CM Punk, real name Phillip Brooks, has been fired by All Elite Wrestling “effective immediately.” AEW confirmed the news in a statement from the company and CEO Tony Khan.
“Phil played an important role within AEW and I thank him for his contributions. The termination of his AEW contracts with cause is ultimately my decision, and mine alone,” Khan said. “Of course, I wish I didn’t have to share this news, which may come as a disappointment to many of our fans. Nevertheless, I am making the decision in the best interests of the many amazing people who make AEW possible every week – our talent, staff, venue operators and many others whose efforts are unsung but essential to bringing our fans great shows on television and at arenas and stadiums throughout the world.”
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The decision follows a weeklong investigation by an internal team into an incident that happened backstage at AEW’s All In London on Aug. 27. “The AEW Discipline Committee met and later convened with outside legal counsel before making a unanimous recommendation to Khan that CM Punk be terminated with cause,” the statement reads.
According to various reports, Punk and young AEW star Jack Perry had an altercation right before the main card’s start at All In at Wembley Stadium. While details are mixed, with different reports from each side, the most recent seem to indicate that Punk initiated the physical nature of the confrontation after Perry made a comment during the pre-show match referencing a past disagreement with Punk over using real glass in a segment.
Wrestling Observer Newsletter cited a reported “neutral” witness who claims Punk approached Perry backstage, went “nose to nose with him aggressively” with Perry responding that he was working on gaining “heat” due to his recent villainous heel turn. In response to this, Punk reportedly shoved Perry, punched him and choked him in front of Khan right before the start of his All In match. Punk also allegedly “lunged” at Khan and told him he would be quitting the company. Samoa Joe, Punk’s opponent on the show, was there to calm the situation and got the match going to the ring to kick the show off.
One thing to stress is the different reports and nature of wrestling journalism or “dirt sheets” is they aren’t always reliable enough to give a concrete take on what happened. So these are still reports, with the only clear facts being that Punk and Perry had an altercation, cameras likely caught the incident entirely, and AEW made their decision based on that.
Perry received a suspension and Punk was also suspended at the time of his firing. As this all break, AEW is preparing for their second pay-per-view in less than a month with All Out in Chicago. Another interesting thing to note is that All Out 2022 was the beginning of the end for Punk and the company due to another reported altercation with company EVPs and performers, The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega. Punk had also made some questionable comments aimed at that trio and fellow elite member “Hangman” Adam Page preceding the altercation, dropping live during a very angry press conference with Tony Khan by his side for all of it.
Thus ends the short run for Punk in AEW. It was the heights and lows of his career in one two-year period, which is beyond disappointing for fans who felt his arrival alongside a few other names created a dream company.
