CM Punk

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Punk, Kingston Reportedly Had Real-Life Heat

CM Punk and Eddie Kingston are set to clash at AEW Full Gear on Saturday following a heated promo segment between them last week on Rampage.

Punk and Kingston brought an element of realism to the table when they went back and forth on the mic, and there may be a good reason for that.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Michael Perry of Ringside News), an unnamed wrestler told him they witnessed a verbal confrontation between Punk and Kingston backstage at an IWA Mid-South show early in their careers.

There was overlap between Punk and Kingston working for the company from 2003-05, which is likely when the confrontation would have taken place.

The wrestler told Meltzer:

I was sitting right there in an IWA Mid-South locker room when Punk called Eddie and his partner at the time, Blackjack Marciano, fat, lazy and unsafe. Marciano had just accidentally injured Delirious in a previous match and Punk was hot about it, so [he] just buried them nonstop. I could see why Eddie hung onto that hate and anger for so long.

It is unclear if Punk and Kingston have made amends over the years, but their real-life issues add intrigue to their upcoming match regardless.

Saturday will mark Punk's second pay-per-view match in AEW, as he previously beat Darby Allin in his AEW debut bout at All Out.

Kingston has wrestled several times on AEW pay-per-view events, but Full Gear could represent the biggest opportunity of his career given how big of a star Punk is.

Both competitors figure to leave it all on the line at Full Gear in a clash that has a chance to be the match of the night.

NXT TakeOver, WWE HOF Not Currently Scheduled for WrestleMania Weekend

WWE recently announced that WrestleMania 38 will be a two-night event at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on April 2 and 3, 2022.

While WWE has traditionally made WrestleMania a weeklong celebration, there are reportedly no plans in place yet for an NXT TakeOver or WWE Hall of Fame ceremony to occur in conjunction with WrestleMania 38.

According to Meltzer (h/t Perry), it is still possible WWE could add those events between now and next year's WrestleMania.

Ancillary events that WWE does have in place thus far are the April 1 SmackDown and April 4 Raw at the American Airlines Center in Dallas and WrestleMania Axxess at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas.

The WWE Hall of Fame ceremony has taken place during the week leading up to WrestleMania for many years, while NXT TakeOver events began occurring during WrestleMania week in 2016, which was the last time WrestleMania was in Dallas.

There was no WrestleMania weekend TakeOver in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there was a two-night TakeOver leading up to WrestleMania this year.

NXT has undergone a huge transformation in recent months with WWE focusing on younger, less-experienced wrestlers. There hasn't been a TakeOver under the NXT 2.0 umbrella, but WWE recently announced NXT WarGames for December.

As for the Hall of Fame ceremony, one wasn't held in 2020 because of the pandemic, while this year's took place with no live crowd in attendance and saw both the class of 2020 and 2021 inducted.

Dorado, Metalik Reportedly Requested WWE Release

Prior to getting released by WWE earlier this month, Lucha House Party members Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik reportedly requested to get let go by the company.

Per Meltzer (h/t Perry), Dorado was upset after having to take the pinfall in a tag team loss to Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo on Main Event on Sept. 13. He reportedly spoke to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon afterward and asked for his release.

Metalik reportedly asked for his release as well because he also wanted out, although he "was not the kind of a guy who would have asked out" if not for Dorado already doing so.

Dorado and Metalik both debuted in WWE as part of the Cruiserweight Classic tournament in 2016. Both wrestlers impressed and Metalik made it all the way to the finals where he fell to T.J. Perkins.

They primarily appeared in 205 Live for a couple of years after that before joining forces with Kalisto to form the Lucha House Party stable.

After Kalisto was released in April, Dorado and Metalik continued to team together, but they didn't receive much television time.

Dorado and Metalik are presumably under 90-day non-compete clauses, meaning they will be eligible to sign elsewhere and appear on TV in early February.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below.

All Elite Wrestling is holding a potentially company-changing pay-per-view event Saturday night in Minneapolis in the form of Full Gear.

The show could feature a changing of the guard, as "Hangman" Adam Page is set to challenge Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship in the main event.

The AEW Women's World Championship and AEW World Tag Team Championship will also be on the line, plus a new No. 1 contender for the AEW world title will be determined when Bryan Danielson clashes with Miro.

