Bobby Fish's deal has not been renewed, and he's effectively done with All Elite Wrestling, as Fightful Select reported.
Fish and AEW could not come to financial terms on a renewal of his deal, and the two parted ways. His tag team partner Kyle O'Reilly revealed he had neck surgery this year, which will put him on the shelf for quite some time. If O'Reilly had a neck fusion, that would delay Elite vs. Undisputed Era until the end of 2023 at the earliest.
We've not heard of WWE reaching out to Bobby Fish, and he hasn't been mentioned creatively from what we've learned thus far.
There were some indicators that Fish was on his way out. On August 20, he worked his first indie date since joining All Elite Wrestling. He started a podcast shortly after that, and began doing interviews on shows that AEW doesn't usually grant. In addition, he was very critical of CM Punk's worked kick that led to a storyline injury aggravation, and in case you haven't noticed, Bobby Fish isn't a big fan of CM Punk.
Fish quickly began criticizing Punk after leaving the company. Whether it be what Fish claimed was his attitude backstage, his offense, or anything else, Fish began taking aim at the AEW talent. Specifically, Fish claimed to NBC Boston that CM Punk was a "cunt" after their October 2021 match that happened early in Fish's run.
However, there's much more to that story. Even backstage detractors of Punk reached out to Fightful Select following Fish's interview and subsequent stories. Grapsody's Will Washington tweeted a clip that reminded fans that Bobby Fish either kicked out right at three, or made an attempt to kick out after Punk's signature "Go To Sleep" finishing move in their match. If you'd guess that Punk wasn't happy about that, it seems to be right, as many told us that was the catalyst of their poor relationship. Several people who remembered being backstage at the match were confused as to why he would do that, knowing that it likely wouldn't go over well.
When one veteran relayed the message to Fightful, they noted that it took CM Punk a long time to get to the pin, but that he was actively selling for Bobby Fish in doing so. We're told after that, there wasn't much communication between Punk and Fish.
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