Before CM Punk‘s conflict at All In, which ultimately led to his departure from AEW, there was his beef with The Elite from All Out 2022, where the infamous “Brawl Out” altercation occurred backstage. Tensions had been brewing before that between Punk and Hangman Adam Page, highlighted by Page’s infamous “workers’ rights” promo on Dynamite.
Punk has been hesitant to discuss his time with AEW or any of the controversial subjects associated with him. However, during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, one of the topics discussed was the events between Punk and Page during the summer of 2022. And just like the rest of the interview, the Straight Edge Superstar did not hold back.
When asked about Page allegedly going off script and upsetting Punk — and whether that was the first time he felt his reputation was being slandered — Punk explained exactly why he took offense to what went down. Most of it, he says, was due to Page agreeing to do things a certain way when they interacted, then deviating from that plan without warning.
“But I sat down with [Page], and I was very gracious,” Punk said. “We hammered out this promo. He goes on live TV and does not say any of the s–t we talked about. I can’t hear him because the crowd’s so loud. I’m looking at him and I have to really pay attention to what he’s saying because my responses matter. I can’t just say what I have planned because it won’t match what he’s saying to me. And he’s saying some s–t. I don’t know what he’s talking about. And I’m just like, man, why would you do this? TV is very expensive. Every minute is hundreds of thousands of dollars between production, etc. And you’re just s–ting on me and the business. Why would you do this? I knew the promo ended with him punching me and I had to double-leg him.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I was professional,” Punk added. “Afterward, I spoke to him and asked why he did that. He thinks I got one of his friends, who hasn’t been fired, fired. I went to Tony [Khan] and the lawyer and said you need to fix that, because if I do, you won’t like how I fix it.”
It’s safe to say the situation was never resolved, considering the altercation, the NDA that locked details of what happened, and the subsequent separation of everyone involved when Punk returned to AEW in June 2023. And though this incident is long in the distance, it’s still interesting to see the curtain pulled back on a notorious time in the company’s short history.
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