10 Wrestling Matches With Backstories You’ll NEVER Believe

5. CM Punk Vs. Samoa Joe

Brock Lesnar Kurt Angle Overdose
AEW

When: AEW All In 2023

What Happened: Tony Khan would've been forgiven for a having a meltdown backstage right before AEW's biggest show ever. Jack Perry had directed a childish dig at CM Punk during the pre-show (“Real glass! Cry me a river!”), and that led to a feisty brawl behind the curtain right before All In 2023 went live on pay-per-view.

Yikes.

Samoa Joe, who was preparing himself to wrestle in front of a mammoth Wembley Stadium crowd, had to step in and play peacemaker. Then, very quickly, both he and Punk had to re-focus on opening All Elite's biggest card with a bang. Allegedly, Punk could be heard yelling that he hated being in AEW too.

So, CM Punk went from scrapping backstage with Jungle Boy for real to working a near-15 minute bruiser vs. Joe in-ring. He'd be canned by the promotion shortly afterwards, surely because Tony was sick of all the drama.

If only fans had been able to glimpse behind that curtain.

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.