benefit analysis for all of the talent involved now that AEW has proven that it can survive without the talent.
2022-10-20 07:12:10 +0000 UTCI'm literally an attorney haha. When you're conducting investigations to find out something that happened 5 years ago, those can take awhile. Memories fade, people die/disappear, it's tough to get reliable accounts. But a little 5 minute scuffle that JUST happened a few weeks ago?
Terps
2022-10-20 00:55:33 +0000 UTCLegal matters factor into this, especially when you got conflicting sides
Marshall Enloe
2022-10-20 00:41:23 +0000 UTCHow in the hell is this "investigation" lasting this long lmao, the incident lasted what... 5 minutes?
Terps
2022-10-20 00:13:25 +0000 UTCHopefully they all come back to the company. They can turn this into a lot of money. If fences can be mended. AEW is a lot better with the Elite AND CM Punk. Ace steel was definitely going to be gone. No surprise there
Noir
2022-10-19 22:48:42 +0000 UTCWhen you get these ridiculous remakes like “biting people bad,” I don’t know why but in my head I always just assume it’s from Trent
Talmadge Patterson
2022-10-19 22:37:29 +0000 UTCI really hope all four of them remain with the company. Punk was definitely in the wrong, but he wasn't exactly wrong (as proven by the tightening of lips) in WHAT he was saying. Hopefully it all works out in the end 🤞
2022-10-19 20:48:52 +0000 UTCNo titles on The Elite for a while. No matter which way you look at it, they were at fault for participating to such an extent in this incident. The reality is that personally, I have preferred the product without them because AEW wasn't centered around them as it was pre-Brawl-Out.
2022-10-19 20:05:27 +0000 UTCComplete side note but the short promo vids before the graphic was a nice touch. Hope they keep doing that moving forward.
Anthony M
2022-10-19 19:42:13 +0000 UTCDamn, my money was on the Mad King lol
2022-10-19 19:35:19 +0000 UTCJust a stupid question from me: what doesn "on background" mean? I know off the record, but I'm unfamiliar with on background
Jim Bear
2022-10-19 19:30:48 +0000 UTCThe good news is that a final report has been presented, and action can now be taken. I hope to see the Elite Back soon.
Michael Coriell
2022-10-19 19:17:55 +0000 UTCSounds like the investigation is over and we can get going on this. Elite VS Death Triangle for Full Gear
Rj Kelly
2022-10-19 19:11:24 +0000 UTCHopefully this means that everybody can put this behind them and get back on tv
Tucker
2022-10-19 19:10:49 +0000 UTC