8 Things You Didn't Know Were Banned In AEW

4. Assaulting A Co-Worker

Tony Khan AEW
AEW

This might seem blindingly obvious, but it's also not.

The narrative was that, across the summer of 2022, AEW had spiralled out of control entirely. Morale had plummeted; the locker room was divided into camps of Team CM Punk and Team Colt Cabana, and, moreover, the boated roster led to a lack of television time across the board. Once a locker room so tight than even Punk was impressed with it from afar, once the seal was broken, reports surfaced in various outlets that the atmosphere had turned toxic. Which of course led to more than one physical altercation.

Eddie Kingston swung wildly for Sammy Guevara when the latter called him a "fat piece of sh*t" in a Rampage promo that went unaired. CM Punk - purportedly - punched Matt Jackson in the face after his (admittedly incredible) heel promo at the All Out presser. Andrade, desperate to get out of his contract and work overlong Raw matches in front of library members - somehow a modest upgrade on his dire recruiter gimmick - purportedly punched Guevara despite being told it would not result in his firing.

Kingston served a quiet suspension. Punk served a very public suspension. Andrade was sent home and hasn't surfaced since.

You can hit a co-worker, but you will be reprimanded for it - which isn't strictly true of WWE, which was somehow perceived as the professional outfit in contrast by the wilfully ignorant.

Chris Jericho, Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, Booker T, Sin Cara, Simon Gotch and countless others went unpunished for doing the exact same thing.

 
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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!