AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com
It was officially announced last Monday night that Night of
Champions will feature John Cena vs. CM Punk... in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia...the same CM Punk that tweeted to Mike Mizanin
in a (now-deleted) tweet in 2019: "Go suck a blood money
covered dick in Saudi Arabia, you fucking dork' Punk
made the remark while a panelist on the FOX studio show, WWE
Backstage. It was a reply to Mizanin saying to Punk after a
Saudi trip: "Sorry, I didn't change the culture".
Then, out of nowhere, during WWE Backlash, Punk was first
advertised on ads for the upcoming Clash of Champions in
Riyadh. Punk was hit by a wave of hostility on social media,
with hundreds of retweets/screen caps of his tweet to
Mizanin. Then on his IG Live, CM Punk was asked "why he
hates coming to Saudi Arabia". His response: “I’ve never
been to Saudi, I don’t hate coming to Saudi.”
Then, on Monday’s WWE Raw, an in-ring promo with John Cena
and CM Punk set up a match between the two for the
Undisputed WWE Championship at Night of Champions in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia on Saturday, June 28.
In unintentional hilarity, part of that promo included Punk
claiming not to be representing TKO or billionaires...before
going on to do precisely that. As if to confirm he was going
to do it, John Cena's promo alluded to him "making Punk
follow him to Saudi Arabia".
People make their own moral choices about principles and
about money. Phil Brooks made his last Monday night. The
song below might explain the feelings of many about that
choice:
"Hey where have you gone,
You used to be the one
That we looked up to
It seemed like nothing could break you down
How high was your price
And was it worth it..." Bouncing Souls, Kids and Heroes.
Then, CM Punk's hypocrisy (their words and mine) got played
off of by John Cena on Friday's Smackdown....without exactly
saying WHY Punk was being hypocritical.
Has it occurred to WWE that when they refer to Punk's
hypocrisy in Cena promos, it draws attention to what he's
being hypocritical ABOUT? Namely, the fact that they're
doing business with the Saudi regime...and why Punk objected
to it before? Wonder how that's being dealt with on WWE's TV
in the Middle East?
Then, there was the exhibition of WWE talent Cody Rhodes,
Angelo Dawkins, Montez Ford, and Tiffany Stratton,
representing TKO, at a Trump Rally held to celebrate 250
years of the US Army on June 11.
As USA Today reported it: “As the crowd waited for
Trump’s arrival after Driscoll’s remarks, World Wrestling
Entertainment's Angelo-Dawkins, Montez Ford, Cody Rhodes and
Tiffany Stranton took the stage to sing 'Happy Birthday' to
the Army.”
TKO and previously WWE’s top executives have openly
supported Trump and donated millions to GOP figures pushing
anti-immigrant rhetoric. Donald Trump is a regular and
recognized guest at UFC shows. It's clear TKO is now
prepared to use its talent to show approval of their friend
in DC, despite the illegal incursion by National Guard and
regular duty military into legal demonstrations against ICE.
The ties are long and many starting with Vince McMahon, is a
longtime friend and supporter of Trump; McMahon’s
(technically) wife, Linda, is also a former WWE CEO and
bought herself the Secretary of Education job, after
contributing $20 million in donations to pro-Trump Super
PAC. As Secretary of Education, she was hired to do away
with the Department of Education, remove special needs and
DEI programs.
According to Open Secrets.com UFC's CEO, Dana White, donated
$747,800 to GOP candidates and organizations. As a result
he, introduced Trump at the 2024 Republican National
Convention. Hulk Hogan spoke at the RNC, and did the Hogan
tearing off his shirt routine to reveal a Trump/Vance t-
shirt, and the Trump inauguration this year.
If that wasn't enough, Bodyslam.net reported on Friday, that
Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are actively assisting the
Trump administration, as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared a
photo of himself meeting with the two WWE executives.
"Met today with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon to
strategize about the upcoming President’s Council on Sports,
Fitness, & Nutrition,” RFK Jr. tweeted Friday
Then, to top it all off, CNN reported that Dana White
appeared during Donald Trump's military parade/birthday
party/US Army birthday Saturday, distributing an energy
drink he's involved with to parade goers.
According to the NY Times, while UFC was mentioned as a
sponsor during the parade and on the website associated with
it, a spokesman claimed in an email statement that the
company was not a corporate sponsor, and claimed that White
had supported the program in his personal capacity. The
fact, however, is that UFC is still, as of Monday morning,
listed as a sponsor of the parade.
Contrast that with AEW's open embrace of talent from the
LGBTQ+ community and talent supporting progressive political
causes, with multiple straight and LGBT talent supporting
transgender rights. AEW's Brody King, openly and forcefully
came out on social media against the occupation of Los
Angeles, Trump administration treatment of immigrants and
conduct of ICE.
For those who feel strongly about these issues, and want to
support wrestling companies that conduct themselves in the
same way, the contrast couldn't be clearer.
Meanwhile, All Elite Wrestling’s television and streaming
deals are likely to be unaffected by announcement last
Monday of the upcoming split of Warner Brothers Discovery
and its streaming and television properties, sources told BJ
Bethel of SEScoops.com.
Warner Brothers Discovery announced plans Monday to split
its HBO MAX streaming and studio properties from its
television properties by mid-2026. Under the plan, WBD
Streaming and Studios would be headed by current WBD CEO
David Zaslav. A second company, comprising of WBD’s
television properties, would be re-named WBD Global Networks
and led by WBD CFO Gunnar Widenfels.
AEW signed a three-year deal with Warner Brothers Discovery
for its programming on TNT, TBS and the MAX streaming
network last fall. The deal is for around $175 million to
$200 million per year, with an option for a fourth year.
AEW Dynamite and Collision simulcasts were added to MAX in
January, where Dynamite has averaged around 500,000 viewers
in the Live + 1 metric (with a deviation of
positive/negative 10-20 percent per week) over the first six
months of 2025 as reported by BJ Bethel in an exclusive
earlier this year. A library of AEW programming has been
gradually rolled out over that time.
Bethel reported that a source familiar with the AEW and WBD
contracts said the wrestling company would likely be
unaffected by the split.
As to what will happen upon at the end of AEW's contract in
2027 (or 2028 if WBD picks up the option), that is anyone's
guess. I've GOT to assume that, along with David Zaslav,
Tony Khan talked with this WBD CFO-to-become Global Networks
head when the TV deal was organized. What happens after 2027
is a different question. Who would pick up the option? One
division? Both? Then after that is anyone's guess. But then
again it was before.
There are people concerned that David Zaslav won't be the
(primary) person negotiating with AEW and Tony Khan in
2027/8. The reality is with all the controversy surrounding
Zaslav's overall controversial management of Warner Brothers
Discovery...he wasn't necessarily the primary person who
Tony Khan would have been negotiating with anyway.
As of June 11, AEW ALL IN Texas has 17,485 tickets
distributed (with 3,498 available with the current setup of
20,983, with 1,406 sold since the last update seven days
ago. ALL IN Texas is now just 2,700 shy of surpassing Grand
Slam 2021, which took place on September 21, 2021 at Arthur
Ashe Stadium, and saw 20,177 becoming the largest AEW US
crowd in US history. ALL IN Texas has now surpassed
Revolution 2024 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC
on March 3, 2024 featuring the Sting retirement which had
16,878 attending, and AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2022 on June
26, 2022 at the United Center in Chicago with 16,529
attending.
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