CM Punk opens up on the infamous AEW All Out media scrum and Brawl Out.
After AEW All Out 2022, AEW World Champion CM Punk made heated comments about The Elite (Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks), among others. He then reportedly got into a physical altercation with the trio. Everyone involved was suspended and stripped of their titles. The Elite returned to AEW in November, but Punk remained absent until AEW confirmed that his first show back would be the premiere of AEW Collision on June 17.
Speaking with Marc Raimondi of ESPN, Punk discussed the media scrum and the aftermath. He stated that he had regrets about what happened in the scrum, he apologized to Tony Khan, and he handled it the wrong way. Punk also noted that his relationship with Khan is now great.
"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%," Punk said.
Punk stated that he has not had any conversations with Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks since the incident, though he has tried to do so. He said that these efforts led to responses from lawyers saying, "Do not contact this person," and he wasn't sure whether those came at the request of legal representatives of Omega and the Jacksons or a third party. Punk noted that he is open to having a "powwow" with everyone, but it hasn't happened.
"Now we all got to roll in the f---ing mud, and that never should have happened and has never been course-corrected. So, I understand people want to say that, 'Oh, man, Punk is a dick.' Well yeah, because I'm defending myself and I will always defend myself. I'm open to have a full-blown f---ing sit-down powwow discussion with everybody about it. But it hasn't happened yet, and it's not because of my lack of trying," Punk said.
Moving forward, Punk made it clear that he's looking forward to his return, and he never seriously thought about retiring, even in his lowest moments. He stated that there was still work to do, and he's excited about the future.
"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. So, to just throw the baby out with the bathwater, just because of a little boo-boo, I think would be a little silly," Punk said.
On the June 14 episode of AEW Dynamite, Punk appeared in a vignette and teased that he has a lot to say. More information is available here.
Tony Khan recently commented on Punk's return and highlighted his connection with the fans. Check out his comments here.
Fightful will have coverage of AEW Collision as it airs on June 17.