Here is a rundown of how and when to watch Full Gear, a look at the card and further analysis regarding the top matches.

Where: Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota

When: Saturday Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. ET (pre-show starts at 7 p.m. ET)

Watch: PPV available for purchase on Bleacher Report for $49.99. Can be purchased and streamed on Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Xbox.

AEW Full Gear 2021 Match Card

• AEW World Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. "Hangman" Adam Page
• AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament final: Bryan Danielson vs. Miro
• AEW Women's World Championship: Britt Baker (c) vs. Tay Conti
• AEW World Tag Team Championship: Lucha Bros (c) vs. FTR
• CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston
• Minneapolis Street Fight: The Inner Circle vs. Men of the Year & American Top Team
• Darby Allin vs. MJF
• Falls Count Anywhere Six-Man Tag: Christian Cage & Jurassic Express vs. Adam Cole & The Young Bucks
• PAC & Cody Rhodes vs. Malakai Black & Andrade El Idolo
• Pre-Show: Nyla Rose & Jamie Hayter vs. Hikaru Shida & Thunder Rosa

Top Matches to Watch

Kenny Omega vs. 'Hangman' Adam Page

AEW fans have long awaited Page to receive another world title opportunity and for him to go head-to-head with his former tag team partner.

Page and Omega enjoyed a dominant title reign that lasted 228 days before dropping the belts to FTR at All Out 2020. It was around that time that Hangman was also kicked out of The Elite.

Omega beat Page in the final of a tournament to determine the No. 1 contender for the AEW World Championship at Full Gear 2020, and he went on to beat Jon Moxley for the strap.

Now, Omega has held the title for nearly a year, while Page has been scratching and clawing his way back into the conversation. He finally earned a title shot by winning the Casino Ladder match, and it is fitting that his shot at glory will come against a former friend.

Page had a chance to become the inaugural AEW world champion at All Out 2019, but he lost to Chris Jericho in the main event.

Hangman has been chasing another opportunity ever since, and Saturday could mark the culmination of a long and arduous journey.

The live crowd will undoubtedly be fully behind Page, and if he wins the title, it should elicit one of the best reactions in AEW history.

Bryan Danielson vs. Miro

The match to determine the AEW world champion is the biggest bout on Saturday's card, but the match for the No. 1 contendership could turn out to be the best.

Danielson and Miro promise to go all-out in a brutal affair at Full Gear.

While Danielson defeated Dustin Rhodes and Eddie Kingston to get to this point, Miro only needed to beat Orange Cassidy because he was a late addition to the tournament as a replacement for Moxley.

Regardless of their respective paths, Danielson vs. Miro promises to be a hard-hitting battle that could be one of the best of the year in AEW.

Danielson and Miro faced each other in WWE under the names Daniel Bryan and Rusev, respectively, but the stakes were never as high as they will be at Full Gear.

Although Danielson is the sentimental favorite, Miro has been built up as a dominant heel, so it wouldn't be too surprising if he is able to hand his opponent the first singles loss of his AEW career.

CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston

No championships or title opportunities will be on the line when CM Punk and Kingston lock horns at Full Gear, but it should be an emotionally charged contest nonetheless.

It was only a few weeks ago when Punk and Kingston first crossed paths in AEW, as the latter interrupted a backstage interview involving the former after losing to Danielson in the semifinals of the World Championship Eliminator Tournament.

Punk didn't take kindly to Kingston's actions, which led to him calling out Kingston for a confrontation on the most recent edition of Rampage. That resulted in an intense exchange, which saw The Best in the World insult Kingston and suggest he wasn't on his level as a wrestler.

A match between the two for Full Gear was made official shortly thereafter, and it has quickly become one of the most highly anticipated bouts on the card.

In many respects, it is just another match for Punk given how many huge contests he has had. But for Kingston, it represents one of the biggest moments of his career.

Kingston will be a made man and a legitimate world title contender if he beats Punk. And even if he doesn't, he can prove a lot of doubters wrong by hanging with his opponent on Saturday.

Regardless of who wins, there promises to be a compelling story told given the two wrestlers competing in the match.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Bischoff Criticizes AEW's Presentation of Punk

Former WCW President Eric Bischoff has been critical of AEW lately, and this week he took aim at the manner in which AEW has presented and utilized CM Punk.

