CM Punk has gotten more diplomatic as he advances in age.
CM Punk is the new All Elite Wrestling World Champion. He defeated and internally conflicted Adam Page to take his place at the top of the mountain at AEW Double or Nothing. Following the event, during the post-show media scrum, CM Punk was asked about the story leading up to the match where Adam claimed that he was defending the championship from CM Punk out of fear of what would happen if Punk became champion.
CM Punk stated that he believes most people in AEW like him and anyone that doesn't, is probably not worth his time.
“I’ve grown so wise in my old age that I’ll do my best to be as diplomatic as I possibly can with this answer. If there are people backstage that don’t like me, it’s a minority. If anybody says that nobody wants me here or nobody likes me, I like to say that nobodies don’t want me here and nobodies don’t like me,” said Punk.
Furthermore, CM Punk stated that it is onward and upward for AEW and while he is happy to be the face of the company, he believes that it's a team effort and the strength of the brand grows with every hire Tony Khan makes.
“This is the onward and upward trajectory that AEW has been on for three years,” he said. “You can say with the addition of me, we’re doing better, but I look at it as like, with the addition of Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole and all the talent that Tony brings in every day is a step forward. it doesn’t necessarily start with me being champion. To me, it’s a team effort. I like to say, if you want to go fast, you go alone. if you want to go far, you go together. This is very much a team effort and a team environment backstage. I couldn’t do this alone. Obviously, this guy [Tony Khan], did bring me back to professional wrestling so all credit to him. It wasn’t easy to do. I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to be the champ. I take great responsibility in holding that title. If I’m the face of AEW, then I’m the face of AEW and I’m going to do everything I possibly can to not just put more money in my pocket, but his pocket and everybody’s pockets backstage and put on the best possible show every single time I can for all of you.”
CM Punk also reiterated that he believes his time in WWE was a waste of nearly a decade saying that he had to spend a lot of time “standing on his own dick” and he is not in the business of “ trying to stand on his own dick.”
Keep up to date with everything from AEW Double or Nothing by checking out Fightful's live coverage. We also have a post-show review immediately following the event's conclusion.
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