AEW’s All Out pay-per-view was a memorable one, though not exactly for the reasons it should be. While MJF’s surprise return following his long absence should’ve been the talk of the night, wrestling fans instead were chattering about the now-infamous wrestling press conference afterward by CM Punk, and the alleged fight with the Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) and Kenny Omega that followed. Now, some alleged details about the altercation are floating around the web, and better paint a picture of what transpired backstage where media wasn’t present.
After a day of rumors and reports on what occurred backstage, Fightful Select gave a breakdown of what transpired from CM Punk and his trainer Ace Steel’s perspective after talking to someone affiliated with the story. It all started when CM Punk went and heavily criticized the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and “Hangman” Adam Page for alleged remarks made or fed to the media to portray him in a negative light. (He has no problem putting people on blast.) Punk went further with his criticisms completely unprompted by the press in attendance, and when it was over, he went back to his personal locker room.
According to this latest report, the Young Bucks approached Punk’s door following the press conference, and when he didn’t answer, began to pound on the door. There are allegations that the Young Bucks might’ve kicked in the door, though that remains unconfirmed.
It's alleged that CM Punk’s trainer Ace Steel became upset because his wife was also in the locker room and had a broken leg. Steel reportedly began throwing chairs, one of which hit somebody. It’s also said that Steel bit Kenny Omega, who was reportedly calm about the incident until that moment. At some point, the altercation escalated into a brawl that lasted quite a while, and the talk between all parties reportedly continued even when it was broken up.
Another major rumor ahead of this report was that CM Punk, who only just returned from injury and recaptured the AEW World Championship hours before, was injured in the fight. This new information states that Punk was actually nursing a tricep injury that occurred during the main event match ahead of the backstage fight and that the injury is not related to the brawl. It’s unknown how bad the injury is at this time. The report noted that this telling of events is heavily rooted in one party’s side of the story, so it’s possible there’s more to the story that hasn’t been revealed yet.
Finally, Fightful reported that a good number of people at AEW believe that if Ace Steel and CM Punk aren’t let go, they will need to do a lot to offset the damage done by this melee. Pro wrestling fans know that CM Punk is one of the greatest wrestling legends of the modern era thanks in part to his rebellious and controversial attitude. Could he really be in so much trouble that AEW would cut ties with him? He just reclaimed the AEW World Championship, so explaining the situation after a firing wouldn’t be an easy task.
As for CM Punk, I can imagine that a firing from AEW could effectively end his pro wrestling career after a stunning comeback. He’s revealed he doesn’t have a strong desire to return to the WWE, so you'll likely have to revisit past matches with a Peacock Premium subscription if you want to see him with that organization.
There are other wrestling organizations out there, but whether they’d want to work with CM Punk or vice versa is a completely different conversation. I guess we’re putting the wagon before the horse here, as this is all very speculative, so we should all just wait and see how AEW responds to what’s reportedly a very real controversy.
AEW: Dynamite airs on TBS on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. ET, and the next episode might not be one wrestling fans want to miss. We’ll see if CEO Tony Khan makes any kind of statement on the situation in the meantime, and what might happen afterward.
