Bully Ray Ties Issues AEW Is Facing To Two Big Factors

All Elite Wrestling currently finds itself in a strange position. The company is preparing to host a second major show in London, England, as well as announcing its first-ever United States stadium show and hints that they'll soon unveil a blockbuster media rights deal with Warner Bros Discovery. However, at the same time, the AEW's TV ratings have been falling, and criticism against the promotion from fans online has ramped up compared to its early days.

Speaking on "Busted Open Radio," Bully Ray shared his belief that the departure of two prominent AEW stars has had a massive impact on the company's popularity.

"There is not one metric in AEW that is heading north," Bully said. "They're heading south. One of the biggest hits that AEW took was ... [CM] Punk leaving. I believe the two biggest factors in AEW right now [are] the departure of Cody Rhodes and the departure of CM Punk, tied in with a lot of the other issues the company is having."

The WWE Hall of Famer noted that Punk had a noticeable effect on the company's numbers, including TV viewership. With Punk having been let go from the promotion in 2023, Bully believes many fans have slowly followed him out the door.

Similarly, though the departure of Rhodes might not have had such a clear effect on ratings, he quickly left the promotion in mysterious fashion and made a massive debut in WWE just a few months later, going on to become one of the industry's top stars.

One word that has followed Punk around for the last several years is "cancer," beginning with a report claiming that an anonymous AEW star called Punk a "cancer" to the company's locker room following the physical altercation at AEW All Out 2022. The following year, Seth Rollins also later referred to Punk using the word, long before the idea of a WWE return was a possibility, and Punk recently addressed the accusation that he is a cancer. However, Bully doesn't think it's a fair assessment.

"If CM Punk was such a 'cancer,' how come things are going so well for him right now in WWE?" Bully continued. "Most of the Punk naysayers would say, 'Oh, because he's getting what he wants right now. That's why he's not a cancer right now — because he's happy. You'll see. When he's not happy, he'll turn into the cancer.'"

According to Bully, it would be very easy for Punk to turn around and lay the blame at the feet of AEW and, by implication, Tony Khan. Punk has discussed his AEW departure publicly, mostly detailing his altercation with Jack Perry, but also including some mention of Khan not handling the situation.

Rhodes, on the other hand, has remained tight-lipped regarding his 2023 departure. The former AEW EVP has simply stated, on multiple occasions, that he left AEW because of a "personal issue" that did not involve problems with any other talent or being unhappy about his pay.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.