AEW: CM Punk on Working With Hobbs, Tony Khan on Plans for UK Tour in 2022, Brandi Rhodes

CM Punk Comments on Why He Worked with Powerhouse Hobbs & Diving in Crowds for His Entrances

A recent episode of the AEW Unrestricted podcast had CM Punk as the guest. Some of the topics discussed included his reasons why he wanted to work with Powerhouse Hobbs and AEW security’s reaction to his crowd dives during his entrances.

On the topic of working with Powerhouse Hobbs, Punk stated:

“We’ll peel back the curtain a little bit here which it is what it is. I think I need to show a very — just different looks, right? I didn’t dream in my wildest imagination I could be this big of a babyface so to speak. But it’s pretty crazy and I think we need to ride the wave and I never liked baby-baby matches. I always felt like somebody needs to be the heel a little bit and I don’t have any of that. With Will Hobbs, I got a guy that’s gonna knock my dick in the dirt and I’m gonna get to sell. I just hope there’s some kids in the back watching that go, ‘Oh wow. It’s cool to sell’, you know? Because I just think of Ricky Steamboat, one of the best sellers of all-time and just the way he — it was an art and really trying to make some simplistic stuff and get the most out of very little and I’ve been impressed with Will Hobbs. You know, the way he moves and I think anybody can see that he has potential, you know?”

On the topic of AEW security’s reaction to his dives into the crowd during his entrances, Punk stated:

“Yeah, they’ve talked to me about it [jumping into the crowd]. They lean towards trying to tell me not to do it, but they’re also kind of like, ‘Is this gonna be a thing? Can we maybe not?’ And I go, ‘Guys, I really — I don’t know. I just go out there’ and the last time I did it in New Jersey, there was a dude who was just like, ‘I’m gonna catch you’ and I was like, ‘Okay. Let’s do the [dive]’, so I did it. It’s all spur of the moment. It really is honestly.”

Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com

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Tony Khan Comments on Plans for AEW UK Tour in 2022

A recent episode of the Busted Open Radio podcast had AEW CEO Tony Khan as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Khan’s plans for a potential tour of the United Kingdom next year.

“We were blessed to be able to still do a show through the pandemic. But because we weren’t able to leave our home base for a year now to be back on tour across America. So I think there are so many great places for us to hit across the United States over the next several months. I do really want to do an international tour next year in 2022. I’m not sure if we’ll hit a lot of different cities or if we’ll focus the international trip primarily on Craven Cottage, the home of Fulham Football Club. You know [the stadium] is very, very near and dear to my heart. With our relationship or ownership of the Fulham Football Club and our relationship with the fans and having such a great venue to do a show in such a historic venue, and I would really want to put my focus on that if we do go overseas and I don’t know when we’ll do it, but it’s something I’d really like to do.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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Brandi Rhodes Comments on Hoping Rhodes To The Top Leads to More Female Fans for AEW

TCS News held a recent interview with Brandi Rhodes. One of the topics discussed included Rhodes’ thoughts on her hoping that AEW’s new Rhodes To The Top reality series will eventually lead to more female fans for the company.

“I’ve been seeing some recent discussion in media and social media about the female demographic when it comes to wrestling. It’s an important demographic that isn’t so tapped. That is one area in which I think AEW is looking to strengthen. When you look at it, this is a reality television show. Females watch reality TV, not just females, but females take the torch with reality TV. The hope is, of course, we will have some women that watch the show that are just curious, maybe they watched wrestling as a kid and haven’t watched in a long time or maybe their kids watch wrestling and they don’t really watch it. Maybe this is the opportunity for them to see a little bit more or to be invested in some of our characters on the show and tune in to Dynamite or Rampage for the first time and be hooked. That’s the hope.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com