>>12781109It's a mix. I honestly think he came for a paycheck and to be closer to his wife. He was clearly aiming for WWE and just signed to AEW because WWE had a hiring freeze at the time.
But also, look at who's booking him. Tony has no idea how to introduce these people and just assumes everyone knows who they are. Even for people who used to watch NJPW, he didn't really get into a big spot until after Kenny left which is where most of the casuals who were watching left, so why not do vignettes and introduce him as a big deal? Tony just drops people in as a special announcement and it loses value. Look at how bad Edge looks right now because Tony used him for a one-week bump instead of fucking hyping up the fact that they have Edge.
Shit, look at Punk's return compared to Tony, who at this point of his return had him on TV against guys like Garcia and he felt like nothing special that quickly. Meanwhile, WWE has him come up, actually immediately line him up with someone people want to see him face and it's basically eating the front page of /pw/ whenever he takes a shit or does anything.
