CM Punk spoke on the record for the first since last year’s All Out and regrets his actions at the post-event press conference.
Speaking with ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Punk (Phil Brooks) addressed his anger displayed at the September 2022 press conference, followed by a backstage incident involving Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and producer Ace Steel.
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.
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%.
Beyond apologizing to Tony Khan, Punk classifies his relationship with the AEW president as “great”.
Punk will be the featured performer on AEW’s latest program, Collision, which premieres from the United Center on Saturday night. It will be Punk’s first match since tearing his triceps at the same All Out event last September when he became AEW Champion for the second time and was subsequently stripped of the title.
Punk tells ESPN he cannot speak about the backstage altercation with members of The Elite but had attempted to sit down and air their grievances, but received a response from lawyers instructing Punk not to contact them and says he has not spoken with Kenny Omega or The Young Bucks since All Out.
In the interview, he said that issues developed between himself and Hangman Page in the lead-up to Double or Nothing during a May 26 segment on Dynamite where Page delivered his line about “worker’s rights” – a veiled reference to the belief that Punk had affected Colt Cabana’s job with AEW – an allegation that Punk denies.
In the ESPN piece, Punk tries to convey that the match with Page at Double or Nothing was hampered by Punk’s concerns that Page might be working stiff with him on purpose and chipped his tooth in the process.
Throughout the past nine months, Punk acknowledged having momentary thoughts of walking away but believes he still has a lot to do in AEW:
I certainly had some low moments, and I won’t rule out in those fleeting moments where I just say, ‘Ah, f— this, whatever. But I don’t ever think it was a serious intention to say that I’m done. There’s still work to do, and I think I’m excited about a lot of stuff that’s coming up.
CM Punk is set to speak on the debut episode of Collision on Saturday and will team with FTR against Samoa Joe, Jay White & Juice Robinson on the show.
