Posted in: AEW, Opinion, Sports, TV, TV | Tagged: aew, AEW Collision, cm punk, wrestling

CM Punk, Innocent Victim, Speaks Out Ahead of AEW Collision Debut

CM Punk discussed the debut of AEW Collision, his beef with The Elite, and the "Brawl Out" incident in his first interview since 2022.

If there's one point CM Punk seems to really want to get across in his new interview with ESPN, the first one he's done since last September, published today after dirt sheets hyped it up as the clickbait sports article equivalent of the "pipe bomb" promo, it's this: people really ought to stop holding grudges.

"I don't think what happened was a big deal…" said Punk about the events that occurred immediately after he won the AEW World Championship from Jon Moxley at AEW All Out last year. Punk famously appeared at the post-PPV media scrum where he launched into an epic airing of grievances against the wrestling press, Colt Cabana, and The Elite, a group of wrestlers including Hangman Adam Page, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega. Afterward, Punk went backstage and promptly got into a physical altercation with the group, an event that was dubbed "Brawl Out."

"This has happened in the last 10 months in hockey, in basketball, in baseball, in just about every sport," Punk continued. "And it's covered, and it's gone the next day. I think because I have injured my tricep and I've been out for so long, I think it has been exacerbated. I think it's been exacerbated by people spreading lies about the whole thing. And when, in reality, my attitude is, well, s— happens."

Punk went on to say in the interview that he has tried to reach out to members of The Elite but been rebuffed by lawyers, and that he has been willing to sit down with the group and hash things out, but that "it hasn't happened yet, and it's not because of my lack of trying."

So The Elite really should just let things go and stop being so uptight about the whole thing. We mean, who holds a grudge about a few off-the-cuff comments and a minor brawl nearly a year after it happened?

"It poisoned everything for me, and it made it all really, really ugly, and that was what set all of this off, and here we are over a year later and ain't s— been done about it," said Punk also in this same interview, talking about something Hangman Adam Page said in a promo on AEW Dynamite last year, implying that Punk played a role in getting former best friend turned bitter enemy Colt Cabana essentially banished from AEW television. Punk blamed Page's comments for having "what I think is a garbage match" against Page at Double or Nothing, and, of course, as the genesis of what led to the Brawl Out incident.

Okay, so maybe some grudges are good to hold onto. It depends, it would appear, on who's doing the holding.

Punk did apologize to AEW owner Tony Khan, however, for humiliating him as he sat next to Punk at the Brawl Out scrum, smiling uncomfortably as Punk said the company's executive vice presidents "couldn't manage a target," mocked Colt Cabana for sharing a bank account with his mother, and attacked Page for those comments he's still holding a grudge about today.

"The first thing I said to Tony when I sat down with him and spoke to him after it was, 'Man, I'm really sorry I put you in that position,'" said Punk in the interview. "I apologize for the scrum."

However, he was quick to point out that he said all those things because he was "a very, very frustrated guy" who was "very, very pissed. I pretty much knew that I had just injured myself again. I was hurt, and I was disappointed." You see, there are reasons someone might make ill-advised comments, and it's important to consider those reasons and forgive people. Unless their name rhymes with Bangman Sadam Cage, of course.

Punk said that he never seriously considered quitting, and indeed, he will return as the top star of AEW's new Saturday show, AEW Collision, tomorrow, June 17th, a show that seems entirely built around the concept of keeping Punk and The Elite away from each other. The event will take place in Punk's hometown of Chicago, where he will (probably) be cheered as a babyface, despite dirt sheet reports painting him as a "bad guy" that have caused recent attempts to promote Punk's debut to be met with lukewarm, and sometimes even negative reactions from AEW crowds, who seemed apathetic to a Punk video package that aired on AEW Dynamite earlier this week and even booed Tony Khan's announcement that Punk would return on Dynamite a few weeks ago (though to be fair, that announcement happened in San Diego, part the home territory of The Young Bucks).

Outside of Chicago, it's unclear how fans will react to Punk. It's also unclear whether Punk will capitalize on all of this real-life drama with an on-screen heel turn and an eventual feud with The Elite. In the interview, Punk claims that he has been told that the situation will not be used for storylines and that no feud with The Elite is planned.

Then again, if you were sitting on potentially one of the most interesting wrestling storylines in recent memory, based on real-life drama that has kept people talking about the rivalry for nearly a full year after it happened, you wouldn't want to go out and give away your plans before they've even started either. We could go into all the reasons why everything in the media surrounding Punk's return for the last several months, including this very interview, fit very neatly into the conspiracy theory that the shoot has turned into a work, but that's probably fodder for a different clickbait article.

"I know pro wrestling is absolutely the most bizarre form of entertainment on Earth, but to me, I treat it like a business, and I treat it like the television show that it is," said Punk.

AEW Collision will air on Saturday, June 17th, at 8 PM on TNT. The two-hour show will air weekly on Saturdays and focus on a roster including Punk, Miro, Andrade, Powerhouse Hobbs, Ricky Starks, and others. In the main event this Saturday, Punk will team with FTR to take on Samoa Joe, Jay White, and Juice Robinson. Punk will also cut his first promo since before Brawl Out (unless you count Brawl Out itself as a promo) on the debut episode.

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