During a discussion on his 83 Weeks podcast (h/t Domenic Marinelli of Ringside News), Bischoff took issue with the fact that AEW has primarily put Punk in matches against lesser-known talent without much of a story attached:

"I think it's a mistake to put Punk on such a pedestal that you think he's so over that all he has to do is show up and sprinkle Punk dust on his opponent and that Punk dust will elevate his opponent. I'm not taking anything away from Punk. I think Punk, the way he's being used now, and this is constructive criticism, I think they've diminished the perception.

"There was great equity in that perception. He shows up, does a great promo, gets a great reaction, and does pretty much nothing. 'Punk is coming, yay! Punk is here, yay!' Punk showed up and Punk's not doing anything. ... But showing up, getting that big pop, he's here, and then having nothing going on for two or three weeks in a row doesn't help Punk. It doesn't help the product."

Punk arrived to AEW in August and faced Darby Allin at All Out a couple of weeks later in his first match in seven years, although there wasn't much of a story attached to it.

He has wrestled several matches since then with little in the way of storyline development as well, although it looks like he may be entering into a feud with Eddie Kingston that includes some substance.

Bischoff made mention of the fact that over 1.1 million people tuned into Rampage when Punk made his debut in August, only for that number to dip below 600,000 presently.

He seems to be suggesting that while Punk is over and popular, the lack of a compelling story has prevented fans from tuning in on a consistent basis.

There may be something to Bischoff's theory, and it could be put to the test if AEW invests heavily in Punk vs. Kingston and the angle that goes along with it.

Edge Initially Didn't Want to Go to Crown Jewel

Edge and Seth Rollins tore the house down at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia last month in one of the best Hell in a Cell matches in WWE history, but Edge admitted he wasn't always all in on being part of the show.

Appearing on The Kids on the Elevator Podcast (h/t Marinelli), Edge said he "wasn't too keen" on going to Saudi Arabia initially, but agreed to do so after being told WWE needed the blow-off match to happen there.

The Rated-R Superstar decided to use that platform for good by lobbying for Jessika Carr to serve as the referee for the match.

Carr officiated Edge vs. Rollins at SummerSlam and at Madison Square Garden, and she was present for the final match of their rivalry as well.

Regarding Carr becoming the first woman to officiate a match in Saudi Arabia, Edge said:

"If it flew over a lot of heads, whatever, but for me, I can come back to my girls one day and tell them, 'I went over there.' I think we did something cool. She was right there for everything, not overwhelmed by the moment, and stood up to the challenge. It was really cool to see."

Carr played her role to perfection in the match, as did Edge and Rollins, who put their bodies on the line in a contest that set the tone of the entire night.

Crown Jewel was universally praised by fans, and Edge vs. Rollins opening the show with a bang is a big reason why.

Edge has not appeared on WWE programming since then, but as a member of the Raw roster via the WWE Draft, he promises to be a massive part of the red brand when he does re-enter the fold.

Wyatt Reportedly Difficult to Work with in WWE

Bray Wyatt was shockingly released from his WWE contract in July, and many rumors regarding why that decision was made have surfaced in the months since then.

According to H Jenkins of Ringside News, a WWE source said Wyatt was "difficult to get along with" during his time with the company.

The source also said Wyatt was "hard to find when needed" and "there was always an issue with his appointment" when he was away due to medical issues.

With regard to Wyatt reportedly being difficult to work with, it is unclear if that was actually the case or if that was the perception since he was protective over the character he created.

Wyatt undoubtedly put a lot of time and effort into his character, both in terms of the Firefly Funhouse version of himself and The Fiend.

Because of the gimmicks he created, Wyatt was a hugely popular Superstar, and it was also assumed that he made WWE a lot of money.

A source told Jenkins that the idea of Wyatt being a "money maker" for the company based solely on merchandise sales may not have been accurate, though, when taking into account his sizable contract.

Regardless of the rumor and innuendo surrounding Wyatt, there is no denying that WWE officials viewed him as a top star given that he consistently received tons of television time and was a multi-time world champion.

Wyatt's 90-day non-compete clause is officially over, meaning he is free to sign anywhere he wants. No matter which company lands Wyatt, it will unquestionably be getting a potential game-changer.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: profanity).