Dominion Wrestling: Before the Advent
Chapter 2: Time to Open the Dominion
With the announcement that CM Punk was starting his own wrestling promotion, fans could not wait. Even though AEW was only around a year and a half old, any competition to WWE was seen as welcome, especially given that some wrestling fans have soured over the sports-entertainment giant in recent years.
After a quick pit stop to iron out some legal differences with New Japan Pro Wrestling (since they currently use the Dominion name for one of their major shows, which could lead to a lot of confusion once the promotion starts up), it was time to hit the ground running.
DOMINION WRESTLING ANNOUNCES DATE FOR INAUGURAL SHOW, FIRST SIGNINGS
In a press conference earlier today, Dominion Wrestling CEO CM Punk has announced that the first show for Dominion Wrestling will take place on October 8, live on ESPN from the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. He also announced that on that opening show, there will be a 32-man tournament to crown the promotion's inaugural World Heavyweight Champion.
Following that announcement, Punk began to add: "That was the first of many announcements today, but here's someone who ALSO has something to say":
VIDEO PACKAGE
A dark room is being lit by candles. Inside the room is a man sitting cross-legged with a pentagram drawn underneath him, and various occult symbols scattered around him on the floor and painted on the wall either side of him.
NO MAN IS EVER TRULY GOOD!
One by one, the candles are blown away, sending the room into total darkness.
NO MAN IS EVER TRULY EVIL!
As soon as the last candle is blown, the room lights up again, this time by a light hanging overhead.
I DO THE THINGS YOU NEVER COULD
AND WE WON'T EVER BE EQUAL!
The man stands up, with a distinct mark in his left eye, and looks into the camera and says: "Darkness will fall on this new dominion."
As he leaves, the camera zooms out, then zooms back in on the wall behind him with the words
FADE
TO
BLACK
written on it.
ON OCTOBER 8,
TOMMY END WILL ENTER THE DOMINION
END OF VIDEO PACKAGE
Chapter 2.5: I Present You, More Recruits To Battle!
With the signing of Tommy End, CM Punk showed that he had as much pull as many of the top executives in the wrestling business.
But Punk was not done. Only minutes after the announcement of the recently-released WWE superstar as the first of many signings to the upstart promotion, he was ready to announce the rest of the so-called "first wave".
They were not given as much fanfare, but served as an indication that they were taking their time and building up the roster first, and saving the major signings for later.
These included some names we're quite familiar with as wrestling fans, starting with
Billy Gunn. He opted out of his contract with AEW to join Dominion Wrestling, where he will serve as an active wrestler and also as a producer. His sons
Austin and
Colten Gunn will also join.
Punk says that he wants to build a "healthy wrestling culture" built around the passion that wrestlers have doing what they love and not their own personal egos. He also indicated that Gunn was someone he wanted to bring into because he has seen his sons grow as wrestlers while in AEW and he wanted them to continue their success under the new promotion.
For the honor of Dominion Wrestling's first ever female signing, it was given to
Kylie Rae. Having recently made her return to wrestling, she is expected to be joined by more experienced names in the division.
Speaking of experienced names,
James Storm announced via video screen that he will also join the upstart promotion.
He will also be joined by Mexican sensation
Bandido and the tag team of brothers
Primo and Epico Colon.
The promotion also announced the signing of
Mauro Ranallo and
Daniel Cormier as the show's lead announce team.
Punk also told reporters that his wife and former wrestler
AJ Lee will join the company at some point, although he did not disclose when, it is highly likely she will take up a backstage role. He also announced that he has been in contact with "virtually every wrestler, whether contracted to another promotion or not, wanting to make an impact", alluding to another set of signings to be made in the lead up to the debut show.
Lastly, he announced the launch of the company's official website called
DominionWrestling.com. He ended the press conference by telling the reporters in attendance that "You haven't seen anything yet.", hinting that there would be more surprises in the immediate future.
With a foundation in place, the next place to go was up.
Given the enormous number of rumors and activity between now and October 8, many a wrestling fan will find these developments interesting to watch.