Even in a pro wrestling world full of hyperbole, it’s hard to overstate how big the backstage incident at AEW All In London between CM Punk and Jack Perry turned out to be. Not only did it lead to Punk’s eventual firing (and an indefinite suspension for Perry), but it nearly forced an on-the-fly card change during AEW’s biggest show to date.
Of course, when you’re a veteran of the wrestling business like Punk’s opponent that night, Samoa Joe, one who’s seen everything and been a champion around the world, you’re much less likely to be rattled by what may appear to others as absolute backstage chaos.
That’s exactly the tone Joe took during his interview with The New York Post’s Joseph Staszewski, when the ROH World Television Champion was asked if the situation at Wembley Stadium was as “intense as it sounded.”
That’s up to whoever perceived it. I’m used to that environment. Those things don’t seem very intense to me, but it could be something crazy intense to someone else. I wasn’t really affected by the moment. I was more focused on getting the show back on track and getting us going because it was bell time.
Joe also noted without saying in so many words that with Punk gone, there’s a chance for everyone in AEW to step up and show what they can do (“There’s more time for everybody now. Everybody knows that.”). He feels it’s not only the veterans, including himself, that are rising to the occasion, but that people throughout the company can and will do so.
Maybe it’s easier to be so zen when you are both feared as a competitor and respected as a locker room leader like Samoa Joe. It’s still amazing to consider that as a pivotal person in what was likely the wildest behind-the-scenes moment in pro wrestling this year, he was pretty much unaffected to the point where he went out and had a great match in Punk’s AEW swan song.
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