Posted on 4/02/124 by Colin Vassallo
During a lengthy appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel
Helwani yesterday afternoon, CM Punk went into as much
detail as he could about things he could talk about from his
time in AEW.
Punk described what led to his altercation with Jack Perry
at All In, saying there was already some history there
dating back to an episode of Collision where Perry wanted to
smash the window of a rental car as part of a storyline.
Tony Schiavone was the one who alerted Punk about it and
Tony said that Perry had been cussing him, the doctor, and
producers who all shot down the idea. Punk went over to
Perry to explain to him that it should not be done and if he
was interested, he could do it on a Wednesday on the other
show.
This led to Punk and Perry having a little scuffle at All
In, with Punk saying he did not punch Perry but choked him a
little bit until it was broken up by Samoa Joe and others.
“I turned to Tony Khan, this place is a f*cking joke man.
You’re a clown. I quit,” Punk recalled telling Tony Khan.
But producer Jerry Lynn and Samoa Joe convinced him to go
out and wrestle, knowing full well it was his last match
with the company. He did admit that it was the right thing
to do for referee Paul Turner, for Samoa Joe, for Jerry
Lynn, and for the thousands who paid money to see him.
Punk said he does not regret going to AEW as he made a lot
of friends along the way but is sure that many in there
didn’t want him around. Asked about Tony Khan, Punk
described him as a good person, but not a boss, and
ultimately that works against the company.
He described the chaos and rudderless ship backstage, with
no one taking ownership and having the balls to stand up to
those who make a mess and also talked in length about what
happened with Hangman Page.
Punk could not talk about Brawl Out as he was forced to sign
an NDA by Tony Khan and refused to confirm or deny if his
torn tricep came in the match against Moxley or in the
backstage altercation with The Elite.
The former AEW champion said that AEW is not a “real
business” and they are not there to sell out arenas and make
money. When asked what kind of business AEW is, Punk said,
“I don’t know. Having good matches, maybe?”