Details On Reaction To CM Punk Interview In AEW & WWE

CM Punk did a major interview with Ariel Helwani in which he discussed his AEW exit and more, and a new report has notes on the reaction in AEW and WWE. Punk spoke with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour and discussed his return to WWE, his AEW exit, and much more. Among the conversation points was his altercation at AEW All Out; we will have more coverage from the interview later.

Fightful Select has some reactions from talent about the matter. The report makes it explicitly clear that reactions from talent don’t reflect the company they are signed to, nor Fightful’s report.

It is noted that in terms of the CM Punk and Jack Perry argument that carried over into All In, those in AEW told the outlet that the issue was less about Punk not wanting glass used in the vignette taping at AEW Collision, but instead, it was about Punk told the story to media and talent to the point that it became public despite his having had issues with such a thing in the past. Those in AEW indicated that Punk’s recounting of the original argument was accurate.

In terms of WWE talents’ reactions to Punk’s interview, it is said to be “all over the place” regarding those the site spoke with. One talent said they assumed Punk would answer questions about AEW before too long even though there is an NDA in place. Another WWE talent member said they preferred that it happen this week, hoping that it gets ultimately forgotten and most people move onto the wrestling by the weekend.

One AEW veteran was quoted as saying, “More than anything, what the interview showed was that this was preventable from all sides. Punk is happy, AEW talent moved on, so hopefully everyone just learns from it and makes amends in the future.”

There is a non-disparagement agreement of some sort in place, something Punk alluded to in his interview though he said it was not for anything he did wrong.

All the word within WWE up to this point has been positive toward Punk and people on the executive side of WWE did not believe Punk wanted to discuss AEW today, but knew it was probably coming up. Those people said Punk isn’t likely to be on as heavy a media schedule this week as others as he is still recovering from his injury. There have been no subsequent issues between Punk, Seth Rollins, and Drew McIntyre that have been heard.

Punk confirmed several reports from the site during the interview, including having been backstage at Raw last year before he was told to leave. He also confirmed that only lawyers, Triple H, AJ Lee, and Nick Khan knew of his return before it happened and that the Punk references on WWE before he returned happened before he had been contacted.