Dax Harwood & Darby Allin On Working With CM Punk, Dustin Rhodes on Punk Coaching Talent

Several AEW stars including Dax Harwood, Darby Allin, and Dustin Rhodes discussed working with CM Punk in the company for a new feature profile on the Double or Nothing main eventer. ESPN did a profile on Punk ahead of his match with Hangman Page at AEW Double or Nothing on Sunday, and you can check out some highlights below from Harwood, Allin, Rhodes, and Max Caster:

Harwood on Punk letting him call their match on Dynamite: “Some of the things on the backend were talked about, but he trusted me to lead that match, because he knew that sometimes guys will try to take advantage of you in the ring and just get their s— in, quote-unquote. I’m not that kind of guy. I don’t have s**t to get in. For me, I care about the story, about the match. And I care about how well both of us look coming out of that match. He, again, had the trust in me to lead that match and I am forever grateful for him for that.”

Allin on being Punk’s return match: “[Sting] knew I was super nervous. He came up to me and we had this talk. I told him how this day goes beyond just wrestling Punk. It’s validation for like everything I’ve worked for. I started thinking of every little moment in my life leading up to this. Like, this is a trip.”

Caster on meeting Punk: “It was the day I came back from suspension and I thought, ‘Oh gosh, everyone hates me,’ I passed by him in the hallway, and he says, ‘Hey Max, what’s up?’ And I go, ‘Oh God, this guy knows my name.’ I’ve never even met him. That told me what kind of guy he was, that he was educated on who was on the roster from top to bottom I was just nervous that CM Punk was here. He’s a hero of mine, he really is. For him to say, ‘hello’ is huge.”

Rhodes on Punk working with younger talents: “He is always coaching up the talents when they come back or on their promos or a certain move, saying ‘less is more’ sometimes. Those are very, very important things to learn as a young superstar in the wrestling world. Because you’ve got to take advantage of that. And he is very accessible in that manner.”