Report: AEW More Divisive Than Ever Following CM Punk Return
New report on AEW's backstage mood following CM Punk's comeback.
Hopes that time may have healed the wounds in AEW's locker room in the nine months since CM Punk brawled with The Elite after All Out 2022 were fanciful, according to a new report.
Via POST Wrestling, the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer commented that Punk's comeback promo on last week's episode of Collision, as well as the much-publicised ESPN interview released before the show, "led to a lot of issues." The interview, in particular, was the talk of the AEW locker room.
Meltzer noted that some had anticipated the ESPN interview, which saw Punk claim he felt unsafe working with 'Hangman' Adam Page last year, being worse than it actually was. Nonetheless, people close to Page weren't pleased.
"A lot of divisiveness" remains in AEW's locker room. Meltzer stated explicitly that it is "worse now than it's been," and hasn't improved, reaching a bad point once more.
CM Punk appeared on last night's episode of AEW Dynamite. One of AEW's top stars told Meltzer:-
"We were told that we would not have to deal with Punk except for on pay-per-views, but here he is week one.”
Punk, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega are legally forbidden from addressing their backstage brawl after All Out 2022, though no such limitations are in place for Punk and Page. Without addressing their issues directly, Punk referred to Matt and Nick Jackson as "Counterfeit Bucks" on Collision.
Page, Omega, and the Bucks weren't present for last night's Dynamite, though The Elite featured in a pretaped backstage segment with Eddie Kingston.