The Self-Destruction Of CM Punk In AEW | Wrestling Timelines
August 15, 2023 - Real Glass
Stories are being leaked with the ferocity of a storm smashing through a dilapidated roof. AEW is in a state of utter systemic disarray.
Sean Ross Sapp reports on Fightful Select that an incident unfolded between Punk and Jack Perry on, yes, Collision. Perry wanted to write himself out of AEW temporarily, and pitched a spot involving a vehicle and real glass to facilitate it.
“Per Punk’s side of things,” Sapp writes, Perry was advised not to go through with it by producers, medical staff, and Tony Schiavone. Tony Khan’s stance is not explicitly reported here, but Dave Meltzer will write in the September 4 Observer that it was approved, which begs a pretty massive question: who is in charge on Saturday night?
Punk was asked to step in, and stressed to Perry that it was a safety hazard. You can do it on Wednesdays, if you like, but not on Saturdays. Punk’s side alleges that Perry threw a “temper tantrum” in response. This is symptomatic of the apathetic culture surrounding AEW’s younger talent, Punk contends. The story is that Punk reckons Perry wanted to get out of going to work for a week. Dave Meltzer writes in the same newsletter that Perry had liked a tweet critical of Punk in June, when they were still public, which “many talent believed was the real reason” behind Punk’s contempt of Perry.
Bryan Alvarez hears somewhat differently: Jungle Boy had a vacation planned.
In any event, AEW remains in a feud with itself. It’s a lawless, rudderless land in which few people know what they are allowed to do or where they are allowed to go.
It is a shambles.