AEW All Out 2023 Post-Show Media Scrum: PPV Buys, Sonny Kiss Departure Confirmed, Jack Perry Suspension Update, CM Punk

AEW held a post-show media scrum following Sunday’s All Out 2023 event at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Some of the notable highlights included:

• On the topic of early pay-per-view buys numbers for All Out 2023, AEW CEO Tony Khan stated that the early numbers was over 100,000 buys for the event. Khan also stated that there was around 10,000 in attendance for the event. In regards to AEW’s All In event at Wembley Stadium the week prior, Khan stated that the event has currently generated close to 200,000 PPV buys.
• During his portion of the media scrum, Adam Cole stated that he is currently having the most fun of his career with his recent pairing with MJF. Cole also stated that the vibe of the locker room and the excitement of the last few weeks did not go unnoticed and they are just excited for the future of the company. Cole stated that thinking about the next two, five, and ten years has everyone feeling good in AEW.
• During his portion of the media scrum, Christian Cage did not offer any real comment to the question about the possibility of Edge, real name Adam Copeland, joining AEW in the future. Instead Cage stated that he only talks about his friends and himself and the only friend he has is Luchasaurus.
• On the topic of Cage’s contract with AEW, Cage stated that he recently signed a new deal with the company. Cage stated “It might have been some of you people who said I wasn’t worth the hype. I think I’ve proved you all wrong now. I know I proved Tony Khan right because he just re-signed me to a big fat contract. He opened the vault for me and I deserve every single penny that I got.“
• On the topic of AEW’s upcoming WrestleDream event, Khan stated that the upcoming event is something he is excited about. Khan also stated that when he first learned of Antonio Inoki’s passing, he marked down the date and started working on plans for an event to honor him. Khan also stated that New Japan Pro Wrestling will be sending some of their talent to this upcoming event.
• On the topic of Jade Cargill’s current status in AEW, Khan stated “I talked to Jade recently. Hopefully, we’ll get Jade back soon. We’ll have to stay tuned to when and where Jade might pop up again in the world. Definitely a big fan of Jade, she put together one of the most dominant runs ever and was stopped by Kris Statlander.“
• During her portion of the media call, Kris Statlander gave her thoughts about Cargill’s potential return to AEW. Statlander stated “As I’ve said before, I’m willing to prove that my win over her was not a fluke. I know there was the controversy of the second match, ‘did she really put out the challenge.’ Whenever she is ready, I’m accepting any challenge from anyone, especially her, and I will prove that my win is my win and I truly am the TBS Champion.“
• On the topic of the potential of Mercedes Mone joining AEW in the future, Statlander stated that AEW’s women’s locker room is always up for a challenge and she is ready if Mone wants to step up for a match with her.
• During his portion of the media scrum, Bryan Danielson gave his thoughts about being able to compete in a physical match with Ricky Starks so soon after suffering a fractured forearm injury. Danielson stated “This is outside of our stories and what we do. He carried me through that match tonight. And I’m good at certain things, I mean, I’m good at a decent amount of things and I’m confident in saying that. I can fire up, I can do all these things, but he was the one who carried me through that match. And so, I’m just, that’s what I’m gonna say. I’ve talked about this before. Magicians don’t necessarily reveal their secrets, but because we have the best fans in the world here at AEW and people are legitimately concerned for my safety, I will pull back the curtain a little bit in this. There was a lot of smoke and mirrors tonight and I was in no danger whatsoever, other than the regular danger that you could do getting a hip toss, but I didn’t even throw a strike with my right arm, and I don’t think anybody noticed.”
• On the topic of the future of his wrestling career, Danielson stated “She says to me things like this, “Daddy, you’re going to be done wrestling when I when I’m turned seven, right? You’re going to be home every day when I turn seven. And that’s, that’s really hard. That’s really hard to turn down, right? I have been very fortunate to have this thing that I love that I do, a huge part of my life for 23-plus years…Parenting is hard, regardless of what you do. All of that to say, I’ve got a lot of thinking to do…If you can figure out this little jigsaw puzzle or whatever it is of how to balance running a wrestling company with two kids and being able to go to their soccer games or going to go to my daughter’s dance recitals or going to any of that kind of stuff — I mean, those are just puzzles to figure out or sometimes the pieces don’t fit and then I’ve had a good run and it might be time to move on. You know what I mean?“
• Following the end of his portion of the media scrum, Danielson almost tripped when he got up from his chair to leave and stated in a joking matter “Imagine I do that strap match and then I get hurt walking off a stage. That would be my life.”
• On the topic of the rumors of Sonny Kiss’ recent departure from AEW, Khan confirmed that Kiss’ contract recently expired and was not given a new deal. Khan also praised Kiss for her work during her time in the company and left the door open for a potential return in the future. Khan stated “I really like Sonny Kiss. We have a roster of over 100 wrestlers now across AEW. Sonny is a great wrestler. I’ve done a lot to keep the locker room stable and I have a lot of people that I not only keep under contract, but I’ve done well to not do major mass layoffs and let 20-30 people go at a time. I can’t renew every single contract in AEW, it would be impossible and with such a big roster and limited amount of TV spots, I think Sonny Kiss is a great wrestler and had a lot of potential from the very beginning and still has a lot of potential. I think Sonny Kiss could certainly be back. We’ve seen people go on, do exciting stuff, and comeback like Stu Grayson. You never know what the future holds for Sonny Kiss. I think Sonny Kiss has a lot of talent and I wish him the best and I hold him in high regard. It’s true that I did not renew that contract, but not because I don’t like Sonny. Every opportunity Sonny has had, I’ve put thought into it. With a huge crew, it’s hard to get everyone on TV. One thing that’s been a challenge is losing Dark and Elevation. The roster is growing and growing, it’s much bigger than the original roster, which Sonny was part of. Sonny and others who are not with AEW anymore, we’ll keep an eye on them and I’d be open to bringing them back if something opens up or I get an idea for a story of if anybody has an idea for a story that I would do or they get hot and I get interested.“
• On the topic of the status of a roster split for Dynamite and Collision, Khan stated that there will be some talent you see on both shows and going forward, you may see Bryan Danielson more often on Collision. Khan stated that he tried to create a different identity between the two shows and there are some talents who have only been on one of the shows for various reasons that could appear on either show going forward.
• On the topic of CJ Perry’s AEW debut at All Out 2023, Khan stated that he felt that Perry’s debut moment was a good surprise for the show. Khan also stated that Perry’s appearance isn’t meant to be the start of a long term thing for her in AEW but could turn into one depending on how things go.
• On the topic of the current status of Jack Perry’s suspension over his involvement in last week’s backstage incident, Khan stated “He’s been suspended indefinitely. We’ve suspended everybody in that investigation and took further action after that based on what happened and came out of the investigation. We suspended Jack as a participant in an incident backstage, and Jack hasn’t been around. That’s all I can say about it. At the time, we did suspend him and he hasn’t been at AEW since AEW All In.“
• On the topic of if CM Punk’s firing from AEW includes a non-compete clause as part of the terms, Khan stated “I don’t want to discuss the terms of the separation in that sense. I very much want to thank CM Punk, Phil, for everything he did in AEW as a wrestler. I don’t think it was an easy decision for anybody on the discipline committee or the outside counsel or for me to do something like that. I do think it was the right move. As far as what’s going to happen in the future, I can’t speak to that. I’m not the attorneys who interpret all that language.“

AEW All Out 2023 post-show media scrum full video:

Source: PWInsider.com, Fightful.com 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5, PostWrestling.com