AEW has aired footage of the long-alleged backstage altercation between CM Punk and Jack Perry and is using it to push an upcoming match for their tag team titles.
Young Bucks, in their EVP characters, presented the footage of the incident on Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite. While some assumed that their tease of airing “backstage” footage from the 2023 AEW All In event where the altercation took place was a bait and switch, they ended up actually airing the footage that people wanted to see.
The video, while providing concrete proof that there was a physical confrontation between Punk and Perry, didn’t show much besides proving that the incident was short-lived and saw Punk initiate contact a few times.
AEW aired what looked to be security camera footage backstage from All In. The clip started with Punk walking up to Perry backstage. This was presumably after Perry’s kickoff show match, and before Punk wrestled his bout against Samoa Joe.
After a lengthy time where they spoke – and what they said wasn’t heard due to the clip having any audio – Punk seemingly shoved Perry. He came forward for another shove, and it was at this moment that Perry seemingly dove down toward Punk’s legs. Punk wrapped his arms around the head of Perry and looked to be applying a choke, although the camera angle fails to capture whether or not the hold was actually applied.
It was just seconds later that many people backstage separated the two. Punk seemingly pointed a finger at someone standing behind a row of monitors, although the shot prevented anyone from seeing who he was talking to. He walked towards the desk and looked to nearly move around it, but was being held back and decided not to engage.
The Young Bucks used the video to justify their loss to FTR at All In, which was for the tag titles. They claim that they will avenge that loss when they face them at AEW Dynasty later this month, as the teams will meet in the finals of a tournament to crown the newest AEW World Tag Team Champions.
“The other individual tried to make this entire show about himself,” said Nick Jackson, referring to Punk. “Matter of fact, this individual happens to be good friends with FTR. Which got me thinking, maybe FTR could be the masterminds behind the entire thing.”
FTR responded on Dynamite as well, coming to the ring and saying that The Young Bucks were using Punk’s backstage incident with Perry as an excuse for their loss.
The usage of the All In backstage footage is one of the latest moments that have kept the nearly eight-month-old incident in popular wrestling discourse. Punk provided a detailed recounting of the incident on The MMA Hour last week, reigniting discussions and possibly leading to the video release that was made this week.
