CM Punk was terminated by AEW following a situation at AEW All Out by a quickly developed discipline committee, and we’ve learned more, largely because of a tweet that may have referenced it.
Recently, Fightful revealed that a long rumored member of the committee, Megha Parekh, had actually stepped back from a lot of her duties as Chief Legal Officer by that time and actually had nothing to do with the committee. We’ve since learned that AEW General Counsel Chris Peck, who assumed many of her responsibilities, was a part of the three-person committee, along with an outside attorney.
However, there was also one long-respected member of the AEW talent roster that was involved, in Bryan Danielson. When asking sources on the AEW roster about his inclusion, one called him an “appropriate moral compass who exemplifies objectivity" and said that he effectively headed up the committee as the face of the disciplinary committee. Danielson was said to have spoken to the roster when addressing them about Punk’s termination, and noted that the decision was a particularly hard one. He cited the positives that CM Punk brought and his longstanding friendship with Punk, but said that it was the decision that had to be made.
On November 27, Danielson tweeted “My dad always told me, “The right thing is often the hardest thing to do. It won’t always make the most money. It won’t always be the most popular. But it’s still the right thing." We’re told that’s what Danielson said when speaking to talent at the meeting months before.
We weren’t given any indication regarding the decision making process that occurred by the disciplinary committee. Those that we spoke to said they believed CM Punk was aware by now that Danielson was a pair of said committee, as many of his friends were included in the meeting where Danielson addressed them.
This is a continued duty for Danielson, as he's also responsible for handing out fines when necessary.
It should be noted, Danielson confirmed he was on the committee, but said he wasn't the "head" of it. We'd never reported that as an official title, instead highlighting that he was seen as the head and face of it as he spoke with talent.
*****
Bryan Danielson is the law ‘round these parts.
If someone poisons the social media water hole, Bryan Danielson is one of those responsible for laying down the law. Fightful Select reported last week that Danielson was effectively the face of the disciplinary committee in AEW, and that it extended to laying out fines when necessary.
For some reason, reiterating this on this week’s Hump got a lot of publicity, so we thought we’d elaborate on what we know. The notoriously disconnected-from-social media Danielson (except Tout) has been at least partially responsible for handing out fines regarding social media conduct in recent weeks. Most of the conduct is related to helping AEW look as professional as possible as a company, and can extend to retweets and likes. We’ve not heard that fines are particularly common.
Danielson has long been considered a locker room leader, and led meetings following AEW All In this year where he discussed the process and decision making of CM Punk’s termination. He also spoke at a meeting earlier this year about conduct during interviews, and a talent meeting last year after the Brawl Out situation.
So don't leave your slithery social media snake in his boots.
Some positive news about Bryan Danielson – AEW officials were said to have been high on the Danielson vs. Daniel Garcia. One AEW official even told Grapsody’s Righteous Reg and Phil Lindsey that they consider it “Real Fuckin Graps.”
Danielson made light of this story, saying that he would fine anyone who didn't watch this match.
Fightful confirmed that Danielson was not injured at this past Tuesday's Collision tapings.
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