CM Punk made plenty of headlines from his AEW All Out 2022 press conference when he aired his grievances and called out multiple peers, including EVPs Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, & Nick Jackson.
During his press conference, Punk mentioned that Hangman Page threatened the first million-dollar gate in AEW history (AEW Double or Nothing 2022, headlined by Punk vs. Page) and that he (Punk) was "trying to run a business."
It was rumored and speculated that Punk had some stake in AEW with that line fueling some of those rumors.
Tony Khan was asked about the line by David Bixenspan during the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door media call.
"That's just a colloquialism. I own the business. I own the business, but he's one of the top stars here and has an interest in AEW being a strong box office business. His return is helping us and helped launch AEW Collision with a great rating and he drives interest in our TV shows, pay-per-views, and merchandise. He's a huge star for us. He's definitely interested in the bottom line being strong and he wants the company to do well. That's a colloquialism though," he said.
Khan later clarified to Bixenspan that Punk does not have any ownership in AEW.
For those trying to parse the wording of Tony Khan's answer to my question on the conference call about whether or not CM Punk has an ownership stake in AEW:
— David Bixenspan (@davidbix) June 22, 2023
He sent me a follow-up message making it 100% clear that the answer is that no, Punk does not have any ownership in AEW.
That settles that.
Elsewhere during the interview, Khan discussed not being in the Bellator business. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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