Why CM Punk Didn't Sign For AEW In 2019
CM Punk on his original AEW contract talks with Tony Khan. Presumably, 2021's went better...
A recent interview on the Sunday Night's Main Event podcast saw CM Punk touch on his original talks with AEW ahead of what many expect to be his long-awaited return to the sport later this month.
Punk, who has been out of wrestling since January 2014, claimed that he had received several pitches similar to Tony Khan's throughout his career. This informed his cynical stance on All Elite Wrestling and its long-term prospects (h/t Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions):-
“Yeah, I talked to Tony. You know, my perception on this, and I said this to Tony, to his face at that time… I’m a guy who has constantly heard, ‘Hey I got a money guy, hey I got TV.’ I’ve heard that at least once or twice a year for 15-20 years of my wrestling career. I’ve gotten bounced checks from those gentlemen. You watched it happen, especially after ECW folded, it was everybody was re-starting ECW, everybody was going to be the ECW guys. There was a dude named John Collins, who did time in prison for bouncing checks, and it always seems like somebody’s gonna, ‘Oh we’re going to start up and we’re going to compete with Vince [McMahon],’ and I always thought that came from a bad spot because if you want to start up a pro wrestling company, I think you should always just focus on yourself.”
Two years later, Punk is reportedly on the verge of debuting for the company. The 20 August episode of Rampage at Chicago, IL's United Center has been pinpointed for his wrestling comeback. That the show is sub-titled 'The First Dance' and Darby Allin has already dropped his "best in the world" catchphrase on television have raised expectations to the point that Punk is almost guaranteed.
Punk went on, outlining his patient approach to AEW:-
“So, I more or less took a wait-and-see approach. And I wasn’t, or I am not, interested in pro wrestling, in that respect. We’re here, we’re talking about ‘Heels’ and it just so happened, maybe it could be back luck that the next role I got is set in the world of professional wrestling, but you know, that’s the way the cookie crumbles."
Click here to read what Punk had to say on whether or not he'll be at the AEW show on 20 August.