JNPO: Pro wrestling year in review – CM Punk fired by AEW, the TKO era begins

The first of the final four episodes in my 12-part Punch-Out series looking back at the year in wrestling begins with a stop in September.

Rejoining me after his debut last year in Davie Portman of POST Wrestling and the Poisonrana podcast.

While we cover nearly everything during the month, the gateway to fall was dominated by a few stories in particular including CM Punk being fired by AEW following a skirmish with Jack Perry and a near-physical altercation with Tony Khan minutes before August’s All In.

We talk about how the news was relayed to fans and some of the immediate fallout which included the All Out PPV in Chicago a week after All In — a show that was regarded as one of the best the company did during the year.

Jade Cargill also switched employers as she signed a multi-year deal with WWE after several years in AEW and saying there was no other place she’d rather be. We discuss.

WWE’s merger with UFC to form the new publicly-traded TKO was complete and with it brought the beginning of a new era which included some ideas for the future, layoffs, and a new TV home for WWE SmackDown in 2024.

Davie and I also talk the month in NXT, Japan, Impact Wrestling, and everything in between.

I promise this is unlike any other year-end series you’ll hear or read, so catch up on the rest of the series in the archive and my MMA year in review series as well.