CM Punk and Samoa Joe renewed their rivalry at AEW All In, opening the show in a bout for the "Real" AEW World Championship.
Before both men walked to the ring, there was reportedly an incident with Punk and Jack Perry that nearly caused the show to be reshuffled. Joe reportedly helped calm the situation so the match could still take place.
Speaking to Joseph Staszewski of the New York Post, Samoa Joe was asked about the incident.
"For the most part, I haven’t read what’s been portrayed. There’s been so much said. I’m not the one to go out there and try to debunk everything. I know we had the initial incident. Everybody rallied. Everybody got together. Got their heads together and lined up and got ready to do the show and we went out there and we did the show," he said. "That really was the focus at that point in time. We got a massive show to do and we got fans out there rabid to see that happen. So it’s important that we step up and do it and it’s important that we did and I was proud to be a part of that."
Punk was fired by AEW over the incident with Tony Khan saying that Punk endangered innocent lives backstage. Khan also stated that he feared for his life.
When asked if the incident was as intense as it sounded, Joe replied, "That’s up to whoever perceived it. I’m used to that environment. Those things don’t seem very intense to me, but it could be something crazy intense to someone else. I wasn’t really affected by the moment. I was more focused on getting the show back on track and getting us going because it was bell time"
Joe and Punk have a long history together as friends off-screen, but rivals on-screen.
Asked about his relationship with Punk, Joe commented, "I’d imagine there are tons of things that are misunderstood or portrayed about him. Now, what those things are it’s who’s representing in what way. I can’t really give you a blanket statement as far as what those things are. For the most part, our relationship has been very, especially for these years, has been very non-wrestling related. It’s just been extraneous stuff outside of the world of wrestling and talking about life stuff."
Punk was victorious in the bout against Joe, which will go down as his last match in AEW for the time being.
Joe is set to challenge for the AEW World Championship against MJF at AEW Dynamite Grand Slam.
