New details have been revealed on the backstage meeting held at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY before Wednesday’s post-All Out edition of AEW Dynamite.
The meeting was hosted by Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho and Bryan Danielson. Fightful Select adds that the meeting was for wrestlers, managers, announcers and referees. Several sources present for the meeting have spoken very highly of what was said.
One talent noted, “Those were the right people to call a meeting like that at that time, and for it to resonate well.”
Talent were encouraged to keep personal issues with one another in-house and solve them there, instead of the leaks that have gone on for the past several months. This was also stressed at previous talent meetings, and in an e-mail that was issued to several people.
The Observer adds that Wednesday’s meeting was the best backstage meeting the wrestlers in AEW have ever had, according to one source present. There was a feeling that brand damage was done on Sunday night, and they have to overcome that.
Moxley, Jericho and Danielson were heavily praised for various reasons coming out of the meeting. Jericho, even this past weekend, was credited for stepping up as a backstage presence, even more than he previously was. One younger AEW talent noted that the resolve Jericho showed at the All Out post-show media scrum, after the backstage fight happened, was a great example to be set.
Moxley and Danielson are also seemingly “widely adored” by the locker room. Coming out of the meeting, a lot of Moxley’s recent promo where he said he was “the answer” to a lot of problems was echoed by people there, especially considering he was supposed to take a few weeks off following All Out. Danielson’s general friendly, funner demeanor was also credited as “calming” from one talent.
Regarding the mood at Dynamite, it was noted that even before the meeting was held, talent arrived to the arena and knew they had a show to do, and it was business as usual. One source told The Observer that when the meeting was over, everything that happened Sunday night was forgotten and there was no on looking backwards, only forwards. Others noted how proud they were that after all the bad publicity, the company was able to put together a strong TV show on Wednesday night, and most were excited about the future. However, others are saying they are depressed with how everything went own over the past week.
It was also said that word coming out of Dynamite was significantly more positive than the 24 hours prior. We noted before how there was a much more positive vibe in AEW after Wednesday’s Dynamite, with one source saying with one source saying it couldn’t have been worse than the chaos of the previous days. The same source said the situation was “out of sight, out of mind” for plenty of people on the roster who just wanted to show up and work on Wednesday. Another talent said the best way for all parties to make up for the public embarrassment would be to just get over the issues, make money for the company, and highlight other talents along the way.
“A big part of Punk’s promo was about people who hadn’t been anywhere or done anything, and there were three guys who have done almost everything he’s done if not more leading the charge. It wasn’t anti-Punk or anything, but you can never have anyone say they didn’t do anything in this business. Or guys like Paul (Wight), Mark (Henry), Matt (Hardy), or (William) Regal for example. We have plenty of great people to go to advice for and take direction from if needed,” said one AEW Original.
You can click here for the absolute latest coming out of Sunday’s backstage fight, with updates on potential repercussions, legal issues, CM Punk, and more.
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