WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray voiced his displeasure at CM Punk for mentioning only former WWE stars as deserving of winning the Interim AEW World Title.
CM Punk made a shocking revelation on the latest episode of AEW Rampage that he suffered an injury and needs surgery. However, Punk will not be relinquishing the championship. He'll be taking time off while an interim AEW World Champion will be crowned.
Speaking on the Busted Open Radio podcast, Ray pointed out a major flaw in CM Punk's emotional promo on Rampage:
"When Punk said there are a lot of guys, a lot of talent in the back who are deserving of being the interim AEW Champion, he mentioned Danielson and I think he mentioned Moxley too. He didn't mention MJF. My point is he didn't mention any home-grown AEW stars. (from 09:00 to 09:27)
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One-half of The Dudley Boyz further emphasized his point by saying:
"He mentioned former WWE stars. I would have liked to hear Punk reference an AEW guy." (from 09:28 to 09:35)
Bully Ray thinks CM Punk should've mentioned AEW-grown wrestlers like Wardlow
A Battle Royal will kick off next week's AEW Dynamite. The one who wins the battle royale will face Jon Moxley in the main event. The winner of the latter match will advance to an interim AEW World Title match at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view to determine the new champion.
The wrestling veteran further stated that AEW's hiring spree of more ex-WWE stars isn't sitting well with fans:
"So if you were to talk about Hangman Page or one of the up-and-coming AEW stars like Wardlow. I think he should have put credibility to home-grown young AEW talent. AEW is getting a lot of flak these days for relying too much on ex-WWE guys. I'm just saying that's the conversation going around." (from 09:35 to 10:19)
AEW recently released an official statement clarifying another competitor for the interim title bout at the Forbidden Door event. NJPW star Hiroshi Tanahashi will collide with his long-time rival Hirooki Goto in an AEW World Title Eliminator Match at NJPW Dominion on June 12.
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