Kenny Omega on CM Punk Fight Incident & Backstage Reaction to Elite Mocking Punk on Dynamite

As noted before, CM Punk, Ace Steel, Kenny Omega, and The Young Bucks were involved in a backstage fight incident following AEW’s All Out 2022 event this past September and were all suspended by AEW. AEW’s recently completed their investigation into the incident resulting in Steel being released, Omega and the Young Bucks made their return at this past Saturday’s Full Gear 2022 event, and Punk currently not expected to return to the company.

Prior to the start of Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Chicago, Illinois, Sports Illustrated held an interview with Omega. One of the topics discussed included Omega’s thoughts on the backstage fight incident with CM Punk and him encouraging everyone to just move on from it.

“There are things no one can talk about, so I’d encourage people to let it go. It doesn’t change that we want a team effort in AEW. I don’t even mean implicitly myself and my opponent. It also means the referee, the fans, the people who set up the ring, everyone–even a technical error can ruin the memory of a match. I can refer back to the exploding barbed wire death match. So I encourage people to move away from it because there is no information to be released. Though I cannot talk about it, I do want the fans to know I still want the best for pro wrestling.

The day after the pay-per-view, I was absolutely devastated by the loss of Jason David Frank. He’s one of my childhood heroes. That evening, there was a mass shooting at an LGBTQ club where five people died. It’s absolutely terrible. After such tragedy, it puts everything in perspective. This isn’t Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks against CM Punk. It is people trying to show off their craft. You can boo Kenny Omega, or the Young Bucks, or CM Punk, but I hope people don’t forget we’re human beings struggling to show our art.”

In an interesting note, Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show featured multiple references to Punk and the infamous backstage fight incident in a mocking tone by The Elite during their Trios match against Death Triangle for the second match in their Best of Seven series for the AEW World Trios Championship. Among the references included Omega biting PAC, Matt Jackson “botching” a Buckshot Lariat spot similar in style to Punk, the Young Bucks trolling the crowd over their “CM Punk chants”, and Omega performing the GTS onto PAC.

Look in @KennyOmegamanX's eyes… what do you see? #AEWDynamite #AEWonTBS pic.twitter.com/jsWThHmITS

— TDE Wrestling (@tde_gif) November 24, 2022

Hey, I'm charting this one up to @KennyOmegamanX being in the same building as Ishii. #BiteTheWorld #AEWDynamite #AEWonTBS pic.twitter.com/ICSZob66La

— TDE Wrestling (@tde_gif) November 24, 2022

Hey, it's harder than it looks! @youngbucks #AEWDynamite #AEWonTBS pic.twitter.com/MIpJyd3J3N

— TDE Wrestling (@tde_gif) November 24, 2022

Following the show, Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that the backstage reaction to The Elite vs. Death Triangle Trios match was mixed. Meltzer reported that multiple people close to CM Punk were not happy with The Elite’s antics towards Punk during their match.

WOR: Dave Meltzer says people close to CM Punk were not happy with The Elite vs. Death Triangle match on AEW Dynamite. https://t.co/mYdKSjV7fm pic.twitter.com/WZObGd0IdS

— Wrestling Observer (@WONF4W) November 24, 2022