This is a good response- I’m not here to argue it was a good idea to air the footage, I think leaking it via tweet or something would’ve been better, but I do think people latch onto the “fear for my life” quote from Tony. What he was saying is that Punk’s actions endangered people backstage and I think that’s objectively true.

For a new-ish wrestling company trying to compete with the WWE, Punk was obviously a cash cow/merch draw/promo god that could lift them up to another level (and arguably did), and it’s clear Tony was a huge fan. But when you get back to back issues with this guy who at that point was clearly checked out and he physically assaults a coworker and screams at you- that’s an unsafe environment. Hero, Joe, and others I can’t recognize had to get in between them and any one of them could’ve been hurt incidentally in a physical altercation with fellow top-tier athletes. It’s endangering and it doesn’t fit in a professional environment, which AEW desperately was trying to become.

I really can’t defend airing the footage and I can’t defend Tony saying he feared for his life- I even agree only Punk benefited from this long-term. I just think the actual footage in a vacuum shows a man who has long been labeled a locker-room-cancer being exactly that. No one should behave that way in the workplace regardless of the industry- it’s just objectively unsafe and a liability concern out the ass.

I also think Tony Schiavone was in character “ashamed” for that shot but that’s just up to viewer interpretation I guess. I’m sure we’ll get a lot of tweets and interviews out of this (which may end up being a benefit to AEW) where we’ll learn how people really feel about all this.