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CM PUNK TALKS HIS SIDE OF ELITE ISSUES WITH ESPN, SAYS HE APOLOGIZED TO TONY KHAN AND MORE

A long form piece on the return of CM Punk to AEW tomorrow as part of their Collision series premiere on TNT was published today on ESPN's website by Marc Raimondi.  This was the piece that created a lot of buzz and rumors before it was even published in certain circles.

In the piece, Punk provides his side of the story regarding issues with The Elite in AEW:

In Punk's mind, the division started sometime in spring 2022. Previously, he said he felt as if he had a solid relationship with the group, including approaching Omega to ensure nothing Punk was doing in his matches would infringe on what spots Omega had planned and checking in on Page while he was sick with COVID-19.

On May 25, 2022, Punk and Page were booked for a promo segment in the ring on Dynamite. Page was the AEW champion then, and Punk would be his challenger at the next pay-per-view event, Double or Nothing, four days later. Punk said he and Page discussed backstage before the segment what they would say, much as Punk said he did for similar segments in the past with wrestlers such as MJF and Eddie Kingston. But when they got into the ring, according to Punk, Page strayed from what they had agreed on.

"You talk a big game about workers' rights," Page said on television. "Well, you've shown the exact opposite since you got here. I love this place, I care about this place. This is my home. And this Sunday at Double or Nothing, I will not be defending this championship against you. No, for the first time in my life, I'll be defending All Elite Wrestling from you."

It was a bit confusing to most fans, especially the first part, since Punk's character was a babyface, a good guy, as was Page's. But to the naked ear, it just sounded like pro wrestling trash talk, part of the story. Punk said it was not that and confronted Page about it when they returned backstage.

According to Punk, Page told him he said what he did because Punk had AEW wrestler and coach Colt Cabana fired from the company, or at least tried to. Punk and Cabana had a very public falling-out years ago, before Punk arrived in AEW, that included multiple lawsuits. Punk said he told Page that that was not true and that Cabana still worked for the company.

Cabana had been a mainstay on AEW YouTube shows and the Being The Elite YouTube vlog until March 2022. After March 4, 2022, Cabana didn't have another match for AEW in the United States until Nov. 2, 2022, and did not appear on Being The Elite for several months. Khan has said in multiple media appearances that Cabana's absence was because he was reassigned to work for the Ring of Honor wrestling promotion, which Khan purchased in March 2022. Cabana wrestled for ROH multiple times between March 2022 and November 2022, as well as on an overseas tour to promote AEW's video game.

Punk told ESPN that he has no relationship with Cabana but that he "never" asked Khan to take Cabana's or anyone else's job. But others in the company, including the Elite, believe Punk did indeed do that, per sources. Page was evidently confident enough to bring it up unexpectedly on television.

Khan and Page were unavailable to comment for this article, according to AEW. When reached for comment via email, Cabana said ESPN should go through AEW "for everything." Omega and the Jacksons declined to comment via their agent Barry Bloom.

Punk noted in the article that he considered not going forward with the Page bout, where he was scheduled (and later did) win the AEW title and noted that the issues led to a different "Dynamic" inside the ring, commenting, "And I proceed to have what I think is a garbage match because I'm trying to protect myself on stuff instead of actually just working and trying to put on the best performance I can.  I'm keeping an eye out. 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?' It changes the dynamic. It poisoned 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 s--- been done about it."

This all led to Punk lashing out after the All Out 2022 PPV during a media scrum, which Punk noted in the ESPN piece that he has apologized for that behavior to AEW President Tony Khan.

"The first thing I said to Tony when I sat down with him and spoke to him after it was, 'Man, I'm really sorry I put you in that position,'" Punk told Raimondi. "I apologize for the scrum. But when you've watched that scrum, you're looking at a very, very frustrated guy who had told people. That's not the first time he heard all that. It's not the first time lawyers were told all that. And I was just looking for something to be done and nothing got done. So, if you want something done right, you got to do it yourself. And I just didn't approach it in the right manner, but tension was high. I was very, very pissed. I pretty much knew that I had just injured myself again. I was hurt, and I was disappointed. Yeah, it's very easy for me to say I regret that and I handled it the wrong way, 100%."

The article acknowledges that nothing has been publicly stated about the fight after the media scrum and that Kenny Omega stated that he could not comment "legally" on the matter during a podcast with Renee Paquette.

Punk told ESPN that he doesn't like saying no comment, but did comment, "we are trying to move past what happened that night specifically."

Punk did state, "I don't think what happened was a big deal.  This has happened in the last 10 months in hockey, in basketball, in baseball, in just about every sport. And it's covered and it's gone the next day. I think because I have injured my tricep and I've been out for so long, I think it has been exacerbated. I think it's been exacerbated by people spreading lies about the whole thing. And when, in reality, my attitude is, well, s--- happens."

Punk stated he has not spoken with Matt and Nick Jackson or Kenny Omega but has tried, only to be told not to contact them.

Punk also stated that leaks to the pro wrestling media have exacerbated the situation, stating, "Now we all got to roll in the f---ing mud, and that never should have happened and has never been course-corrected.  So, I understand people want to say that, 'Oh, man, Punk is a dick.' Well yeah, because I'm defending myself and I will always defend myself. I'm open to have a full-blown f---ing sit-down powwow discussion with everybody about it. But it hasn't happened yet, and it's not because of my lack of trying."

While noting that he has a lot of things to get off his chest, Punk said that he doesn't know what he's going to say live on the mic when Collision goes on the air Saturday.  He also noted that at no point did he consider walking away from professional wrestling over the last year.

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