5 Reasons CM Punk Was WORTH The Trouble To AEW (... & 5 He Wasn't)

…because the atmosphere in AEW has, at times, clearly been significantly dented and deflated by CM Punk’s presence. In the early days, AEW was, or convincingly presented itself as, a harmonious, collaborative organisation, a genuine alternative to the oligarchic WWE. The Jim Cornettes of this world might not like Tony Khan’s happy clappy company, but it looked a fun place to work.

One backstage brawl later, AEW didn’t look nearly so rosy. Internal investigations were underway, eggshells were carefully walked upon. Once The Elite and, later, CM Punk returned from suspension, things weren’t exactly much better. Talk was that feuding wrestlers had to be kept on separate sides of the arena lest they ran into each other. There’ll always be colleagues who dislike each other in any organisation, but something wasn’t working.

And that’s without taking into account how incredibly prickly the 44 year old CM Punk has become. The Voice Of The Voiceless certainly can’t take a bit of teasing, whether it’s Adam Page going off script or Jack Perry making an inside-baseball dig - on a pre-show, no less - that would have been forgotten in an instant had it been aimed at anyone other than Phil Brooks.

There absolutely is an argument that everyone should grow up and get on with business, but the person who has the most growing up to do is the one least willing to do it.