CM Punk. Image via: Andrew Timms/ WWE via Getty Images
“I’ve been going to wrestling shows for over 30 years. He had missed considerable time after suffering a torn biceps in a match in September 2022. Because punk had returned to AEW only months earlier, the firing was particularly significant.
Reports said Punk confronted Khan and had to be restrained. Khan later said he felt his safety was in danger. Reports said Punk also confronted Tony Khan. The AEW boss later described the situation as frightening and said he believed his safety was at risk. I don’t think anybody should feel that way at work”, Khan said on the show. “Following the investigation, the AEW Discipline Committee met and later convened with outside legal counsel before making a unanimous recommendation to [AEW owner Tony] Khan that CM Punk be terminated with cause,” AEW said in its statement.
The incident also involved AEW CEO Tony Khan. The termination came after months of backstage tension and less than a year after Punk’s previous major confrontation with AEW executives and wrestlers. The trouble reportedly began after Jack Perry’s match. Perry, the son of late actor Luke Perry, had been involved in a disagreement over the use of real glass during his match. I’ve been producing them on this network for nearly four years. Never, in all that time, have I ever felt until last Sunday that my security, my safety, my life was in danger at a wrestling show. Following the match, Punk delivered a heated news conference. He attacked several people connected to AEW and reportedly became involved in a physical confrontation with Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson and Kenny Omega.