ESPN has posted the CM Punk Interview that allegedly had the AEW locker room in a tizzy. It was billed as this damning interview where he continues to go scorched earth if you belief what the dirt sheets are writing. Let’s take a look at what CM Punk actually said in the interview and if the sheets of dirt blew this out of proportion.
The title of the piece by ESPN is ‘I’m coming back’: AEW Star CM Punk on new show, injuries and the elephants in the room. The piece starts out with a recap of the media scrum following All Out last September and the subsequent stripping of the AEW World Heavyweight Championship from Punk and the Trios titles from The Elite (Omega and The Young Bucks) without even a mention of their names during them being stripped. Punk stated that “I know pro wrestling is absolutely the most bizarre form of entertainment on Earth, but to me, I treat it like a business, and I treat it like the television show that it is.” He continues, “y’all haven’t seen me since I won the belt. I’m coming back. Tune in to find out exactly what I have to say. I’m picking up right where I left off.” Nothing too crazy to start the interview and topic.
The CM Punk interview notes that Punk felt he had a solid relationship with The Elite until spring of 2022. This lines up with when Tony Khan bought Ring of Honor in March and everything seems to have boiled over in his mind with the “Hangman” Adam Page promo where he felt that Page went into business for himself. Punk said he questioned Page after the in ring promo and Page said it was because he had his former friend Colt Cabana, who he had a very public falling out from with lawsuits and the whole nine, fired from the company. Punk said that he told Page that was untrue and Cabana still worked for the company, he was in Ring of Honor at the request of Tony Khan, and that he never asked Khan to take his or anyone else’s job away. Four days after the “shoot” promo they had a match at Double or Nothing and Punk said that he had, in his words, a garbage match due to making sure he protected himself. “He chopped me in the mouth one time, and I’m just like, OK, did you do that on purpose? You chip my tooth, and I’m like. “All right, should I give him a receipt?” Punk continues, “It changes the dynamic. It poised everything for me, and it made it all really, really ugly, and that was what set all of this off, and here we are over a year later and ain’t shit been done about it.” I would need to go back and watch the match to see how stiff Hangman looked during the match but based on this side of the story, he does get shown in a very good light.
We finally get to the main event that everyone wanted the juice for, the Brawl Out following All Out. He noted regrets for the media scrum and said that he has apologized to Tony Khan and their relationship is great. One thing that stuck out to me in this interview was that he said about the scrum you are watching a very frustrated guy who had told people, including lawyers about the slander of him and nothing got done to alleviate it. He doesn’t feel what happened was a big deal and you see it in all sports and they get coverage and it is gone the next day. With him injuring himself and being out so longer it gets exacerbated with people spreading lies. Punk said he had not had conversations with the other parties involved but he has tried. He has been met when reaching out with messages from lawyers saying “Do not contact this person.”
For those of us expecting this to be a money maker with matches between The Elite and CM Punk and FTR, he said he has been told that it will not happen. He noted that he was painted as the “bad guy” and understand people calling him a dick but he is defending himself and always will. He says “I’m open to have a full-blown fucking sit-down powwow discussion with everybody about it. But it hasn’t happened ye, and it’s not because of my lack of trying.”
Before going on to what he had to say about Collision, lets break this down. Again, this is from his point of view but if he is the one who was wronged and had a fight with certain individuals and wants to sit down and work it out and get beyond it to keep growing a company I am not sure how you say he is the bad guy here. When the EVPs are ducking you and refusing to sit down, I think TK needs to step in or maybe a Jericho who has reportedly sat down with Punk already be a mediator between them and get everyone back on the same damn page. You don’t have to like each other but in wrestling it is pretty damn difficult to avoid people. Based on his side of the story, The Elite seem like kids compared to the veteran. Could we all be getting worked with this? 100% we could be and as time goes on we will see. The other thing to note is that Punk has basically been silent since leaving 9 months ago and The Elite poked the bear by making fun of him at times, so yeah they come off childish in my mind.
When talking about the new Show AEW Collision CM Punk said during the interview that he is excited about the new show with a lot of talent. He specifically named Powerhouse Hobbs and Ricky Starks saying that they have the potential to do what MJF has done. They need to be spotlighted and they need to provide it is their time with the spotlight shone on them. He also noted that he feels it is easier to sell a Saturday night ticket to a live event versus a workday so even with more competition on Saturday Night from college football, WWE and UFC he doesn’t see the negatives as huge detriment things.
Overall, I think the rumors and speculation that came out about the CM Punk interview with ESPN was a bunch of bullshit. Did The Elite get a little dirt on them from it, sure but you can push a person only so far before they snap. I don’t think anything in this interview was inflammatory that would cause so many concerns backstage in AEW.
What do you think? Was this a damning interview? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or hit us up on our Twitter account. As always stay tuned to Culture Splat for more content coming your way!
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