On the August 17 episode of AEW Dynamite, CM Punk opened the show by giving his first comments since he stepped away from injury after AEW Double or Nothing.
He opened his promo by calling out Hangman Page, who he defeated at AEW Double or Nothing, saying Page could have his rematch. Punk sat in the middle of the ring and when Hangman didn't come out, Punk said that was "coward shit."
Multiple outlets, including Fightful Select, reported that Punk's call out wasn't planned.
In an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Punk addressed the reports that he went off-script by saying, “That’s what I’m here to do, make people want to see what happens next. I’m trying to sell tickets to the live events. That goes back to me saying Twitter isn’t [the] real world. Twitter is a bunch of people that don’t really care about your opinion. They want to find like-minded opinions that share their worldview. I’m trying to tell stories, sell tickets, and get people to tune in on Dynamite.”
Tony Khan said about Punk's call out that it was "unresolved anger" from Double or Nothing.
Elsewhere during the interview, Punk commented on reports of unrest in the AEW locker room. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
Punk will face Jon Moxley in an AEW World Title Unification match on Wednesday's AEW Dynamite.
