50 Worst Wrestling Moments Of The 2020s (So Far)

12. AEW Shows The Brawl In Footage

AEW Dynamite All In CM Punk Jack Perry
AEW

Brawl Out - the seismic event that put an end to the fabled AEW “feeling” - happened on September 4, 2022. CM Punk attacked Jack Perry at All In: London on August 27, 2023. AEW aired the backstage footage on April 10, 2024 on Dynamite.

No less than 584 days had passed since Punk’s incendiary rant - throughout which the saga was discussed over and over again in a constant distraction from storylines - and AEW was still crying foul.

In storylines, this was justified by the Young Bucks to build an upcoming match against FTR, who only won at Wembley because they were distracted by the “fight”. In reality, this was both a dismal publicity stunt and a tedious, worrying glimpse into Tony Khan’s defensive psyche.

This followed Punk’s description of the Wembley incident in an interview with Ariel Helwani. Punk said he couldn’t let Perry get “too close” to him. At best, the Wembley footage made Punk’s words very slightly questionable. Punk waited for Perry to play with his hair before striking in a nothing encounter that was broken up as quickly as it began.

The timing was more brutal than the fight. WWE had just promoted WrestleMania 40 - a gigantic show so well-received that it was essentially WrestleMania X-Seven with a good ending. AEW appeared as small as TNA ever did with this petulant, gotten-to nonsense. Worse, AEW had just promoted the near-perfect Revolution and signed Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada and Mercedes Moné. Momentum was with them. Then it was gone.

CM Punk was barely even stretching the truth. He might as well have been working for the BBC by the standards of a pro wrestler.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!