8 Most Pathetic Examples Of Backstage Politics In Wrestling

8. CM Punk’s Super Secret Collision Club

CM Punk knew that he was not long for AEW when he was asked by Tony Khan to be the face of Collision - he had already offered to leave and allow the Elite to win the civil war that had engulfed the promotion for a full year - but he gave it a shot. 

Entirely on his own terms. 

Punk was reported to have been very involved with the creative process, which was easily inferred. Despite his firebrand persona and ring name, CM Punk was more classic rock than anything else. He’s a staunch traditionalist. 

He liked to go long, he liked everything to breathe, and Collision, for a few phenomenally overrated weeks in the late spring of 2023, was a meat-and-potatoes pro wrestling show refreshing enough in its simplicity. Punk worked with guys he saw something in (Ricky Starks) and guys who felt like a night off (Samoa Joe). He did what he wanted, that much was clear. A lot of kids wanted to play cowboys or spacemen when they’re young. CM Punk and FTR wanted to play Bret Hart in 40 minute main events. That’s a bit sad and pathetic, no? 

This childishness extended to reports of Punk’s conduct backstage. Known apocryphally as ‘Collision Island’, AEW’s Saturday show was an exclusive super secret club in which Punk was allegedly allowed to choose who was allowed to join, and who wasn’t. One person who reportedly wasn’t allowed to join was Christopher Daniels, AEW’s Head of Talent Relations. The guy who pretty much had to be there just wasn’t cool enough to collide!

Yes: Punk and FTR coined the term ‘Colliders’, which was even more lame than the Kliq or the Bone Street Krew. FTR and CM Punk, grown, middle-aged men, might as well have said that all the Dynamite wrestlers smell.