Only a tiny portion of the tale that surrounded the Chicago native that evening in his hometown was related to the brutal match that saw CM Punk defeat Jon Moxley and win the AEW World Championship twice. At the post-show media scrum, CM Punk attacked Hangman Adam Page, Kenny Omega, and The Young Bucks, the company’s EVPs.
His problems with The Elite appear to be related to information that Punk believes was leaked about the involvement of his former friend Colt Cabana with AEW. Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks allegedly threatened to quit the organization due to CM Punk’s remarks, and they supposedly confronted him in his locker room after the media frenzy.
Reports about the bizarre incident came in thick and fast throughout the day. In addition to punches, Ace Steel is said to have thrown a chair at Nick Jackson and grabbed Kenny Omega by the hair before biting him. Numerous WWE talent responded to the incident, with one high star remarking that it reminded them a lot of the CM Punk they knew earlier.
After hearing separately that the scenario is accurate, two talents contacted Fightful with the idea that it must be complex if the situation is a work. After CM Punk buried those who serve as both AEW EVPs and top performers on AEW programming, they both independently voiced confusion at Tony Khan’s refusal to clarify. Tony Khan was there throughout the media scrum.
One prominent WWE performer, who Fightful referred to as a “longtime main eventer,” criticized CM Punk’s conduct and even went so far as to describe the AEW World Champion as “selfish and arrogant,” a feeling shared by several WWE performers.
According to a WWE official who spoke with Fightful, while they agree with Tony Khan’s recent remarks that rivalry among wrestlers isn’t always bad for business, they think that in instances this extreme, someone needs to use their influence to make it evident that certain behaviors are unacceptable.
According to that person, incidents like these have not happened in WWE in recent years, and if they did, talent would be dismissed (except for the fight between Chris Jericho and Brock Lesnar) (as was the case with Alberto Del Rio).
Another prominent WWE performer said that none of CM Punk and the AEW EVPs “has business talking about drawing houses or losing fans or interest” if they can’t put their sentiments aside to turn this issue into an angle and profit from it. Although they put on a good show, they must make the most of their most significant business opportunity.